Visa application, volunteering... There are many things to do before and during a Working Holiday Visa (WHV) . Here are some practical tips to help you get a clearer picture.

Before departure: submit your visa application

Before you begin your stay, please note that when applying for a visa in Canada or New Zealand, you cannot use a third party. We have therefore provided two tutorials ( Canada ; New Zealand ) explaining the application process in detail. Avoid using any websites that claim to handle the application for you for a fee.

For Australia, as with other agencies, we are authorized to process your visa application directly on the Immigration website (if you already have your visa, the price will be deducted from any package you choose). This is a sure way to avoid problems (and save time). If you decide to do it yourself, please note that visa applications can ONLY be made on official government websites.

Volunteering in VVT

Under certain conditions, you can apply for a second one-year Working Holiday Visa in Australia and extend your stay by three months in New Zealand. Some organizations may try to take advantage of this. For example, in Australia, it's possible to extend your stay for another year provided you've worked 88 days in one of the five sectors experiencing labor shortages. This work cannot be considered volunteering since December 1, 2015. It sometimes happens that young people work without pay. This includes WWOOFing or HelpX, where you work a maximum of half a day, with accommodation and meals included.

Stolen check scam

You're planning a road trip to explore a new region. So you decide to search for jobs online and are contacted by email to test payment services like Western Union or MoneyGram. If you agree, you receive a check with your commission and an amount to send to someone abroad. Everything seems to be going according to plan, but then suddenly, a few weeks later, the actual owner of the check disputes the payment and the money is withdrawn from your account. Meanwhile, the scammer has vanished with the money you sent them.

Again, these kinds of problems can be avoided if you:

- Do your research
- Prioritize face-to-face meetings; if the person is abroad, it's always a bad idea.