2nd year visa questions

[Daz178]

Hi, 

I know this has been done to death but I've been searching through the forum and not actually found a specific answer yet. 

Anyway, I entered Australia on my working holiday visa in early August 2015 and within about 2 1/2 week (before the new regulations came into play) got a job on a farm in NSW. Before i arrived on the farm i'd heard stories about changes to the 2nd year visa application but was fairly uniformed and ignorant on the subject. At the start i laid out to my employer that i would require payslips as evidence for my 2nd year visa should i decide i wanted to. At the time he told me no problem etc, but i ended up getting paid on a monthly basis in cash. When i first asked my boss about payslips again he just said his accountant will sort payslips before i leave the farm which i believed and didn't question too much as i was enjoying the experience and getting paid. 

 

Anyway, when it came to leaving the farm my boss owed me money and promised to pay me up full with payslips backdated etc. Weirdly enough I got on with him great and he was quite genuine (in most cases) and after leaving the farm for the next couple of months he payed me back what i was owed in installments but I never recieved payslips (I'd expect I owe the taxman a fair amount, presuming he never paid it). I still maintain contact via Facebook. 

Now this leads me to my question. I am keeping my options open in regards to doing a second year etc. But before I seriously consider it I need to know if its a viable possibility. By this I mean:

-From what I've read so far I believe because I started work before the new regs came into play I don't fall into the category of having to provide payslips etc. 

-Therefore, what evidence do I need to provide to back up my application? I have photos, my bank statement shows that when I occasionally got to town I cashed my money etc. I can also provide a ABN number and get any signatures from my boss. 

-I presume if they accepted the fact I did regional work it would then open up the corridors to owing tax? If so is this a complete no go? 

However, given the reputation of the immigration office I am very sceptical the above evidence I would be able to provide is sufficient. 

I would love to hear experience from anyone who has applied for a second year visa in terms of what the process and requirements were like. E.G. Do you always need to provide payslips, photos, bank statement etc. 

 

I appreciate this subject has been done to death so any help is greatly appreciated. I'm just trying to see how viable a 2nd year is. It's such a shame its so complicated as the 4 1/2 months I spent on the farm will live with me forever! 

 

Thanks.

[MaggieMay24]

Did he ever provide you any paperwork regarding the wages you earned?  Did he make super contributions?  If you have no paperwork to substantiate your income, you may struggle as you have no evidence then that it was legal employment.  https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Working/Working-as-an-employee/Receiving-cash-for-work-you-do/

[Juniper753]

I'm afraid I would agree with MaggieMay24.

You can only 'avoid' the new regulations if the 88 days regional work you undertook to support a 2nd year WHV was completed by 31st August 2015 and your 2nd year WHV submitted by 31st August 2015. Any work performed and any 2nd year WHV application 31st August 2015 onwards would need to be evidenced via payslips etc. Payslips are essential to prove you were not underpaid for your work, that is what the government are trying to achieve with these new rules - to ensure WHV makers aren't exploited (my opinion is that's unavoidable to be perfectly honest but hey ho)

I guess you've really only a couple of options:

1. You definitely need payslips from your farmer employer for the work that you did. Only you know whether that option is still feasible.

2. I hate to say it but if you really want that 2nd year visa you'll need to do work that can be evidenced, that may mean undertaking your regional work again properly - that is if you're still on your WHV in Australia? I've heard many horror stories about employers promising this that and the other but when it comes to signing off those regional days and providing evidence that's where the trouble starts. I experienced it myself on an orange farm in Hillston, NSW. Transpired a farm contractor paid me from his own bank account so it didn't even look like cash payments, never gave me a payslip, never signed my days off. I was out of there in 2 weeks. I ended up on a couple of salad farms in Victoria and Queensland. There are legit farms out there.

Personally I experienced absolute hell on earth to get my 2nd year visa and I'm not convinced it was worth it. I love Australia but it might be worth considering if there's another country out there that you may like to travel instead.

Just for what it's worth forgetting the new regulations entirely, I'm not exactly sure if that if you submitted the evidence you did have that it would open up an ATO tax investigation. Common sense would think it would but you never know. That's probably why your farmer isn't wanting to give you payslips!

Good luck!!

Edited July 7, 2017 by Juniper753
Clarification

[Jen07]

Did you get your 2nd year visa ok? I'm in the process of putting my application in. My regional work was carried out in 2013