Working Holiday Visas - Advice Needed!

Member since 08 April 2010

Helen_from_ukNew member22 January 2011 18:10:33

Hi Everyone,

I have a number of questions about working holiday visas and hope someone can help.

I'm currently in Canada on a working holiday visa that runs out on July 2nd and I can't extend it - I really don't want to go back to the UK so see Australia as a good option for the coming year.

Firstly I would like to know if its possible to apply while in Canada, I've read through the govt. advice webiste and it seems that it is but how do you go about getitng UK police certificates / character references?? (I already have a police certificate from Feb 2010 that I used for Canada but I'm assuming this will be out of date now?)

Also if and when I get to Australia how hard is it to survive? Does anyone have an experience they can share about how they found it? I have plenty of experience in retail and customer service as well as banking so is it realistic that I can expect to find a job?

I currently live in a shared appartment with another girl and am wondering how much something similar in the heart of Sydney would cost and if I could realistically afford it on a retail wage?

As I would be making the move totally by myself I would also like to know how easy it is to make friends and if there are lots of expat groups over there? Are Australians welcoming to foreign workers?

All advice and comments greatly appreciated!!

Helen

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Guestposter14 Guest

Guestposter14Guest27 January 2011 08:09:52

Hi, I'm not sure if this is really relavant as I'm not from the UK, but I applied for my police checks from the US while I was in Australia, and I mailed, faxed, or emailed (depending on what the police service preferred) the appropriate identification and documents to them, and I didn't have any problem having the certificates mailed to where I specified. The rules may be different in the UK, though.

It's not hard to survive in Australia as unemployment is low and retail jobs are easy to get. If you do your job and help out, they seem to like you. It's easy to make friends if you like to go out for drinks or to clubs, or if you're into barbecues, or if you like to watch the sports that are popular here. Drinking is kinda big here. To afford a place, you'd probably have to share with more than one person if you're on a retail wage, unless you've got substantial savings put away.

Hope this helps somewhat.