Working Holiday Visa
Working Holiday Visa
A working holiday visa allows young people to live and work in a foreign country for a specific time period.
Usually, working holiday visas are available under reciprocal agreements between countries to promote travel and cultural exchange between their citizens.
Applicants for a working holiday visa must have sufficient funds, valid insurance, and be 18-35 years of age. Additional requirements vary greatly between different countries. Also, there are limits on the type of employment and the length of time a working holiday visa holder can be employed.
Definition of a working holiday visa
A working holiday visa is a residence permit that enables its holders to legally work or study in the country issuing the visa to supplement their travel funds.
It is an excellent opportunity for many young people since holding a working holiday visa lets experience life in a foreign country without the need to get job offer beforehand or enroll in an expensive university exchange program.
Eligibility
Every country has its requirements and criteria for a working holiday visa. However, generally, the common conditions are the following:
- young age of an applicant: the working holiday program is intended for young people, so usually, the participants must be aged from 18 to 30 or 35 years old
- a valid health or travel insurance for the entire duration of the stay in the country
- sufficient financial means
How to obtain a working holiday visa
The procedure of enrolling for a working holiday visa program is usually not complicated: sometimes, you can even apply for the visa online. During the application process, it is required to provide personal details and relevant documents. However, keep in mind that the working holiday visa application varies between countries.
For example, Australia has a 3-tier system: the first, second, and third Australian working holiday visa (subclass 417 visa). The second working holiday visa is available only to those who currently hold, or who have held, a first working holiday visa. There are also work and holiday visa options (subclass 462 visa).
The UK Youth mobility scheme visa enables young people from 18 and 30 to live and work in the UK for up to 2 years.
Since many applicants often compete for a spot in a very limited time and consider a lottery-type program fairer, Canada has introduced a quota system, so profiles of candidates are drawn randomly from pools.
Countries offering working holiday visas
The working holiday visa is available all over the world:
Africa and Middle East: South Africa, Israel, Turkey
Asia: China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Vietnam
Europe: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom
Central America: Costa Rica
Oceania: Australia, New Zealand
South America: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Urugua.