UK Working Holiday: Guide For Australian & Kiwi Travellers
Youth Mobility Scheme
Australia, being one of the countries that have a special reciprocal agreement with the UK, enables its passport holders to apply for the Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme, previously known as the UK Working Holiday Visa programme.
This allows young people from Australia to live, work and travel in the UK for a period of up to 24 months.
Application to the Youth Mobility Scheme
To apply, you must meet the required score of 50 on a point-based assessment process. Points are allocated based on nationality, age and maintenance, which refer to the amount of cash funds that you have during application. To reach 50 points, you should score 30 on nationality, which would not be a problem since Australia is one of the participating countries in the Working Holiday programme. You will score 10 points in the age attribute if you are at least 18 years old and below 31 years old when you apply for your visa and another 10 in the maintenance attribute if you have a cash fund of at least £1800.
Other conditions of the Youth Mobility Scheme
You must also meet certain visa conditions for your application to be approved.
- A Working Holiday or Youth Mobility Visa is only for a one-time use, which means you can no longer re-apply if you have previously completed or spent time in the UK with a working holiday visa.
- As a visa holder, you are allowed to stay in the UK for up to 2 years and work during the entire time that you are in the country. You are allowed to undertake any kind of work, except as a professional sports person or a doctor in training. Setting up your own business is also prohibited.
- Upon the expiration of your UK visa, you must leave the country. It is entirely up to you to switch to another visa category, but you won’t be able to apply for the Youth mobility visa again. You can come back as a visitor instead.
- If you are on a working visa in Finland, you can directly switch to the Youth mobility scheme provided that you have already spent 6 months in Finland. You can then travel to the UK, without having to return to Australia. The same thing is true if your point of origin is Denmark. But you have to go to the British Embassy in
Copenhagen for fingerprinting. - If you hold a British passport, you don’t need to apply for the Youth Mobility Scheme, but remember to register with the proper authorities for tax purposes.
With visa concerns out of the way, it is now time to search for jobs in the UK or London. Like anywhere else around the world, finding employment can be done online. Placement firms, such as Under31, specialise in providing working holiday jobs for Australians anywhere in the world.
Or, you can find jobs through the National Trust where you can specify the type of holiday work you are interested in, the length of time you want to work, and where. Start with a broad search, as availability may be limited with certain criteria. What is great about using National Trust is that there are several activities you can choose from, such as Farming, Construction, Historic Houses, Event, Gardening, and Special Interest.
Because you don’t need a sponsor to apply in a Youth Mobility Scheme, acquiring a visa is fairly easy, especially if you meet all the requirements. For further advice regarding employability and taxation in the UK check out our available services.Don’t forget, if you’re on a Working Holiday Visa in the UK you may be owed tax back, so get in touch with us today, to find out what you could be owed. Or for more information visit www.taxback.co.uk