88 days explained: how to get your second-year visa

The short version

On a Working Holiday (417) or Work and Holiday (462) visa, you can apply for a second year if you do 3 months (88 days) of “specified work” in an eligible area during your first year. For a third year you need 6 months (179 days) during your second.

UK passport holders on a 417 visa no longer need to do specified work for a second or third year. Everyone else should check the rules for their passport.

What counts

The rules depend on your visa, the industry and the postcode. On a 462 visa, fishing and tree farming only count in northern Australia, and mining doesn’t count at all.

• Plant and animal cultivation — picking, packing on the farm, pruning, livestock.
• Fishing and pearling.
• Tree farming and felling.
• Mining and construction in regional areas.
• Tourism and hospitality, but only in remote, very remote or northern areas.
• Bushfire and natural disaster recovery work in declared areas.

How days are counted

If you work full-time for a whole week (by that industry’s standard, usually 5 days), the whole week counts as 7 days, weekends included. Part-time or casual work counts proportionally: 5 days a fortnight over 4 months counts as about 2 months. You can’t count one long day as two.

Days where weather stops work don’t count unless you’re paid. Keep every payslip — you need them as evidence, and the work must be paid at award rates. Unpaid volunteering (like WWOOFing) doesn’t count — the only exception is volunteer bushfire or disaster recovery work in declared areas.

Avoid the traps

• No payslips, cash in hand, or an employer without an ABN: walk away.
• Check the employer’s ABN on abr.business.gov.au.
• Packing sheds off the farm may not count — check the exact job.
• Don’t pay anyone to “guarantee” your 88 days.
• The Fair Work Ombudsman helps if you’re underpaid — it’s free.