Australia Farm Work Visa 2026: Subclass 417, 462 and PALM Explained
There's no single 'farm work visa' for Australia. Most farm work happens on a subclass 417 or 462, and one number — 88 days — decides whether you get a second year. The PALM scheme covers a separate group of Pacific workers. Figures as at September 2026.
Read the full guide, with official sources →
Watch
Chapters
- 0:00 88 days decides your second year
- 0:15 Two visas cover most farm work
- 0:34 $840 first visa
- 0:45 What counts as "specified work"
- 0:59 88 calendar days,
- 1:14 179 more days for a 3rd year
- 1:26 UK passport holders are exempt
- 1:38 PALM: 9 Pacific countries + Timor-Leste
- 1:54 Short-term vs long-term PALM contracts
- 2:08 The Agriculture Visa was discontinued in 2022
- 2:23 Piecework has a legal floor
- 2:38 Where to read more
Transcript
There's no single 'Australia farm work visa'. For most people it's a subclass 417 or 462 — and one number decides your second year: 88 days.
Two visas cover almost all farm work. Subclass 417, Working Holiday, for citizens of agreement countries. Subclass 462, Work and Holiday, for citizens of treaty countries. Both start at 18, up to 30, or 35 for some passports.
The first visa costs $840. A second or third visa costs $1,000, in force from 1 July 2026.
To count, the work has to be specified work in a regional postcode. That's picking and packing fruit or vegetables, dairy and livestock work, fishing and pearling, tree farming, and construction or mining in regional areas.
The threshold for a second year is 88 calendar days of specified work — about 3 months full-time. It must be paid at award rates. Unpaid WWOOFing and cash-in-hand work that can't be shown on a payslip don't count.
A third year needs a further 179 calendar days — about 6 months — completed while you're holding your second visa. That takes your total stay to 3 years.
One exception: UK passport holders lodging on or after 1 July 2024 don't need to meet the specified-work rule at all for a second or third subclass 417.
There's also PALM — the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme. It's open only to citizens of 9 Pacific Island countries and Timor-Leste, using the subclass 403 visa, and workers are recruited through their home country, not by applying directly.
PALM has two contract lengths. Short-term work is up to 9 months, then 3 months outside Australia before you can return. Long-term work is up to 4 years, with a 6-month gap required between contracts.
A dedicated Australian Agriculture visa was discontinued in 2022. There's no separate agriculture-visa subclass today — the 417, the 462, and PALM are the pathways that exist.
The most common mistake is accepting a piece rate below the legal floor. The Horticulture Award requires the rate to pay a competent worker at least 15% more than the award's hourly rate, and it must pay that hourly rate for every hour worked, output or not.
The full guide, with the official sources, is on migratio.com.au. The link is in the description.
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