Going on a Working Holiday Visa or PVT, in French (Working Holiday Program), is increasingly common among young people aged 18 to 30. This practice has many advantages; professional experience as well as the use of a foreign language are often valued on a CV and during job interviews.
What is the Working Holiday Visa?
The Working Holiday Visa is a program which, thanks to agreements between certain countries, allows beneficiaries to travel while working in the host country in order to finance their stay.
The PVT allows you to discover a new country and a culture. For a year, participants have the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in the local culture, unlike a typical vacation. It is also an opportunity to practice a foreign language, whether to improve your English in Australia or learn an Asian language in Japan or South Korea.
The main interest of the Working Holiday is to be able to work in the country you want to discover. First of all, this allows you to accumulate professional experience. Although collecting fruits and vegetables on farms in Australia or managing the reception of an establishment do not necessarily correspond to one’s professional project, these jobs nevertheless demonstrate our adaptability and certain qualities such as endurance or openness. spirit, as many skills as you can highlight in an interview!
The major advantage of the PVT, unlike a tourist visa, is being able to work and therefore finance your trip. Indeed, a year in Canada, Taiwan or Australia can be expensive for a young graduate. Thus, eligibility to work on site allows travelers to find jobs that will finance their trip. Some even leave with savings.
How to obtain the Working Holiday Visa?
The conditions for obtaining a Working Holiday Visa, or Working Holiday Program, are not numerous. It is often quite simple to obtain it, hence its success with young people.
First of all, you must be an adult and there is a maximum age limit to obtain this visa. The age range is therefore 18 to 30 years for the majority of countries, although there are some exceptions. French citizens carrying out a working holiday in Canada can do so up to the age of 35. This is also the case in Australia and Argentina. Conversely, Irish people who wish to go to Japan can only apply for a Working Holiday Visa until they are 25 years old.
It is obviously obligatory to have a valid passport. Depending on our passport, and therefore our nationality, the possibilities of PVT are not the same. Indeed, some countries have agreements that others do not have.
It is also recommended to have Working Holiday Program insurance which can cover possible hospitalization and repatriation costs. Hospitalization costs in certain countries can be very expensive: in Australia, it costs at least €4,000 to have appendicitis surgery. Some countries may also check your criminal record and health status.
Finally, it is strongly recommended to leave with savings. Some countries require proof of a minimum amount in your bank account while others can verify it upon your arrival in the country. These savings are used in particular to cover the costs of the first weeks (cars, accommodation, food) which are often dedicated to looking for a job. The savings depend on the country in which the Working Holiday is carried out, but most beneficiaries of this program leave with an envelope of €1,800 to €4,000.
One of the only factors that can hinder obtaining the PVT are quotas. Some countries only allow a set number of Working Holidays each year. This is the case in Singapore, where 2,000 people are accepted, all nationalities combined.
Australia, Canada… Where to go with the Working Holiday Visa?
There are many destinations for your Working Holiday Program. It is possible to go more or less far away depending on our desires and the culture in which we wish to immerse ourselves.
As mentioned previously, the accessible destinations depend on the passport. The holder of a French passport can request to carry out their PVT in 16 different countries while a Spaniard will only have the possibility of going to 5 countries which are Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Korea South and Japan.
Here is the list of countries accessible to a French person holding a valid passport:
- Australia
- Canada
- New Zealand
- Argentina
- Brazil
- South Korea
- Chile
- Colombia
- Ecuador
- Hong Kong
- Mexico
- Peru
- Russia
- Japan
- Taiwan
- Uruguay
