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IEC - Working Holiday Program for Australian Citizen - Re applying for 2nd permit

ozarun55

Newbie
Nov 21, 2018
2
0
Hello there,

I am an Australian citizen, currently under 35.

A few years back I was living in the US and applied for the working holiday visa before my 31st birthday, got granted it, moved to Canada for a couple of months but had to head back home due to family issues / illness and never got to use it beyond that 2 month period.

I am trying to ascertain whether I can reapply as an Australian citizen having already applied once now that the program has been expanded to cover ages 18-35 (inclusive).

The following page http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/iec/eligibility.asp?country=au&cat=wh&#country_category_name
says this (see bold in particular)

"Note: As an Australian citizen, you may participate in the Working Holiday category only once. If you meet the eligibility criteria, you may participate in IEC one more time through the International Co-op (Internship) category.

Exception: If you participated in IEC one or more times before 2015, you might be eligible for a final participation of up to 24 months in the category of your choice."

I can't find any more detail about this however, so I am wondering if anyone knows anything more about this. I applied for the Working Holday visa in 2014, and it was granted. I did not activate it until 2015 however. So not sure if I fall under the exception category. Any help appreciated.
 

Bs65

VIP Member
Mar 22, 2016
13,187
2,421
So your POE letter was issued in 2014 for the 2014 program as opposed to the 2015 program ?

Once a POE letter is issued that counts as a participation even if you did not land until 2015. So based on above I would say you qualify but the only way really to find out is to enter the pool when the program opens and see what happens.
 
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