The Australian government has added India to the working holiday visa program, resulting in 40,000 applications in just two weeks.
Assistant Minister for Immigration Matt Thistlethwaite visited New Delhi on Monday to launch the program, which will allow 1,000 eligible Indian citizens aged between 18 to 30 to enter Australia to study or work, with no restrictions on jobs.
Pre-application ballot registrations for the one-year Work and Holiday (WHM) (subclass 462) visa opened on October 1, and tens of thousands have already applied with two weeks still to go until ballots close, Mr Thistlethwaite announced.
“The great thing about the Working Holiday Maker visa is that there are no restrictions on the jobs you can do. Till now, 40,000 applications have been received for the 1,000 visa spots,” he said.
WATCH : Diwali Bonanza; Matt Thistlethwaite Australian Assistant Minister for Immigration announces 1000 Visas for Indians under ‘Holiday Maker Program’ @AusHCIndia pic.twitter.com/Rq9MKpqmau
— Siddhant Mishra (@siddhantvm) October 14, 2024
Successful registrants will be chosen via an electronic random selection process and will be invited to apply for the visa, which costs $650.
“I am delighted to be here in person to officially welcome India into the Working Holiday program today. This new partnership will help strengthen the already strong bonds between our countries,” Mr Thistlethwaite said in a statement.
“The addition of India in the program will enrich the Indian diaspora in Australia, further enhancing the cultural exchange already flourishing in the Australian community.”
Mr Thistlethwaite’s announcement comes less than a month after he admitted that mass immigration was creating social tensions, providing “marginal” economic benefit, and failing to enhance labour productivity or solve so-called skill shortages.
There were already more than 846,000 India-born people living in Australia by June 2023, according to the latest official statistics, up from 754,000 in 2022, and after another 16 months of record immigration that number could already have surpassed one million.
In 2013 those born in India were just 1.6% of the population, doubling in 10 years to 3.2% after an increase of 467,000 people.
Mr Thistlethwaite’s Delhi trip follows a visit by Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan last month where she pledged $5 million to help Indian students avoid the federal government’s planned caps, along with a new loophole and pathway to permanent residency.
Header image: Mr Thistlethwaite in Dehli on Monday, left, and at a “deepvali” event last week, right (X, Facebook)
