88 days: quick answers to the questions everyone asks
Short answer
The 88 days are calendar days of specified work: a listed type of work, in a listed postcode for your visa, paid at Australian rates. Weekends count inside a full-time week, casual work counts in proportion (38 hours is a full week), and payslips are your proof. Each answer below links to the full guide.
Short answers first. Each one links to the guide with the details and the official wording.
Counting the days
Are the 88 days calendar days or working days?
Calendar days, weekends included, from your first counted day to your last. You need as much work as a full-timer in that job does in that time. How days are counted.
Is 88 days the same as 3 months?
Yes. Home Affairs takes 3 months as the 3 shortest calendar months: at least 88 calendar days. For a third visa, 6 months means at least 179 days. 179 days explained.
Do weekends count?
Yes, inside a normal full-time week. Monday to Friday full-time covers all 7 days. Do weekends count?
How many hours is a full week?
Home Affairs counts days or shifts compared with a full-timer, not hours. The practical way to count payslips is 38 hours = 7 days, Australia’s standard full-time week. How many hours is 88 days?
I work casual or part-time. Does it count?
Yes, in proportion. Half the full-time hours over 122 days counts as 61 days in Home Affairs’ own example. It just takes longer. Casual and part-time work.
Can I finish faster with overtime or 12-hour shifts?
No. You can’t do it in fewer than 88 calendar days, one day is never more than one day, and a payslip can’t count more days than its dates. Long shifts do help you reach a full week of hours. Mining, FIFO and long shifts.
Do public holidays, sick days and rain days count?
Paid public holidays and paid sick days count. Unpaid days off, including unpaid rain days, don’t. Holidays, sick days and rain.
Do training or induction days count?
Home Affairs doesn’t mention them separately. Paid hours in a specified-work job are part of that job, so paid training on your payslip counts like other hours. Unpaid trial or training days don’t, because specified work has to be paid.
Do my 88 days have to be in a row, or with one employer?
No. You can take breaks, change employers and add up separate jobs. The total still can’t be done in fewer than 88 calendar days.
Can I combine jobs in different states?
Yes. What matters is that each job is listed work in a listed postcode for your visa. Days from different states add up. Two jobs on the same day still count as one day. Two jobs at once.
Can I count my days myself?
Yes. The 88-day calculator adds up your payslips with the 38-hours-a-week method, shows the maths, and saves on your device, with no account. It can read PDF payslips without uploading them.
What work counts
What jobs count for the 88 days?
Farm work (plant and animal cultivation), fishing and pearling, tree farming and felling, mining, construction, tourism and hospitality in northern and remote areas, and bushfire or disaster recovery. It depends on your visa and the postcode. 417 vs 462.
Does hospitality count?
Only in Northern Australia, Remote and Very Remote Australia and a few extra postcodes, for work done from 22 June 2021. A café in Cairns or Darwin can count; one in Sydney can’t. Does hospitality count?
Does a ski season count?
Hospitality at Thredbo, Perisher, Falls Creek and Mount Buller doesn’t, because those postcodes aren’t on the tourism and hospitality lists.
Does au pair or nanny work count?
No. Childcare isn’t a listed type of work, even on a farm.
Does WWOOF or volunteering count?
Unpaid farm work doesn’t. Volunteer recovery work in a declared bushfire or disaster area does: each day helped is one day. Volunteering and WWOOF.
Does cash-in-hand or ABN work count?
Only genuine, legally paid specified work you can prove. Cash with no payslips is very hard to prove and often underpaid, and being put on an ABN when you’re really an employee is a warning sign. Finding work and avoiding scams.
Does labour hire work count?
Yes, if the work itself is listed work in a listed postcode. Labour hire payslips often show a city office, so ask for a letter naming the work site and postcode.
Does mining count on a 462 visa?
No. Mining only counts on a 417. Mining and FIFO.
Where
Which postcode counts: the farm, the office, or where I live?
Where you physically do the work. Check a postcode.
Is my city regional?
For the 88 days it depends on the type of work. Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong have no farm work postcodes; Adelaide, Hobart, Darwin, Geelong and the Sunshine Coast count everywhere. Is it regional? 20 cities answered.
Where can I do my 88 days near Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney or Perth?
As of October 2026: near Melbourne, all of Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo count for farm work on a 417. Near Brisbane, all of the Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba. Near Perth, all of Mandurah and some outer Perth postcodes. Near Sydney, look further out: Sydney, the Central Coast, Newcastle and Wollongong have no farm work postcodes. Use the map.
When is the work?
It follows the harvests: mangoes in the north before Christmas, cherries and berries over summer, grapes and apples in autumn, bananas all year. Harvest calendar and best time to go.
Proof and applying
What evidence do I need?
Payslips, bank statements for the same period, payment summaries or tax returns, piece rate agreements and employer references. Evidence for your 88 days.
Do I need Form 1263?
The current Home Affairs pages don’t ask for it. Keep the documents they do list.
How many payslips do I need?
One for every pay period you claim. How many payslips?
My payslips show a city office. Is that a problem?
It can raise questions. Ask your employer for a signed letter with the work site’s address and postcode.
What if Home Affairs asks for more evidence?
Send what the letter asks for by its deadline. Payslips that match your bank deposits, plus an employer letter naming the site and postcode, answer most questions.
How do I apply for my second year visa?
Once your days are done, apply online in ImmiAccount, from Australia or overseas. How to apply.
Do UK passport holders still need 88 days?
No, if you apply on or after 1 July 2024 with your UK passport. UK passport holders.
Can I work more than 6 months for the same employer?
Usually not on a Working Holiday visa, but there are exceptions, including some specified work. Check the Home Affairs 6-month limitation page before you plan around it.
Practical
Do I need a car?
Often, yes. Many farms are outside town with no public transport. Some working hostels and labour hire companies run transport, usually for a fee.
What should I bring for farm work?
Work boots, a wide-brimmed hat, sunscreen, a big water bottle, gloves and clothes you don’t mind ruining. Bring ID, a bank card and your tax file number for the employer.
Which farm jobs pay best?
Piece rates can pay well for fast pickers, and they must still meet the award minimum. Mining and construction usually pay more than farm work. Farm pay and piece rates.
Is farm work safe for solo travellers?
Most jobs are fine, but check the employer before you go: reviews, a written offer, the pay rate and the address. Tell someone where you’ll be. For pay problems, the Fair Work Ombudsman helps visa holders for free.
How much tax will I pay?
Working holiday makers pay 15% on the first $45,000 (2025–26), with no tax-free threshold. Working holiday tax.
Questions people also ask
Are the 88 days calendar days or working days?
Calendar days. Home Affairs takes 3 months as at least 88 calendar days, weekends included, as long as you work as much as a full-timer in that job would in that time.
Do weekends count towards my 88 days?
Yes, inside a normal full-time week. Working Monday to Friday full-time covers all 7 days. Work less than full-time and weekends count in proportion.
Can I finish my 88 days faster with overtime or 12-hour shifts?
No. You can't complete the 88 days in fewer than 88 calendar days, one calendar day never counts as more than one day, and a payslip can't count more days than the dates it covers.
Can I combine different jobs, employers or states?
Yes. Days from different employers, types of work and states add up, as long as each job is listed work in a listed postcode for your visa. Two jobs on the same day still count as one day.
Does cash-in-hand or ABN work count for the 88 days?
Only if it's genuine, legally paid specified work you can prove. Cash with no payslips is very hard to prove and often underpaid, and an ABN when you're really an employee is a warning sign.
Does au pair or nanny work on a farm count?
No. Childcare isn't one of the listed types of work, so au pair or nanny jobs don't count, even on a farm.
Does WWOOF or volunteering count?
Unpaid farm work, including WWOOF, doesn't count. The exception is volunteer recovery work in a declared bushfire or disaster area, where each day helped counts as one day.
Where can I do my 88 days near Melbourne, Brisbane or Perth?
Near Melbourne, all of Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo count for farm work on a 417. Near Brisbane, all of the Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba do. Near Perth, all of Mandurah and some outer Perth postcodes do. Sydney itself has none.
Is there an app to track my 88 days?
The Aussie Days calculator works in your browser with no account: add each payslip's dates and hours and it keeps a running total, saved on your device.
What happens if Home Affairs asks for more evidence?
Send what the letter asks for by its deadline. Payslips that match your bank deposits, plus an employer letter naming the work site and postcode, answer most questions.
Sources
General information, not immigration advice. Aussie Days is independent and not affiliated with the Australian Government. Always check the official Home Affairs pages before you rely on anything here.
Keep reading
How many hours is 88 days? Is there a 30 or 35-hour rule?
There's no official hours rule for the 88 days, but 38 hours is a full week. That makes 88 days about 478 hours. What the 30 and 35-hour 'rules' really are.
EvidenceWhat evidence do you need for your 88 days?
What proof Home Affairs lists for your 88 or 179 days: payslips, bank statements, payment summaries, employer references. What to keep and how to organise it.
Types of workHow do you find 88 days work?
Where to find 88 days jobs in Australia, how to check a job counts before you start, and how to avoid scams and underpayment. Farms, mining, hospitality.