Third Year Working Holiday Visa

A third Working Holiday visa gives you another 12 months in Australia, taking you to three years in total on the programme. It is the last one — there is no fourth.

The structure mirrors the second year visa, with one significant change: the specified work requirement doubles from three months to six.

What you need to have done

To qualify you must have completed six months of specified work in an eligible industry and an eligible postcode, while holding your second Working Holiday visa.

That last part is where people come unstuck. The work has to have been done during the second visa. Days you worked on your first visa counted towards getting the second, and they cannot be carried forward or topped up. If you did four months of regional work in your first year and only two in your second, you do not have six months for the third — you have two.

There is no requirement for the six months to be continuous, with one employer, in one industry or in one state. Most people build it up in blocks.

The UK passport exemption

If you hold a UK passport as well as an Irish one, read this before you plan any regional work.

Since 1 July 2024, UK passport holders can be granted second and third Working Holiday visas without meeting any specified work requirement. The Department's own guidance confirms this applies even to people who originally entered Australia on a different eligible passport, including a Republic of Ireland passport.

So a dual Irish-British citizen who entered on their Irish passport can apply for the third visa using their UK passport instead and skip the six months entirely.

This is genuinely common among Irish applicants — anyone born in Northern Ireland, or with a parent born in Britain, may be entitled to a UK passport without realising it matters here. Six months of regional work is a significant chunk of your time in Australia, so it is worth establishing your passport position early rather than after the fact.

If you hold only an Irish passport, the exemption does not apply to you. The widely shared news that "the 88 days is gone" refers to UK passport holders, not to Irish citizens, and assuming otherwise is an expensive mistake.

Eligible work

The industries and locations are the same as for the second visa:

• Plant and animal cultivation
• Fishing and pearling
• Tree farming and felling
• Mining
• Construction
• Tourism and hospitality in northern Australia and in remote and very remote areas
• Certain disaster recovery work

Eligible postcodes are set by legislative instrument and change. Some areas qualify entirely — the Northern Territory, Tasmania and South Australia — while the major cities and the ACT do not. Our specified work guide covers how to check a postcode and industry before accepting a job.

Evidence, at twice the volume

The evidence standard does not change, but you need twice as much of it, gathered over twice the period. That makes record-keeping the practical challenge.

Keep, from day one of each job:

• Payslips for every pay period of specified work
• Bank statements showing the wages actually arriving
• Your employer's ABN and business details
• Written references confirming dates, location and duties

The Department can and does contact employers to verify claims. Cash-in-hand arrangements with no payslips are the most common reason people find, six months in, that they cannot prove any of it.

When to apply

Most people lodge while still in Australia on the second visa, before it expires. You can also apply after leaving.

Watch two dates. Your second visa's expiry, because letting it lapse without a decision or a bridging visa creates a status problem. And your 36th birthday, because the age limit applies to the third visa exactly as it did to the first.

After three years

Three Working Holiday visas is the maximum. If you want to stay beyond that, you need a different visa entirely, and the realistic options are:

• Employer sponsorship on a Skills in Demand visa, which has no age limit and can lead to permanent residency
• A partner visa, if you are in a genuine relationship with an Australian citizen or permanent resident
• A student visa, if a qualification is genuinely the point
• Skilled permanent residency, though the points test is competitive and age points fall after 32

Three years of Australian work history is a real asset for the sponsorship and skilled routes. If staying longer is the plan, start the conversation with your employer during your third year rather than in its final weeks.

How we can help

We review your specified work evidence against the six month requirement before you lodge, and we will tell you plainly if we think it falls short. We also check whether a second passport changes your position.

You can apply directly yourself at any time through the Department of Home Affairs. Get in touch if you want your evidence checked first.