Working Holidaymakers

This page is a guide only to the most frequently asked questions about working holidaymakers.

What is a working holidaymaker?

The scheme allows for a person aged between 17 and 30 (inclusive) to come to the United Kingdom for an extended holiday for up to two years. You can work but only provided this is incidental to the holiday. The holiday should be the primary reason for your stay.

Do I qualify?

You qualify as a working holidaymaker if you:

are a Commonwealth citizen of a country listed in Appendix 3 of the Immigration Rules, a British Dependant Territories citizen, British Overseas citizen or a British National (Overseas)
are aged 17 to 30 years of age (inclusive)
plan to come to the UK for an extended holiday, and intend to take employment as part of your holiday for no more than 12 months during your stay
do not intend to engage in business or work as a professional sports person during your stay
are single or married to a person who also qualifies as a working holidaymaker and you plan to take the working holiday together
do not have any dependent children who are aged five years or over or who will be five before you complete your holiday
can support and accommodate yourself in the UK without help from public funds
have not spent time in the United Kingdom on a previous working holidaymaker visa, and
plan to leave the UK at the end of your holiday.

You must get a visa before you travel to the UK.

How long can I stay?

You can stay in the UK for up to two years as a working holidaymaker. The Home Office will count any time you spend outside the UK during that period as part of the permitted stay, and there is no provision for an extension of stay as a working holidaymaker to be granted beyond the validity of the visa on which you enter the United Kingdom.

How much and what work can I do?

You must intend to take work in the UK only as an incidental part of your holiday, so you must intend to spend no more than 12 months working, and to spend the rest of your stay on holiday.

You can take most types of work including voluntary work, but you may not engage in any business, or provide services as a professional sportsperson. (Any other type of professional work is permitted.) You can choose when to work and when to take your holiday breaks as you wish, but you must not work for more than a total of 12 months or you will be breaking the conditions of your stay. NB: People issued with a working holidaymaker visa before 8 February 2005 do not have any restrictions upon the amount or type of work that they may do.

Do I need a visa as a working holidaymaker?

You must get a visa as a working holidaymaker before you travel to the UK.

How do I apply for a visa?

You will need to fill in a visa application form VAF I (non-settlement). You can get a form free of charge from your nearest British mission overseas where there is a visa section, or from the Home Office website.

What will I need to make my application?

You will need:

A visa application form VAF I (non-settlement), which you have filled in correctly
Your passport or travel document
Two recent passport-sized (45mm x 35mm) colour photographs of yourself. These should be:
taken against a light coloured background
unmounted, clear and of good quality
printed on normal photographic paper
full face and without sunglasses, hat or other head covering unless you were this for ethnic or religious reasons
the visa fee. This cannot be refunded, and you must normally pay it in the local currency of the country where you are applying.

You may also need to show:

evidence of how much money you have
evidence of any travel plans you have made, such as a provisional travel booking.

How much money will you need to qualify as a working holidaymaker?

You must be able to support and accommodate yourself adequately without recourse to State public funds. You must be able to show that you have enough money to pay the cost of at least your outward journey. You must also be able to show that you have enough money for your accommodation and living expenses for the first 2 months after arrival or for at least 1 month if you can show that you have arranged a job in advance which will adequately cover accommodation and living expenses.

What will happen when you make the application?

The Entry Clearance Officer will check that they have all the information they need to make a decision. If they need more information they may ask you to come back with additional documents before they can accept your application.

Once they have accepted your application they may need to interview you.

You may stay in the UK as a working holidaymaker for two years from the date you enter: You should tell the Entry Clearance Officer when you plan to travel so that your visa can start from that date. The visa can start any time up to three months from the date of issue.

What are public funds?

If you come to live or stay in the United Kingdom as a holidaymaker, you must be able to support and accommodate yourself without claiming certain state benefits. These are:

Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA)
Housing and homelessness assistance
Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit
Working Tax Credit
Child Benefit
Attendance Allowance
Disability Living Allowance
Carer's Allowance
Child Tax Credit
A social fund payment

Can I extend my stay as a working holidaymaker?

You cannot extend your stay as a working holidaymaker. But you may be eligible to switch into work permit employment after 12 months in the UK where your occupation is on the list of designated shortage occupations. Working Holidaymakers may also switch into Innovators and the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP).

Although every effort is made to ensure the information in this page is accurate and up to date, it should not be treated as a complete and authoritative statement of the law and does not constitute legal advice - we cannot be held liable for any inaccuracies and their consequences. The information in this page is written for people resident in, or affected by, the laws of the United Kingdom only.