From July 1, citizens of the Philippines will be eligible to participate in Australia’s Work and Holiday Visa (Subclass 462) following the recent decision of the Australian Department of Home Affairs to expand this program further.

Australia has applied new changes to the Migration Amendment, thus making the Philippines an eligible country to participate in this scheme, highlighting the educational qualifications required for applicants, VisaGuide.World reports.

By participating in Subclass 462, citizens of the Philippines aged 18-30 have the opportunity to work short-term jobs in order to support their travels and travel freely within Australia during their stay while also knowing Australian life and culture.

Qualifications Required for Filipinos Planning to Become Part of Work and Holiday Visa (Subclass 462)

In order to benefit from Subclass 462, Filipinos are required to possess one of the following qualifications in addition to holding a valid passport issued by authorities in the Philippines:

• A tertiary qualification (university degree or equivalent).
• Successfully completed at least two years of undergraduate study or post-secondary education.

The new changes come following bilateral negotiations between authorities in Australia and the Philippines.

The arrangements in this regard were introduced in September last year by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on 8 September 2023.

A large number of Filipinos live and work in Australia. The figures from the Australian Department of Home Affairs revealed that at the end of June 2022, a total of 320,000 Filipino-born people were living in Australia, or 55.4 per cent more than the figures registered on June 30, 2012.

The Australian Department of Home Affairs revealed that Filipinos account for the fifth largest migrant community in Australia, equivalent to 4.2 per cent of Australia’s overseas-born population as well as 1.2 percent of the total population of Australia.

New Changes to Visa Conditions 8107, 8607 & 8608

As part of efforts to deal with unfair labor practices, authorities in Australia recently introduced new changes to visa conditions 8107, 8607 and 8608 that will become effective from July 1 this year.

The Department of Home Affairs of Australia announced that it made improvements to the Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457), Temporary Skill Shortage visa (subclass 482) as well as Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (provisional) visa (subclass 494).

The Department said that holders of these visas who stop working with their sponsoring employer will have additional time