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Work and Holiday visa (462)

Check estimated processing times for the Australian Work and Holiday visa (Subclass 462). Based on data from 4.5 million visa decisions obtained from the Department of Home Affairs via FOI.

Your estimated processing time

9 days

Typical processing time
September 2026
25% decided withinLess than 1 day
75% decided within19 days
90% decided within36 days

Work and Holiday visa processing times by nationality

How long the Work and Holiday visa takes can vary depending on your passport, based on real decided applications: choose a nationality below for the full breakdown.
NationalityOutside AustraliaIn Australia
Chile14 daysLess than 1 day
Hungary18 daysLess than 1 day
Slovakia19 daysLess than 1 day
Spain20 daysLess than 1 day
United States of AmericaLess than 1 day6 days
Austria20 daysLess than 1 day
Poland18 days3 days
Portugal18 days3 days
Uruguay11 days3 days
Argentina16 days4 days
India8 days4 days
Switzerland11 days5 days
Peru15 days8 days
Thailand11 days8 days
Brazil21 days9 days
Indonesia9 days13 days
Czech Republic20 days10 days
Ecuador13 days11 days
Türkiye17 days11 days
Malaysia30 days14 days
Vietnam6 months14 days
People's Republic of China22 days15 days
Israel16 days25 days
Singapore30 days17 days
Mongolia3 months33 days
Medians only: half of applications were decided faster, half slower. A dash means too few decisions from that location for a reliable figure.
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Processing times vary significantly based on your citizenship and location. Find out what the wait really looks like for someone like you.
Free. Based on FOI data from 4.5 million visa decisions.

About Work and Holiday visa processing times

About this data

The times shown above are monthly averages for the Work and Holiday visa, aggregated across all applicants. Your actual processing time may differ significantly based on your citizenship and where you apply from.

Where this data comes from

This data is derived from approximately 4.5 million visa grants obtained from the Department of Home Affairs via Freedom of Information request (Reference: DA25/10/00449), covering July 2024 to September 2025. View the released document.

Methodology

Processing times shown are monthly averages for this visa subclass and stream, aggregated across all countries and application locations.Times are presented as percentiles (25th, 50th, 75th, 90th) showing what proportion of applicants received decisions within each timeframe.Data is updated monthly when new information becomes available from the Department of Home Affairs.

Get a personalised estimate

The figures above are averages across everyone. Your citizenship and location can make a big difference. Our Visa Time Checker gives you a personalised estimate based on your specific situation, not just these aggregated figures.

Check other visa types

Looking for a different visa? Use our visa processing time checker to see estimates for any Australian visa type.

Want to understand this better?

Read our guide explaining how processing times work, what affects them, and how to interpret these estimates: Australian visa processing times guide