If you have an itch to travel, but want to experience another country for more than the typical week-long vacation, you have another option available, one that allows you to feel like a local while exploring and working abroad. Intrigued? Maybe it’s time to consider a working holiday visa.
Working holiday visa programs are often reciprocal visa agreements between countries that grant travellers permission to work and travel in participating countries around the world for 12 to 24 months, depending on the country. There’s a lot to consider when you’re thinking of applying, and there are different requirements depending on where you would like to go, but we have you covered. Read on for our one-stop shop for any Canadian thinking about participating in a working holiday program.
What is a working holiday visa?
Working holiday visas allow young adults to live and work in a foreign country for a specific amount of time, usually one to two years. These programs are aimed at young people over the age of 18 but no older than 30 to 35 (it varies from country to country). These agreements aim to allow foreign citizens to enter a country with the main purpose of travel and getting to know a country, while also allowing them work or study while they’re there.
Why consider a working holiday visa?
Long-term travel is an exciting prospect and a working holiday visa can be an ideal way to discover a new place while also gaining valuable life experience, meeting new people and developing new skills. Taking a long backpacking trip is one thing, but having a working holiday visa means you can actively support yourself as you travel, taking some of the financial pressure off a longer stay somewhere. Maybe you’ll find yourself pouring pints in a pub in Dublin, or stocking the shelves of a Parisian bookstore – whatever you end up doing and wherever you end up doing it, you’ll be making amazing memories.
Where can Canadians do a working holiday?
Canadians are pretty lucky in that we have the ability to apply for working holiday visas in 29 countries, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Chile, Costa Rica, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and more. Notably not included? The United States. The U.S. does not participate in many of these reciprocal programs, however, Canadians have access to similar opportunities through the organization SWAP Working Holidays, formerly known as Student Work Abroad Program (SWAP), which was originally founded as a way to help Canadian students find temporary work abroad. As international regulations opened, SWAP was able to expand to help young people under the age of 35, student or not, find international work opportunities. SWAP Working Holidays allows full-time students, or recent graduates who were studying full-time within the past 9 months, to apply for visas to work in the United States.
How do you apply for a working holiday visa?
So, you’ve chosen a country and you’re ready to apply. You’ll need to apply through your chosen country’s government. The nitty-gritty specifics of what you’ll need to do vary between countries, but you’ll need to apply either online or by physically filling out an application and mailing it to the consulate in your country of choice. Generally speaking, you’ll need to have a valid Canadian passport, passport-sized photos and a filled out application for your chosen country. Each country accepts a specific number of applicants annually, and an application can take up to a month or more to be processed.
What are the requirements for a working holiday visa?
Application requirements come down to three main criteria: Valid passport, age and proof of support funds so that your host country can feel confident you have enough money to support yourself while you try to find a job. There is also an application fee you’ll have to pay, which varies from country to country. To prove you have the support funds required, you can go to your bank and ask for a statement or a letter showing you have those funds available. While this is not always asked for as part of the application process, you will generally require proof of sufficient funds while passing through immigration upon entering your host country.
Another requirement to keep in mind is that, once you’ve applied for and been granted a working holiday visa for a certain country, you won’t be able to apply for one again in that same country.
Other requirements vary from country to country, but a few other common requirements may include: Proof of a return ticket (or proof of funds to buy one), medical insurance for the duration of your stay, proof of health, proof that you have no criminal record and that you won’t be travelling with any dependents.
Here’s a quick breakdown of age, support fund requirements and length of stay by country. Click on the links for each to go to the individual country’s visa page, since details can be subject to change, and to get the fine print on any other specifics you might need. Note that all funds listed are in Canadian dollars.
Australia: Be between the ages of 18 and 30 and have $5,162 in support funds; visa valid for up to 12 months.
Belgium: Be between the ages of 18 and 30 and have $3,676 in support funds; visa valid for up to 12 months.
Costa Rica: Be between the ages of 18 and 35 and have $2,500 in support funds; visa valid for up to 12 months.
Chile: Be between the ages of 18 and 35 and have proof of sufficient funds (no specific amount given); visa valid for up to 12 months.
Czech Republic: Be between the ages of 18 and 35 and have $4,000 in support funds; visa valid for up to 12 months.
Denmark: Be between the ages of 18 and 35 and have $2,959 in support funds; visa valid for up to 12 months.
Estonia: Be between the ages of 18 and 35 and have $2,500 in support funds; visa valid for up to 12 months.
France: Be between the ages of 18 and 35 and have $3,000 in support funds; visa valid for up to 12 months (with the possibility of a 12-month extension while in France).
Germany: Be between the ages of 18 and 35 and, rather than support funds, a signed declaration that you have enough money to support yourself while in Germany; visa valid for up to 12 months.
Greece: Be between the ages of 18 and 35 and have $2,637 in support funds; visa valid for up to 12 months.
Hong Kong: Be between the ages of 18 and 30 and have $2,571 in support funds; visa valid for up to 12 months.
Ireland: Be between the ages of 18 and 35 and have $2,500 in support funds; visa valid for up to 24 months.
Italy: Be between the ages of 18 and 35 and have $3,500 in support funds; visa valid for up to 12 months.
Japan: Be between the ages of 18 and 30 and have $2,500 in support funds; visa valid for up to 12 months.
Korea: Be between the ages of 18 and 30 and have $3,533 in support funds; visa valid for up to 12 months.
Latvia: Be between the ages of 18 and 35 and have $1,800 in support funds; visa valid for up to 12 months.
Lithuania: Be between the ages of 18 and 35 and have $1,017 in support funds; visa valid for up to 12 months.
Mexico: Be between the ages of 18 and 29 and have $2,500 in support funds; visa valid for up to 12 months.
Netherlands: Be between the ages of 18 and 30 and while there is no support fund amount given you should have enough funds to buy a return ticket home; visa valid for up to 12 months.
New Zealand: Be between the ages of 18 and 35 and have $4,114 in support funds; visa valid for up to 23 months.
Norway: Be between the ages of 18 and 35 and have $5,040 in support funds (enough to live in Norway for the first three months of your stay); visa valid for up to 12 months.
Poland: Be between the ages of 18 and 35 and have support funds of the equivalent of $35/day; visa valid for up to 12 months.
Slovakia: Be between the ages of 18 and 35 and have $2,500 in support funds; visa valid for up to 12 months.
Spain: Be between the ages of 18 and 35 and have proof of sufficient funds (no specific amount given); visa valid for up to 12 months.
Sweden: Be between the ages of 18 and 30 and have $2,214 in support funds; visa valid for up to 12 months.
Taiwan: Be between the ages of 18 and 35 and have $2,500 in support funds; visa valid for up to 12 months.
Ukraine: Be between the ages of 18 and 35 and have $2,500 in support funds; visa valid for up to 12 months.
United Kingdom: Be between the ages of 18 and 30 and have $3,600 in support funds; visa valid for up to 24 months.
Would you be interested in working abroad while travelling? Let us know in the comments below or reach out to us on Twitter.
Featured image: iStock Photo/Xavier Arnau
