UK Working Visas

Applying for an Australian Working Visa from the UK is laughably easy, according to most of the UK backpackers I’ve spoken to. I’ve heard reports of pommies applying online and being told within hours if they have had their Visa issued.

The process is not nearly as easy for Aussies headed to the UK, as I found out.

Here’s some handy hints I’ve picked up from my experience for Australians applying for a UK Working Visa.

• Expect delays
  Applications take around 25 days to process apparently, but it can take longer. Don’t leave it till the last two weeks before you leave. Give a few months lead time.
• You WILL have to surrender your passport
  I thought this was a mistake on the website, but you will have post your passport to Canberra. I never let me passport out of my sight, and the idea of sending my passport through the absurdly unreliable AusPost completely confounded me. But, it needs to be done apparently. As I am leaving for Japan in 2 weeks I can’t give up my passport, so no Visa for me.
• The cost of applying is refundable UP TO A POINT
  If you choose to give up on your application do it BEFORE the consulate take your biometric details. Anytime after that and you’ve lost your money, no exceptions. This would have been handy for me to know before they took my fingerprints.
• You can only get a Tier 5 Youth Mobility Visa from inside Australia
  Pretty much says it all. You can’t get it issued outside your home country. Not even if you’ve started the application and its all over apart from the the shouting.
• TWO WEEKS?!
  You have only two weeks from starting the application to when Canberra need to receive your documention. Don’t expect that you can start it up again in a few months, or in a years time. You WILL have to pay another $280 bucks and go through all this shit again.

I hope these tips help anyone looking to apply for a UK Working VISA. They sure would have helped me! At this point I have no UK working Visa, and my Italian Citizenship is still lost in the thick forest of red-tape, slackness and bureaucracy that is the Italian Immigration System. Looks like I’ll be funding my entire trip out of savings.