After 88 days of hard regional work, the last thing you want is a refusal over something avoidable. Almost every second-year problem traces back to one of these six mistakes — and all of them are easy to dodge if you know about them early.
1. Counting calendar days instead of visa days
Visa days come from your weekly hours, not the days you turned up. A full-time week is 7 visa days; a sub-4-hour week is 0. Example: Liam thought "88 shifts = 88 days" and stopped early — he was actually 20 visa days short.
2. Working in the wrong postcode or job type
Both the category and the location must qualify. Hospitality in a major city doesn’t count. Check before you start, not after.
3. No payslips (the cash-in-hand trap)
Cash with no paperwork means no proof. Those days are the most commonly rejected. Always get payslips and bank deposits.
4. Letting light weeks pile up
A week under 4 hours is worth zero. Several scattered light weeks can quietly cost you a month of progress. If a week is slow, pick up enough hours to clear the 4-hour minimum.
5. Forgetting Form 1263
Payslips alone are sometimes not enough — the signed employer declaration backs them up. Get it signed before you leave the job, while the employer still remembers you.
6. Leaving it to the last minute
If your first visa expires before you reach 88 visa days, you can’t apply for the standard second-year extension. Track from your very first shift so you always know exactly how many days you have — and how many to go.
Never miscount again — Orary tracks your real visa-day total automatically.
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