Working holiday visa program for Greeks and Australians gets green light

The Greek government has granted the approval of a visa program which will allow Greeks and Australian nationals up to the age of 31-years-old to work in each of the countries for a period up to 12 months.

The approval of the working holiday visa is something that many have been waiting on for the past six years as all of the details were being sorted out by the respective governments.

Initially, the idea for such a program was derived from a committee formed by the Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM) and other Greek community organizations in 2011 who put their efforts towards supporting the working holiday visas.

“Three years ago Olga Kefalogianni (Greece’s former Minister of Tourism) came to Australia to sign the documents but it’s taken three years to make its way through parliament,” GCM President Bill Papastergiadis told Neos Kosmos, adding, “It is a good result for both countries because at the end of the day our countries share a rich history and this agreement will strengthen ties between both countries.”

At this time there is a limit of 500 people from either country being eligible to receive the visas, however, there is talk that the program might be expanded to include more visas being issued in the future, neoskosmos.com reported.

The Greek government has given the approval of a visa program which will allow Greeks and Australian nationals up to the age of 31-years-old to work in each of the countries, respectively, for up to 12 months. The approval of the working holiday visa is something that many have been waiting on for the past six years as all of the details were being sorted out by the governments involved. initially, the idea for such a program came from a committee formed by the Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM) and other Greek community organizations in 2011 who put their efforts towards supporting the working holiday visas. “Three years ago Olga Kefalogianni (Greece’s former Minister of Tourism) came to Australia to sign the documents but it’s taken three years to make its way through parliament,” GCM President Bill Papastergiadis told Neos Kosmos, adding, “It is a good result for both countries because at the end of the day our countries share a rich history and this agreement will strengthen ties between both countries.” At this time there is a limit of 500 people from either country being able to receive the visas, however, there is talk that the program might be expanded to include more visas being issued in the future, neoskosmos.com reported.

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Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Chris Phutully License: CC-BY-SA

Source: au.greekreporter.com