At 23, Zhe Wang has spent a month working at a renovation site in Melbourne, Australia. His daily tasks—plastering walls and painting—are exhausting, but the pay is decent. It's the best job he has found so far.
Before this, he worked in the kitchens of a sushi restaurant, a fried skewer shop, and a spicy hot pot eatery, earning minimum wage. Mistakes often led to scoldings, and wage deductions were common.
Wang graduated in 2023 with a bachelor's degree in Economics from a university in Changchun, Jilin Province.
After failing the civil service exam and encountering multiple job search setbacks, he worked in a factory before setting his sight overseas.
A Working Holiday Visa (WHV) to Australia seemed like a chance to earn money while experiencing life abroad.
WHV programs allow young people to travel and work abroad.
New Zealand opened its WHV to mainland Chinese applicants in 2008, offering 1,000 slots annually. Australia followed in 2015 through the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, granting 5,000 visas per year.
Designed to boost tourism and support regional economies, the WHV is available to applicants aged 18 to 30 who meet basic education and language requirements and can show proof of RMB 20,000-50,000 （about USD 2,750-6,887) in savings.
The WHV visa is valid for one year and can be renewed twice, but extensions require working in designated remote areas.
Australia paused WHV applications from China during the pandemic, reopening them in 2022-2023 with a 30% increase in slots. However, the selection process changed from first-come-first-served to a random lottery system, intensifying competition.
The WHV was once notorious for in-person "number grabbing," where applicants queued at visa centers to secure a spot. Now, with the lottery system, the demand is overwhelming. On October 1, 2024, the first day of applications, China’s registration portal crashed due to excessive traffic.
Most Chinese WHV holders in Australia end up in physically demanding, low-paying jobs.
Still, for many, WHV is an appealing alternative to China's ultra-competitive job market. Some see it as a low-cost way to experience life abroad, while others hope it can be a stepping stone to better opportunities—a way to "rewrite their fate."
