The shit blog of Paul Chris Jones

I've been on a working holiday visa in Canada for almost a year now. They're for 18-30-year-olds (I can't say if it's the same for citizens of other countries - I can't be bothered to look it up, to be honest).

The main website is International Experience Canada (IEC). It's the name of the Canadian organisation, or something.

The visa is called a working holiday visa, because you have a work permit (the working side of it) but you don't have to work (the holiday part). They're a completely unique type of visa, perfect for gap years and travellers. You can spend the entire time without a job if you want, or you can work as much as you like.

You can actually have 2 of these visas in your lifetime. Each visa lasts 1 year, so you can live in Canada with a working holiday visa for up to 2 years.

You don't need a specific profession, either, or even a degree, I believe. As long as you're within the age range, and you fulfil a few more basic criteria. The other major thing you'll need is proof you have at least $2,500 (the IEC says it's so you can maintain yourself in the first few months here).

Applying

Entry for applications open in early April, each year, usually. Check the IEC website earlier than this to be ready. In 2012 they closed for applications in late May, after an open period of just 2 months. You have to send your application in this 2 month time window. There are around 5,000 places year for the UK.

The process of applying is fairly difficult the first time around when you're not used to it. The IEC will warn you that if you fail to fill in any part of the form properly, then your application will be returned (by which time perhaps all the visa allocations will be filled - which means you have to wait until next year to try again). Very scary.

Follow the official IEC step-by-step guide very carefully when preparing your application. I won't go everything step-by-step with you - I'm too lazy for that. Most of the forms are fairly easy to fill in, and the documents easy to obtain - e.g. a CV, and passport-sized photos of yourself. However, by far the most difficult thing to obtain is an ACPO police certificate.

ACPO Police Certification

Getting a police certificate is an entirely different process, but it's required in order to get the working holiday visa.

The application form for certificates can be found here.

It takes about 2 weeks to get a certificate, so the best thing to do is get one before the IEC opens their applications for visas. This way you'll be ready to send off your visa application as soon as the scheme opens. (Though in an emergency you can pay an extra £35 and you'll receive your certificate much quicker.) Certificates cost £45.

ACPO will want to see 2 original proofs of address.

"Proofs of address can be anything official that has reached you at your current address and bears your name. We accept copies of documents from "official bodies" e.g. bank statements, letters from a GP, letters from a school or college, utility bills, phone bills etc. Ideally, they should be for different months and in either case, should not be more than six months old".

This step was actually quite difficult for me, as I receive bank statements online, and I wasn't receiving bills because the landlord paid them. You can request to your bank that they send you a printed bank statement, though this may cost up to £10 (money-grabbing b*****ds). This is why I now keep any official correspondence that's sent to me (correspondence is a nice word to type, by the way)..

Annoyingly, you have to get part of your application signed by someone of professional status (e.g. a teacher, dentist, doctor) who has known you for at least 2 years. I sent this part of my form to my former form tutor (that's a lot of 'forms' in that sentence) and a second copy to my dentist, asking if they could complete it, as well as a prepaid return envelope. Both complied, but I suppose it would have been easier just to have gone to see them in person.

On the form, request an additional copy of the certificate. It's only another £6. You won't get the copy back that you send to the IEC, so having a spare is a good idea in case employers want to see it. The real reason it's good to have another copy is, if you want to extend your visa next year you can use this certificate. They'll accept it if it's less than 12 months old, I think. It's easier than applying for a UK police certificate whilst in Canada (though I suppose not more much difficult to be honest.)

Entering Canada

The UK airport you depart from will just need to see your passport and plane ticket - nothing unusual. It's when you get to the Canadian airport you'll need to have certain documents ready. First you'll pass through immigration - you'll need to tell them that you have a work visa that you need to collect. Then you'll be sent to a different area where you'll be given the physical piece of paper that's your visa. It's here you may need to show:

• A bank statement showing you have more than the equivalent of $2500 (Canadian dollars) in your account.
• Insurance documents showing you have travel insurance for the next 12 months (Ace UK Travel Insurance was the cheapest insurer I could find, at about £250 a year, and they're not necessarily bad, either).
• A copy of your welcome letter (you'll have received this by email when your visa application was accepted)

Applying For Your Second Visa

Unless you have prior plans to return to the UK or if you found your Canadian experience particularly harrowing, you'll likely want to stay a second year. The application the second time round is no different than the first, but hopefully you'll find it easier due to the confidence of experience.

To activate the second visa, it's bizarre because you'll have to leave Canada and re-enter. There is no office in each city you can do this at instead. People actually travel to the US just to immediately turn around and reenter Canada. This is called flagpoling (like dancing around a flagpole?). There's a post that describes a typical situation here.

Permanant Residency

This is another 'game' for me to look into playing, but from what I've read so far, you can't apply for citizenship just because you've lived in Canada for 2 years on working holiday visas. You need to be

1. skilled, and
2. with two years of skilled work experience here, or an employer sponsoring you.

Since I can't be bothered to write anymore, I'll plagiarise someone else.

There are many ways to apply for Permanent Residency and sometimes it depends what job you have. I’ll be applying through the Provincial Nominee Program which requires you to have a skilled job and an employer who will put in an application for you, and another population is the Canadian Experience Class, which just requires you to have two full years skilled work experience (no employer support necessary). Have a look at https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/index.asp.

This post really is to calm your fears about getting this visa. People will tell you 'it's such a big thing you're going to Canada!', but really, it's not. It's very easy. Please try a working holiday visa at least once, as they're very fun. Don't let fear or apathy stop you. You will not die in Canada. Good luck on your visa application!