Hiring Japanese Working Holiday Makers in Australia (Subclass 417)

For many Japanese restaurants in Australia, the Working Holiday visa (subclass 417) is where the kitchen team actually comes from. Young Japanese cooks arrive with training, work rights and no sponsorship cost. This guide is for the employer: what the visa allows, which limits apply to restaurants, and where it runs out.

1. How many Japanese working holiday makers there are

The Home Affairs Working Holiday Maker program report for the year to 30 June 2025 gives the most recent full year picture:

Two readings for an employer. First, the number of new Japanese arrivals fell sharply in 2024–25, so the pool of fresh first year cooks is smaller than it was. Second, far more Japanese working holiday makers are applying to stay a second or third year. Those people have already spent time in Australia, often in hospitality, and are frequently the better hires.

2. The visa in brief: age, length, cost

• Age: Japanese passport holders must be 18 to 30. Some countries have an upper limit of 35; Japan's is 30. Home Affairs can still grant the visa if the person applies at 30 and turns 31 before a decision.
• Length: up to 12 months per visa, with unlimited travel in and out. The holder must enter within 12 months of grant.
• Work: any kind of work, subject to the 6 month rule below. Study is limited to 4 months.
• Funds: usually about A$5,000 for the initial stay plus a fare out.
• Visa charge: A$840 for someone who has not previously held a 417 visa in Australia, and A$1,000 for second and third visa applicants (Migration Regulations, Schedule 1, in force 1 July 2026).
• Number of visas: up to three in total, the second and third only with qualifying specified work.

Home Affairs currently notes that it is prioritising onshore Working Holiday Maker applications, and that offshore applications may take several months. If you are recruiting a cook who is still in Japan, do not plan a start date until the visa is granted.

3. The 6 month rule, and why restaurants are exempt

Every Working Holiday visa carries condition 8547: the holder must not work for any one employer for more than 6 months without permission. Many restaurant owners still believe this limits them. For most restaurants it no longer does.

Since 1 January 2024, a working holiday maker can work for the same employer for more than 6 months without asking permission if the work is in one of the listed critical sectors anywhere in Australia. Tourism and hospitality is one of them, and Home Affairs spells out that it includes the food and beverage sector: cafes and restaurants, takeaway food businesses, catering, pubs, bars and hospitality clubs.

Other exemptions exist (different locations for the same employer, plant and animal cultivation, natural disaster recovery, certain industries in Northern Australia), but for a restaurant the hospitality exemption is the one that matters. When the exemption applies, it covers the remaining period of the visa.

4. Second and third year visas: the problem for city restaurants

To qualify for a second 417, the holder must have done at least 3 months of "specified work" (Home Affairs counts this as 88 calendar days). For a third, at least 6 months (179 days) during the second visa.

Hospitality counts as specified work only when it is done in Northern Australia, in Remote and Very Remote Australia, or in a small number of listed postcodes. Other specified work includes plant and animal cultivation, fishing and pearling, tree farming and felling, mining and construction in regional Australia.

That has a direct effect on a restaurant in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane. Months in your kitchen do not count towards a second visa. A cook who wants a second year must do regional or remote work at some point, and that usually means leaving you for at least 88 days.

Ways employers handle this:

• Ask early. At interview, ask whether the person plans a second year and whether they have already done specified work.
• Hire second year holders. The rise in second and third visa applications means more of them are available, with the regional work already done.
• Plan the gap. If a strong cook leaves for farm work, agree a return date. Nothing in the rules stops them coming back to you on the next visa.

5. Your obligations as the employer

• Check work rights on VEVO before the first shift, and note the visa expiry.
• Pay at least the award. Working holiday makers are covered by Australian workplace law like any other employee. For restaurant kitchens that is usually the Restaurant Industry Award; from 1 July 2026 a cook grade 1 earns at least A$27.08 an hour full time, and casuals get a 25% loading. Rates for other grades are in our Sydney guide.
• Register with the ATO as an employer of working holiday makers. Registered employers withhold 15% from the first dollar up to A$45,000. If you do not register, you must withhold 30% on every dollar up to A$135,000, and penalties may apply.
• Pay superannuation at 12% (2026–27). Working holiday makers can claim it back when they leave through a departing Australia superannuation payment.
• Do not use them as a disguised sponsorship. A 417 is a temporary visa. If the role is a permanent head chef position, plan the sponsorship route rather than relying on consecutive working holiday visas.

6. From working holiday to sponsored chef

A working holiday maker who proves themselves in your kitchen is the lowest risk sponsorship candidate you will find. Schedule 1 of the Migration Regulations allows a Skills in Demand (subclass 482) application from inside Australia by someone holding a substantive visa, and a 417 is a substantive visa.

The usual requirements then apply: at least 1 year of relevant experience, an English test (IELTS 5.0 in each band or equivalent for tests from 13 September 2025), and a salary at or above the Core Skills Income Threshold of A$79,423 for nominations lodged from 1 July 2026. Kitchen experience in Australia and in Japan can both count towards the 1 year. The process and costs are in hiring a Japanese chef in Australia.

7. Employer checklist

1. Confirm the candidate's visa on VEVO: subclass 417, expiry date, which visa number (first, second or third).
2. Ask about second year plans and specified work already completed.
3. Register with the ATO as a working holiday maker employer if you have not already.
4. Classify the role correctly under the award and pay weekend penalty rates.
5. Note that the 6 month limit does not apply to restaurant work, and keep a copy of the Home Affairs page on file in case you are asked.
6. For your best cooks, discuss sponsorship before month 9, not in the final week of the visa.

Japan also has working holiday arrangements with other countries, which affects where cooks choose to go. See Canada, the UK Youth Mobility Scheme and New Zealand.

General information checked against official sources in September 2026, not legal, tax or immigration advice. Working holiday rules and exemptions change; confirm on the Home Affairs and ATO pages linked below before acting.