Working holiday visa

A working holiday visa is a residence permit that allows travellers to undertake employment (and sometimes study) in the country issuing the visa to supplement their travel funds. For many young people, holding a working holiday visa enables them to experience living in a foreign country without having to find work sponsorship in advance or go on an expensive university exchange program. Working holidays are commonly mentioned in backpacker literature due to the groups sharing some similarities. Most working holiday visas are offered under reciprocal agreements between certain countries to encourage travel and cultural exchange between their citizens.

In some countries there is growing criticism around working holiday visas because governments are increasingly linking them to labour strategies rather than centring cultural exchange. This is often achieved by tweaking mobility infrastructures such as visa rules to direct working holiday makers toward certain regions and jobs. This often increases working holiday makers' precarity which can make them more vulnerable to harms such as exploitation and sexual harassment

There are often several restrictions on this type of visa:

  • Many are intended for young travellers and, as such, have an age restriction (usually from 18 to 30 or 35).
  • There are usually limits on the type of employment taken or the time the traveller can be employed.
  • The visa holder is expected to have sufficient funds to live on while seeking employment.
  • The visa holder should have some kind of health or travel insurance for the duration of the stay unless the country will cover it.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.