50% OFF from GO! + 20% extra fromViaja con Gus until 31 October
Chile, Portugal, Hungary and Switzerland went from “paused” to “open” without prior notice. Spain and Uruguay have been open since 28 September. Argentina, Peru, Brazil and Ecuador remain paused, and that doesn't mean the year is closed.
Working Holiday Australia: the guide →Viajar a Australia →
The official quota table for the Work and Holiday 462 changed today at 14:29 Australia time. Chile went from “paused” to “open”, and so did Portugal, Hungary and Switzerland. There was no statement or advance date: one cell in a table changed.
If you are Chilean and have been trying for months, the news is concrete: the application can now be started. For the rest of the region the news is different, and also useful: Chile was paused for a long time and reopened without warning. A pause is not the end of the year.
We read the table on 29 September at 23:01 and again on 30 September at 16:29, both in Argentina time. Between one reading and the other, four countries changed:
Chile, with an annual quota of 3,400 places. Portugal, with 500. Hungary, with 500. Switzerland, with 200. That is 4,600 places that could not be applied for in the previous reading.
With those four, the citizenships with an open quota go from 9 to 13. The others are Austria, Czechia, Israel, Poland, San Marino, Slovakia, Spain, Türkiye and Uruguay.
Spain, with an annual quota of 3,400 places, and Uruguay, with 1,500, reopened on 28 September and are still open in today's reading. If you had an application half done, it can be submitted.
Uruguay's quota went up: since 1 July 2026 it is 1,500 places per programme year, and Home Affairs explains it as the closing of a change already agreed between the two countries.
With Chile, that makes three of our seven audiences with the quota open at the same time, something that hasn't happened in everything we have recorded so far.
Argentina has an annual quota of 3,400 places. Peru, 1,500. Brazil, 500. Ecuador, 100. All four appear as “paused” in today's reading, and while that stays the case the application can't even be started: trying to do so brings up an error message.
Paused is not closed, and the difference matters. Home Affairs puts it this way: “We may reopen a “paused” cap later in the same program year to allow new applications. To apply, you need to monitor our website to check when the cap changes from “paused” to “open”.” In other words, it can reopen within the same programme year, and there is no advance notice: you have to keep watching.
Closed, on the other hand, does mean until next year: “We will not reopen a “closed” cap.” In that case you have to wait until 2 July, when the new programme year starts and the quotas reset.
The same page explains what the pause is for: “to limit the number of applications received at a given time to spread out lodgements and facilitate visa processing throughout the program year”. In other words, it is paused precisely when many applications come in at once.
A quota that reopened today can be paused next week. That isn't our hypothesis: it is the mechanism Australia describes on its own website.
The 3,400 quota is the cap on visas Australia grants to Chileans over the whole programme year, not the places left free today. Nobody publishes how many are left.
The notice can lag behind. The page itself warns: “updates to each country’s application cap status may not be published immediately due to technical constraints. Please allow up to 48 hours for changes to be reflected on the website.”
And the quotas only apply to the FIRST 462. The page says it in so many words: “There are no caps for second or third Work and Holiday visas.”
The 462 requires you to be between 18 and 30 inclusive, with a passport from an eligible country. The application is made online and you must be outside Australia when you submit it.
The process is currently taking about three months on average, and Home Affairs adds an explicit warning: “Do not book flights or make travel, work or study commitments until we grant your visa.” Don't buy your ticket until the visa has been granted.
The requirements that vary by citizenship — support letter, studies, English, amount of funds — we don't give here because they have to be read on the country's page. They are in this site's Australia guide, each with its source and date.
Verified on 30 September 2026. If any of this changes, we will update the article and let you know by email.
The news closest in time, each with its official source.
Abroad, getting sick is more than a bad day. In many destinations public healthcare depends on appointments, queues and availability, and private care is paid upfront. An emergency can cost thousands of USD, right when you are far from home and on a tight budget. That is why I recommend you never leave without travel assistance.
I recommend GO! Assistance because it covers what matters: medical care, emergencies, medication and hospitalization depending on the plan. It protects you 24 hours a day, anywhere in the world, with real-time solutions on the ground. GO! 365 ECO and GO! 365 give you USD 45,000 of global coverage: the first with a USD 100 deductible, the second with none.
If you quote from Argentina, in October GO! also offers 12 interest-free instalments on selected products.
50% OFF from GO! + 20% extra fromViaja con Gus until 31 October
I have never been left without internet on a trip. I land and my phone connects to the strongest network in the country I am visiting: I can let people know I arrived, sort out transport, book tours and keep posting content at a super affordable price (really cheap!). I always use the Maya Mobile eSIM, check out its plans by clicking the banner. See Maya Mobile plans →
Affiliate link: we earn a commission.
When you work in another country, sooner or later you will want to send money home: to help your family, cover a bill or put your savings away. That is what I use Remitly for, and why I recommend it. It is very fast: it connects to any local account in your home country and the money arrives in minutes.
You can choose between different ways to send, depending on what suits you, and the fees are low. On top of that, my ambassador code AMB6M8 gets you USD 20 off your first transfer. It applies to transfers from the countries where Remitly operates, so check in the app whether the code works in yours before you send.
