1st Contact UK Visas

UK Working Holiday Visa

To be eligible to come to the UK as a working holidaymaker you must be between the ages of 18 and 30 and hold a passport from one of the participating Commonwealth countries. In addition, your intention should be to take an extended holiday in the UK for up to 2 years but to work for no more than 12 months. You must never have been issued a working holiday visa before and must intend to leave the UK at the end of your visa.

Switching visa status while in the UK from a working holiday visa is allowed into certain visas only, which does not include the new Tier 1 visa. It is not permitted to have a dependant spouse attached to this visa type. However you may be accompanied by a dependent child as long as the child is under 5 years old and will not reach the age of 5 before your visa expires.

Please note that if you are applying for this visa from South Africa or Australia, you should contact our Cape Town or Melbourne office.

The Home Office United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA) website defines the 12 month working restriction on the working holiday as follows:

“… they may not engage in business or provide services as a professional sportsperson, and they may only engage in work for a maximum period of 12 months in total throughout their stay. They may choose when to work and when to take their holiday breaks as they wish, but those who exceed the maximum 12 month period of work will be in breach of their conditions.”

This policy does not define the restriction further (it does not, for instance, specify how many working days there are in the 12 month period).

The UKBA site defines engaging in business while on a working holiday as follows:

“The restriction on engaging in business does not rule out all self-employed activity where the latter is clearly temporary in nature, but any activity which involves commitments such as investment in premises, expensive equipment or the employment of staff is to be regarded as activity for which a person would be required to qualify under the Rules relating to business.”

Participating countries