Working holiday in the UK

From Sarah: "I'm leaving for Paris tomorrow for 8 days then off to do a working holiday in the UK... so that after working the summer (limited funds on the Canadian dollar!) I can travel around Europe."

Sarah's plan was the standard one for a Canadian in 2003, and every leg of it works differently now.

The UK half is still open and is in some ways better. The Youth Mobility Scheme takes Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders and South Koreans aged 18 to 35, up from 30, and now runs up to three years rather than two. No ballot for those four nationalities, so you apply when you like. You need around £2,530 in savings to show at application. Hong Kong and Taiwan applicants go through a ballot in February.

The second half is where it broke. In 2003 a summer of UK work flowed straight into unlimited travel around Europe, because Britain was in the EU and the rest of the continent was one long walk. Since Brexit, a non-EU passport gets ninety days in any rolling one hundred and eighty across the Schengen area, and time spent in the UK does not count towards it. That is the useful half of the news: base yourself in Britain, work as long as your visa allows, and treat the continent as trips of a few weeks at a time rather than one long run. Done that way, Sarah's plan is entirely intact.

Posted 03 May 2003 by Ant in BootsnAll Travel Community · updated by Chris