An American In Brisbane: Australia Working Holiday Visa Month 1 Update
Published December 15, 2025
This blog post was proudly created without the use of generative AI. It was 100% written and edited by a human, for humans. Enjoy, and thanks for your support!
Are you an American interested in applying for an Australian Working Holiday Visa (WHV)? Or are you simply curious what the Australian Working Holiday experience is like? If that’s the case, you’ve come to the right place! My name is Kevin, and I’m an American in Australia on a WHV. My newest blogging project is to share a monthly update on living and working in Brisbane!
I’ll try to include as much information as possible in this blog post about the process I went through to get here. I’ll also describe how this first month has been as a “Working Holiday Maker” (WHM). To skip down to any section of this post, click or tap the corresponding link below!
Why I Applied for an Australian WHV
By the end of 2024, I had lived in Chicago for almost four years, and I knew I wanted to move abroad again. I studied engineering in college, but I’ve worked as an educator for most of my adult life. Being a teacher opens many doors for living and working abroad (I’ve lived in the US, China, Mexico, Vietnam, and Brazil). At the beginning of 2025, I was considering moving to either Japan or Thailand to work as an English teacher.
So why did I change my mind and ultimately pick Australia over Asia? Well, my first two visits Down Under were back in 2019. Those trips got the ball rolling for me to move to Australia six years later! I went to Perth in August and Melbourne in December of 2019. Both cities impressed me quite a bit, and I remember thinking that Australia might be a place I’d like to move to someday.
In February of 2025, I came back to Australia as part of an extended two-month getaway to Southeast Asia and Oceania. And to be honest, this return trip inspired me to apply for a WHV. Australia was just as amazing in 2025 as it was in 2019! After I got home from my extended trip, I kept daydreaming about spending a full year in this beautiful, sunny country. I first learned about Australian WHV in 2020, but pursuing one at that time was impossible due to the COVID-19 pandemic and international travel restrictions.
My age was another reason I came to Australia in November of 2025. Americans applying for a WHV must be between the ages of 18 and 30. I was approaching the end of that age range last year, so I knew I wouldn’t have an opportunity to apply for this visa again later in life. I decided to go for it, and (at least for now) I have no regrets!
As a side note, New Zealand also offers a Working Holiday Visa for American citizens. A friend of mine from Seattle went to NZ on a WHV, and she spoke very highly of her one-year stay there. So in early spring of 2025, I briefly considered applying for a New Zealand Working Holiday Visa. However, news reports indicate that in recent years, many Kiwis have left New Zealand for Australia in search of higher wages and better work opportunities. Given that situation, I figured Australia’s job market would be easier to navigate than New Zealand’s.
Overall Timeline
- Early April 2025: WHV application submitted
- Mid-April 2025: Health check complete
- Mid-May 2025: WHV granted
- Mid-November 2025: Fly to Australia
- Mid-December 2025: Job offer
- Early January 2026: First day of work
- Early July 2026: Projected last day of work with current employer
- Mid-November 2026: Current WHV expires
Visa Application Process
Applying for a WHV is pretty straightforward. I did it on the “Australian Government Department of Home Affairs” website. The visa application portal was called “ImmiAccount,” where I created an account to enter all of my relevant details. As of December 2025, this visa application costs 670 AUD (approx. 450 USD).
If I remember correctly, it only took me about a day to fill out and submit this visa application. Some folks online mention that their visa is approved almost immediately. As you can see in my overall timeline above, mine took about a month. (That was due in part to my required health check, which I’ll describe in more detail below.) Some people on social media groups mention wait times of multiple months. However, I believe applicants who haven’t received an answer within 90 days can contact the Department of Home Affairs to inquire about the long processing time. I can’t speak to that situation as it did not apply to me.
Once a WHV visa is granted, WHMs are given one year to enter Australia. Doing so begins the countdown on the one year WHV holders have to live and work in the country. So based on my overall timeline, when my visa was granted in mid-May 2025, I was given until mid-May 2026 to enter Australia for the first time on my visa. If I had waited until May 2026 to enter, I would’ve been allowed to stay until May 2027. Because I chose to fly to Australia in mid-November 2025, my visa and permission to work will last until mid-November 2026.
Health Check
Immediately after submitting my WHV application, I received an email informing me that I was required to undergo an in-person health inspection within 28 days. Depending on your personal medical and travel history, you may or may not be required to do this. I believe I was asked to do a health check because I had spent significant time in a country where tuberculosis (TB) is relatively common within the last five years.
In order to do my health check, I had to schedule an appointment at a clinic specifically licensed to perform immigration-related physicals and lab work. Unfortunately, the number of approved “panel physicians” is somewhat limited. From what I can see online, it looks like there are less than two dozen in the United States. A regular GP or family doctor cannot perform the health check for an Australian WHV application.
At first, I figured I would book an appointment with the only approved panel physician in Illinois (who happened to have an office in a suburb of Chicago). I hesitated though when I found overwhelmingly negative reviews online. Panel physicians are required to submit health results directly to the Australian government. In other words, applicants cannot upload copies of documentation on their ImmiAccounts to fulfill this requirement. With that in mind, I didn’t want to risk having my visa being denied because a disorganized clinic didn’t submit the required test results by the applicable deadline.
Luckily, Applicants for a WHV are not required to visit the panel physician closest to their place of residence. I looked up the next-nearest panel physician, which happened to be in Minneapolis. It had excellent reviews on Google Maps, and I’m happy to report that I also had a very positive experience there. Traveling from Chicago to Minnesota was undoubtedly a hassle, but I think it was worth the extra effort (I also made the most of it and enjoyed a weekend in the Twin Cities before returning home).
In terms of price, my health check cost 440 USD for a physical and blood work, and an extra 75 USD for an X-ray. These costs had to be paid out of pocket at the time of the appointment and were not eligible for reimbursement from insurance. Prices could vary between panel physicians. The total cost of my visa application and health check was a little less than 1000 USD in total.
Arrival in Australia
A few days after completing my health check, I received a notification on my ImmiAccount that the clinic in Minneapolis had uploaded my results for the Australian government to view. At that point, everything I needed to do was done, and I just had to wait. I’ll admit that I was pretty antsy and impatient, especially since I didn’t know how long the visa processing might take. Luckily, I got the much-anticipated email the following month in May and was overjoyed to be approved!
At this point, I started booking my flights. On the visa application, there is an instruction not to purchase flights to Australia until an approval email has been sent. I booked my airline tickets for November so that I could enjoy one last summer in Chicago! This also gave me about five months to start packing up my belongings and save up a bit of cash.
Speaking of savings, the Australian government requires applicants to have at least 5,000 AUD in savings (approximately 3,350 USD as of December 2025) plus the cost of airfare home. They asked for evidence of this in the application process, but I was never asked to show proof of this upon arrival. In addition, many people online recommend that WHMs save even more than this before coming to Australia. Finding a job here, especially one with consistent hours, could take weeks or months. To read more about that, skip down to the section on my job search.
When I landed in Australia last month at Sydney Airport, I went through an automated customs and immigration process. I printed off my visa approval letter before flying just to be safe, but I was never asked to show it to any airport staff or immigration officer. My actual Working Holiday Visa is completely virtual, so there is no sticker or page in my passport that has a paper visa.
Because my flight here was long, I stayed in an Airbnb in Sydney for two nights to rest and recuperate. While there, I relaxed, walked around the city, and tried a few restaurants. After two leisurely days in Sydney, it was finally time to fly to Brisbane and get settled in my new home city!
My Plan
Off the bat, I knew that coming to Australia on a WHV would involve some level of uncertainty. Most Working Holiday Makers do not secure employment before arriving onshore, and that was the case for me. Employment is not guaranteed, and Australia’s job market is competitive.
Similarly, it’s not easy to secure long-term housing here before arriving in the country, as most landlords require an in-person viewing (often called an “inspection”) before agreeing to move forward with a potential tenant. Australian online rental platforms strongly advise against signing a contract or sending a security deposit (which locals refer to as a “bond”) before seeing a house or apartment in person.
Many people on WHVs travel around Australia, spending a few weeks or months in one city before moving on. As someone in my thirties who has already been to Australia three times as a tourist, I didn’t feel a need to do this. My plan was (and is) to spend my year on WHV based in Brisbane, the third-largest metro area in Australia and the state capital of Queensland.
Some Working Holiday Makers in Australia have the opportunity to renew their visa for a second and third year if they work in certain high-demand industries for certain lengths of time. Generally, these industries are based in rural or remote areas. Information for specific requirements can be found on the Australian Government Department of Home Affairs website. Eligibility for a second or third Working Holiday visa is also a perpetual hot topic on social media groups for WHMs.
I am not eligible to renew my WHV due to my age. Even if I had come here on a WHV a few years ago, I probably would not have pursued a second or third year in Australia on this visa subclass. The types of jobs that fulfill the requirement generally seem arduous and grueling, and there are stories about certain employers in these industries underpaying or otherwise mistreating temporary foreign employees on WHVs. I’m sure some WHMs find rewarding, fair, and safe work that makes them eligible for WHV renewal, but I would personally have significant reservations about these types of jobs far from the big cities.
Living Arrangements
When I first arrived in Brisbane, I stayed at an Airbnb for a week. In hindsight, I should’ve booked this initial accommodation for two weeks. One week simply wasn’t enough time to familiarize myself with the Brisbane metro area, organize apartment viewings, and finalize a housing arrangement.
At the end of my first week, I moved into another Airbnb. This wasn’t ideal, but I figured it would give me more time to find an apartment to rent. During this second Airbnb stay, I did start viewing apartments after booking appointments using the website Flatmates, but I still didn’t finalize anything.
When my second Airbnb stay concluded and I still hadn’t found a room to rent, I stayed with a few new friends in the city who graciously offered me an air mattress for a few days. By this time, I was finalizing arrangements to move into an apartment a few train stops away from the city center, which was such a relief. It took exactly three weeks from the day I arrived in Brisbane (and almost a dozen in-person inspection appointments) to finalize a permanent place to live.
Job Search
I think the toughest part of my first month in Australia on a WHV was the job hunt. In all honesty, I didn’t hear back from the vast majority of employers I applied to. I filled out applications online, emailed directly when possible, and dropped off dozens of paper copies of my resume around the city.
In my opinion, a few major factors made my job search difficult. The first is that in most industries, employers can only keep WHMs on staff for a maximum of six months. Depending on how long it takes them to onboard and train, many employers might not find it worthwhile to train a WHV holder who will have to leave half a year later. The other big factor I noticed is that many food service and retail jobs prefer to hire local high school students. I believe that they can legally be paid a percentage of the minimum wage that adults earn, which gives businesses a financial incentive to hire youth workers over adults.
Beyond that, I get the sense that Brisbane is a rapidly growing city. This makes the search for good jobs (and housing) more competitive. WHV holders who move to smaller Australian towns might find employment more easily, but the job market can ebb and flow seasonally in more remote resort towns.
In total, I applied to 71 positions, mostly in the education, restaurant, and hospitality sectors. A little less than a month after arriving in Brisbane, I received my first job offer! It was for a teaching role, which was exactly what I was hoping for. In hindsight, given the factors mentioned above, it makes sense that I found a job in my field (as an educator) faster than a job as a barista or bartender.
In order to receive this offer, I went through a short phone interview followed by an in-person interview. I am in the midst of onboarding, and will begin working a few days after New Year. From the time I arrived in Australia in mid-November, it will have taken me about one month and twenty days to start working.
Finances
As part of this blog series, I want to document how much I’m able to save during my time in Australia on a Working Holiday Visa. Since I haven’t worked at all yet, I’m obviously in the negative right now. Below are some of the costs I’ve incurred this month:
- Lodging in Sydney for two nights: 180 USD
- Airfare from Sydney to Brisbane: 85 USD
- First Airbnb (8 nights): 650 USD
- Second Airbnb (7 nights): 380 USD
- Apartment security deposit, refundable upon move-out: 800 AUD (approx. 535 USD)
- Weekly rent for one room in a two-bedroom condo a few train stops away from the city center: 400 AUD (approx. 270 USD)
- Restaurants, bars, and cafes: 570 USD
- Groceries: 200 USD
- Miscellaneous (clothes, appliances, transportation, etc): 500 USD
- TOTAL FIRST-MONTH COSTS: 3,370 USD including my refundable apartment deposit; 2,835 USD not including the deposit
I am looking forward to working and earning money again starting in January! Hopefully next month, I’ll be on the way towards breaking even!
Stay Up to Date on My Working Holiday! 🇦🇺
Whether you’re curious about what I’ve been up to the last month or considering applying for an Australian WHV yourself, thank you for checking out my blog! I can’t wait to write my next installment in this series and let you all know how my first few weeks of work are!
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This post was published on Dec 15, 2025
This blog post was proudly created without the use of generative AI. It was 100% written and edited by a human, for humans. Enjoy, and thanks for your support!
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