50% OFF from GO! + 20% extra fromViaja con Gus until 31 October
Czechia, Israel and Poland went from "paused" to "open" without any announcement. The seven nationalities this site covers remain paused, but the move confirms what Home Affairs says in writing: a paused quota can reopen within the same program year.
Working Holiday Australia: the guide →Viajar a Australia →
Last night all three were listed as paused. This morning they are listed as open. There was no announcement, no notice and no advance date: a cell in a table changed.
For readers of this site, the news is not that it opened —it did not open for any of our seven nationalities— but how it opened. That is the part worth understanding before it's your turn.
We read the official quota table on 27 September at 23:01 and again on the 28th at 14:03, both in Argentina time. Between one reading and the other, three countries changed status:
Czechia, with an annual quota of 500 places. Israel, with 2,500. Poland, with 1,500.
With those three, the open quotas go from two to five: they join San Marino and Türkiye, which have 100 places each. That leaves 20 paused countries and 4 that are allocated by draw: China, India, Indonesia and Vietnam.
Argentina, Chile and Spain have an annual quota of 3,400 places each. Peru and Uruguay, 1,500. Brazil, 500. Ecuador, 100. All seven are listed as "paused" in today's reading.
While that remains the case, the application can't even be started: when you try, an error message appears.
Home Affairs uses the two words with different meanings and explains it on its own page. "Closed" means all the places for the program year have already been granted: it does not reopen, and you have to wait until 2 July, when the next year starts.
"Paused" is something else. Verbatim: "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”."
What happened today with Czechia, Israel and Poland is exactly that. And it is the reason it's worth having your documents ready before the status changes.
The Department itself warns that the page can be slow to reflect a change: "Please note that updates to each country’s application cap status may not be published immediately due to technical constraints.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."
In other words, when you see a quota published as open, it may have been open for up to two days. And the other way round: a quota listed as open may have been paused hours ago.
That is why we read this table twice a day and publish the exact time of the last reading.
Have your ImmiAccount created and verified, and all your documents scanned and legible: passport, funds, insurance and whatever your nationality requires.
Have your payment method sorted, because without confirmed payment the application is not submitted.
And count the real time: Home Affairs announced on 23 September that processing is now taking around three months, and expressly asked people not to buy flights until the visa is granted.
Verified on 28 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.
