Have you ever heard about the Working Holiday Visa? If you haven’t, from now on will be the only thing you can think about. This Visa is the main reason behind all the gap years taken. But… what is it? Well, a Working Holiday Visa (WHV) is a visa that allows you to work and travel in a foreign country. And, trust me, there’s no better way of getting to know a country than doing both.

Since European people are allowed to work and travel freely all around Europe, sometimes we forget the value of having the right to do it. But, what about the people from other continents? What happens when we are the ones that want to go to another continent? Well, here is where lies the true essence of the WHV. Not all the countries have a WHV available and all the requirements are different depending on which WHV you want to get.

Some countries where you can get a WHV:

European countries such as Germany, Andorra, Portugal, Spain, Denmark, France, Austria, Ireland, Hungary, Norway, Poland, Sweden and The Netherlands. As a European citizen, travelling and working in these countries is not a problem, and you won’t need a WHV. Being a European citizen makes it easier to travel and work in other European countries.

Countries from different continents with Working Holiday Visa are New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Mexico.

Related Post: 10 Lessons I Learned From Travelling Asia

Some (general) facts that you should know about WHV’s

1. They allow you to work and travel up to 12 months.

2. While your visa is valid, you can enter and exit the country as many times as you want.

3. It depends on the country, but generally, the people who can apply must be between 18 and 30–35 years.

4. Some countries (under a few requirements) will allow you to extend your visa for a couple of months (NZ) or even for a year (Australia).

5. You can only apply for it once in your life for each country. If you are rejected, you won’t be able to apply again in the future.

6. Each country has limited quotas for WHV every year. For example, there are only 200 visas in NZ for Spanish people.

7. You can only apply under the nationality of your passport. It doesn’t matter if you are a Portuguese living in Italy, the only thing that matters is your passport.

The Working Holiday Visa agreements are completely different for each country. What does it mean? For example, Spanish people are only allowed to get a for New Zealand, Australia, Japan and Canada; and will be able to apply for South Korea very soon. WHV’s change depending on your country of origin. For example, while Spanish people living in NZ can only work for up to 6 months, Mexicans, Germans and Italians can work up to 12 months.

Have you thought about doing a gap year and taking a WHV? Let us know in the comments, and remember: if you need a place to stay abroad, search on Uniplaces for the best deals!