Hi all,
Hey, I read somewhere that you do need a sufficient amount in your account to prove you can support yourself and afford a flight home. I read £2700 but couldn't find anything official on it. Surely it would have been in the visa info when applying ?
What You'll Need
To apply for a Working Holiday Visa, you'll need to have a passport that is valid for at least 1 year from the date that you plan to enter Australia. If your passport is set to expire in the near future, it's best to renew your passport before applying for your visa.
When you enter Australia, you'll need to show that you have enough money to support yourself during your first few months. Usually, $5,000 AUD (about £2400) is considered enough. To prove this when you arrive, make sure you travel with a certified copy of your bank statement, not one printed from your online account.
When you arrive, immigration officers will want to see that you have an onward ticket out of Australia at the end of your trip. If you're not planning that far ahead just yet, you'll need to show that you have enough money in your bank account to pay for a flight home or to your next destination. An extra $1000 AUD is usually enough to satisfy this condition.
Hey.. Yeah visa says $5000 so around £2700 but I've been told / read online that a lot of people never get asked for any proof so just wondering how strict they are on it?
They aren't "strict" on it at all (as in, no one who's ever reported about it here has ever been asked for proof of funds, myself included), but that AUD $5000 amount is there for your own protection, as it's really the absolute minimum the vast majority of backpackers end up spending (besides what they earn while working).
For most people, such an amount will barely last 2.5 months, which is hardly any time at all to get your bearings, find a job, and wait for your first payment to come in.
We get sob stories here every so often of people who go with much less money, and end up having to return home after a month or two because their money ran out and they weren't successful at swiftly finding a job. Of course there's exceptions - people who go there with next to no money and end up being just fine; but they really are exceptions.
The department of immigration's website has recently been renewed, and I haven't yet heard anyone who's gone through the renewed website on this point. Under (I really hate that this new website doesn't have direct links to specific information), there's the following:
Evidence of sufficient funds: certified copy of a bank statement showing you have access to funds of at least AUD 5000.
That "certified copy" is new to me. Might be that they ask for that during the application process nowadays? I doubt it (except maybe in specific cases when there's some other information which could lead to doubt on their part?) - but would be good to have that confirmed by someone who's recently applied for a WHV. (Probably this is just for the paper application by people from non-Western countries, though.)
[ 05-Jan-2014, at 15:15 by Sander ]
Thanks, i should have around that amount for just after i arrive (my last UK wages wont go into my account until a week or so after i arrive) and so i should be ok money wise before i find a job etc. but i was just worrying about the actual getting through immigration without the funds in my bank. I've been advised in this case to perhaps get a parent to tranfser money for the bank statement and entry into the country to be safe, just until my wages come in. Hopefully all should be ok this way?
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