Working Holiday Visas: Your Gateway to Work and Adventure

While travelling you may have encountered young people from foreign nations working odd jobs. An Australian at a ski hill in Canada, a Korean working on a farm in New Zealand, or a Dutch person working in a bar in Hong Kong. You probably thought, “That’s strange” and went on with your trip. But all these circumstances are people using working holiday visas to travel and experience a new culture while making money at the same time.

Introducing: The Working Holiday Visa

Definition: A working holiday visa is a type of visa that allows young adults to work and travel in a foreign country for a limited period usually up to one year. The main goal of working holiday visas is to allow travellers to experience a new culture while being able to work entry-level jobs to fund their journey.

Age Requirements

Working holiday visas are typically only available to young adults. The exact age depends on the country that you’re applying for. For example, the working holiday visa for Japan requires you to be between the age of 18 and 30. While Canada’s working holiday visa is between 18 and 35. It depends on the country but you can expect the average age requirement to be between 18 and 30.

Working Holiday: Accepted Nationalities

Not all countries can apply for working holiday visas either only a select few. The countries that are part of the working holiday visa programs are as follows.

• 🇦🇺 Australia
• 🇦🇹 Austria
• 🇨🇦 Canada
• 🇨🇱 Chile
• 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
• 🇩🇰 Denmark
• 🇫🇷 France
• 🇩🇪 Germany
• 🇭🇰 Hong Kong
• 🇮🇪 Ireland
• 🇮🇹 Italy
• 🇯🇵 Japan
• 🇲🇽 Mexico
• 🇳🇱 Netherlands
• 🇳🇿 New Zealand
• 🇳🇴 Norway
• 🇵🇱 Poland
• 🇵🇹 Portugal
• 🇸🇬 Singapore
• 🇰🇷 South Korea
• 🇪🇸 Spain
• 🇸🇪 Sweden
• 🇹🇼 Taiwan
• 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
• 🇺🇸 USA

On top of these countries being the only countries offering these types of visas. Not all countries accept the same applicants on this list either.

Different Names for Working Holiday Visas

To make it slightly more confusing not all countries call working holiday visas “working holiday visas” they often can go by different names. It depends on which countries visa you are applying for. Some other names you might see for working holiday visas include.

• Working Holiday Scheme
• Working Holiday Maker
• Youth Mobility Program
• Working and Holiday Visa
• Holiday and Work Visa
• Working Travel Visa
• Working Holiday Program
• Working Vacation Visa
• Work and Travel Visa

Bilateral Agreements

Working holiday visas are bilateral agreements between two countries. So if Canada agrees with Japan it means that a Canadian can go work in Japan and a Japanese person can go work in Canada. This is why there aren’t perfect matches for every country on the list. For example, the United States 🇺🇸 only has agreements with South Korea🇰🇷, Australia🇦🇺, Ireland🇮🇪, New Zealand🇳🇿, Canada🇨🇦, and Singapore🇸🇬. It does not have agreements with the other listed countries. If you are wanting to work from a country without a working holiday visa. You will need to apply for either a regular employment visa or a digital nomad visa if you want to learn more about digital nomad visas you can read our article here https://yonderpreneur.com/what-are-digital-nomad-visas/

Insurance

When applying for working holiday visas you will often be required to have health insurance coverage. Just on the unlucky chance that you become injured or ill. Many jobs that look for people on visas are often laborious work where it’s more common to have an injury than an office job for example. It’s a good idea to have some sort of insurance coverage. Yonderpreneur has partnered with Insured Nomads. Tristan Powell the Yonderpreneur has used Insured Nomads and was quite satisfied with their product. This is an affiliate link so we will make a small commission off any purchases.

Benefits of Working Holiday Visas

Cultural Immersion

Similar to what we have said about digital nomad visas. Working holiday visas provide an amazing opportunity to learn and embrace a new culture. You are in one place much longer than the usual tourist. You will participate in the local economy by buying from the local markets and restaurants. Additionally, it is a Yonderpreneur belief that working environments are the best place to make friends with local people and other internationals.

Financial Benefits

It is no secret that being a tourist can be hard on the wallet. Vacations are expensive. When you are on a working holiday visa you are not actually on vacation your working. It is common for people to assume that travelling and vacationing are one and the same. When they’re actually two completely separate things.

On a working holiday visa, you will most likely have a job for most of the duration of your stay in said country. Subsequently, if you’re working a job it’s safe to assume you will be being paid to do it. The pay really depends on the job that you performing. For example, some agriculture jobs in Australia can pay very well. But since you are now being paid you don’t have to rely on whatever savings you built up before your trip to enjoy it. As long as you like your job the financial security actually puts you in a more relaxed state of mind than you would be on a vacation.

Possible Careers and Extensions

If you are a competent and valuable worker there is also the opportunity that your employer will want you to work longer. Assuming this is your scenario they would have to offer you a more prestigious job that will often come with higher pay. Provided you get this opportunity. Your working holiday visa can turn into a highly sought-after employment visa. With even more benefits than a working holiday visa.

Popular Destinations and Other Working Holiday Visa Requirements

Popular Destinations

The most popular destinations you see people doing working holiday visas in are Australia, Canada, the UK, and Japan.

🇦🇺 Australia

Australia because the weather is beautiful as long as you like hot, beautiful beaches high pay and the opportunity to learn English. However, jobs in Australia are often laborious and difficult.

🇨🇦 Canada

Canada is similar to Australia but a lot colder and not as popular as Australia the pay is usually lower the climate is less appealing but a safe country with an easy-to-understand English accent.

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

The United Kingdom offers high pay, the value of the pound is “usually” fairly high in the world, the mother country of the English language and although the climate is average at best… you are in close proximity to the rest of Europe for out-of-country travel.

🇯🇵 Japan

Japan offers a “Jack of all trades” for all the things people are looking for. Good climate, average pay, and excellent food. Japan is also the only popular destination country that doesn’t have English as its main language. People getting working holiday visas for Japan are most likely looking for distinct cultural learning opportunities.

Other Visa Requirements

Early in the blog, we discussed the main requirement that most Working Holiday visas have. That being the age limit and your nationality. But some of the other requirements that countries ask you to have for applying for a digital nomad visa are in the following list.

• Valid Passport (pretty obvious)
• Sufficient Funds – Enough money in your bank account to fund yourself for a short period of time in the country
• Health Examination – Doctors note saying you’re mostly healthy
• Return Ticket – a ticket proving you will leave the country at the end of your visa whether its a return to your country or another country
• Health Insurance – Coverage if you are injured or fall in the country

Tips for a Successful Working Holiday Visa

1. Research the job market – It is really important to have some knowledge of the job market before you even apply for your visa. If you can have a job lined up for you even before you apply for the visa. There are recruiters out there who specialize in finding you a job before you even apply for the visa.
2. Secure Accommodation – Often with working holiday jobs they will provide you with accommodation especially if you’re working in hospitality or agriculture. If it’s not provided you should try to find somewhere to stay at least in the short term. When Tristan Powell worked in Amsterdam he had to live in a hotel for the first 3 months. He failed, and simply could not find anywhere to live in the city. This could have been avoided if he spent more time researching the market before making the move.
3. Balancing Work and Experience – When living abroad and you obviously want to experience and learn about the culture. You don’t want to spend so much time experiencing a culture that it becomes a detriment to your job because you could end up with no job and no money cutting your working holiday short. But you do not want work to much and not experience the culture. You could have just stayed home if all you wanted to do was work. Establishing a healthy balance to have a rewarding working holiday.
4. Banking – Figure out how you will be receiving your money from your job. It’s likely that your employer will not be able to pay you directly to your home bank account. So you need to make a plan whether that means you open a bank account in your working holiday visa country. Although you could also use a digital bank like Wise. That has multiple international bank accounts all in one account.

This is an affiliate link where we will earn a commission. Regardless we are huge supporters of the Wise product and have been using it for years. Having a wise account gives you a bank account in the United States 🇺🇸, Australia🇦🇺, United Kingdom🇬🇧, European Union🇪🇺, New Zealand🇳🇿, Canada🇨🇦. All countries that offer working holiday visas.

Conclusion

It is surprising to us the small number of people in the world that actually take part in a working holiday visa in their life. Due to this reason, we believe it’s our duty to encourage young adults to take advantage of working holiday visas. While they still can before they age out of their time of eligibility. To clarify we believe that working holiday visas are possibly one of the greatest opportunities for personal growth in young adults.

In conclusion, if you are interested in a specific working holiday visa you can check out our article written on the specific working holiday visa. Working holiday visas are an extremely underrated way of travelling and arguably the best way to travel when you are still young.

If you want to work with Yonderpreneur to help you through your working holiday visa process you can also schedule a meeting. We are always happy to help someone change their life through travel.

Thanks for Reading and Venture Beyond Borders, Yonderpreneurs.