Transitioning Australian visa from 458 to working holiday

Question

I will be lodging a visa application to transition from 458 to working holiday (417) visa in September this year. I've already booked my flight and going to lodge my application as soon as I arrive in my home country.

What I know and have done:

• I am still in Australia

• Fully understood the intention of the visa and its restrictions, most notably 6 months per employer

• Visa length

• Work rights and study rights

• Arranged health examinations upfront

• Created a draft form just to get a feeling of how the visa lodgement work

Few questions:

• Can you still lodge 417 working holidays application before your 458 has expired? I will be back home on the 1st of September and I am going to apply for the visa upon the arrival. But my current 458 will still be alive until the following 7th.

• How long does Working Holiday visa process normally take? I've applied for a holiday for one month at my current job and I wish to come back on time

Answer 1

Can you still lodge 417 working holidays application before your 458 has expired?

The Department's page on the subclass 417 visa provides as follows:

First Working Holiday visa: You must be outside Australia when you apply for your first Working Holiday visa and when the visa is decided.

Apart from that requirement, you can apply at any time. However, you should note that you can only hold one Australian visa at any one time. When a new visa is granted, it automatically replaces all existing visas you hold (even if the existing visa has not expired and even if the existing visa provides more advantangeous rights).

How long does Working Holiday visa process normally take?

This page shows the processing times for various types of visa. Currently, for subclass 417, 90% of visa applications are processed within 35 days.