The new Migration Amendment (Working Holiday Maker Age Criteria) Regulations 2026 has commenced on 1st July 2026, amending the Migration Regulations 1994 to update age eligibility settings for Working Holiday visa applicants.
Under the changes, people applying for a Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462) or a Working Holiday visa (subclass 417) must generally be between 18 and 35 years old. However, if a lower maximum age has been set for their passport’s country in the relevant legislative document, that lower age will apply instead.
The rules also change how the government decides which passports qualify. For the subclass 417 visa, the types of passports that count as “working holiday eligible” will now be listed in a separate legislative instrument issued by the Minister, rather than being written directly into the Regulations. As part of this change, one specific rule, clause 462.212 in Schedule 2 has been removed.
Click here: Migration Amendment (Working Holiday Maker Age Criteria) Regulations 2026
