Work and Travel

Would you like to travel to a country and earn a little extra money for your travel budget at the same time? Then Work and Travel could be just the thing for you. With this programme, you can travel through a country for up to 12 months and take on short-term jobs during this time. You can decide for yourself when and how long you want to work. In other words, you can work for a few weeks and then travel again for a few weeks.

Are you wondering why you should be interested in Work and Travel? We have five convincing reasons for you.

You can definitely improve your language skills with Work and Travel in a foreign-speaking country. Once you live there, you will pick up the respective language very quickly or perfect the language skills you already have. In the case of Work and Travel in Canada, for example, you can even learn two languages at once – English and French.

In a foreign country, you can also immerse yourself in completely new cultures and gain many new valuable experiences and impressions. For example, if you Work and Travel in New Zealand, you can get acquainted with the oldest surviving culture in the world, that of the Māori.

With Work and Travel, you will also gain experience in fields of employment in which you would probably never have worked otherwise, and thus gain interesting insights. Maybe you have always wanted to work on a farm or ranch? Then Work and Travel in Australia could be just the thing.

However, with Work and Travel you will also gain vital experience that serves your personal development. How do you navigate unfamiliar environments? How do you deal with challenging situations? You are sure to make many new friends in other countries and establish connections that will last a lifetime.

Are you toying with the idea of emigrating to another country? Then Work and Travel can be an important step in your decision-making. Live and work in the country of your dreams for a while and find out if it really is all you imagined it to be.

You can organise your Work and Travel experience yourself or have an agency plan everything. The advantage of organising it yourself is that it is cheaper, since you will not have to pay agency fees, and you also have more freedom in planning.  

Would you rather plan your Work and Travel trip yourself? In that case, you will have to take care of the following:

• Visa application with all documents and their translations (outside EU)
• Credit card
• Medical examination and vaccinations
• Overseas insurance
• Translation of your driving licence or an international driving licence (outside the EU)
• Flight tickets, initial accommodation, booking a rental car
• Mobile phone SIM Card
• Bank account
• Tax number (outside EU)

For countries outside the EU, you are going to need a visa for your Work and Travel trip to be possible at all. In most countries, this is known as a “Working Holiday Visa”, but different countries have different requirements. In most cases, this visa allows you to stay in the country for up to 12 months and live and work there. You will also find that there are often regulations on how long you can have the same job. This means that you are only allowed to take on short-term work for some weeks before you have to look for a new job again. However, this is usually a good idea anyway, as you will want to see as much of the country as you can and will be looking for jobs in different areas.

If you want to apply for a working holiday visa, you must meet these requirements:

• Age: You must be at least of legal age for Work and Travel. Most Work and Travel visas also require that you are not older than 30 or 35 years old.
• Police clearance certificate: In addition, you usually need a flawless police clearance certificate and must not have any previous convictions.
• Financial reserves: In most cases, you must be able to demonstrate that you have a certain financial cushion. In addition, you have to be able to show that you have enough funds for a return ticket or already have one.
• Health certificate: Sometimes a health certificate is required for the Work and Travel visa.

The regulations vary from country to country, so make sure you find out beforehand exactly what requirements you have to meet and what you need.

Insurance is essential for Work and Travel. You may already have some, in which case you just need to check if your policy is also valid abroad or in the respective country.

• International health insurance: In any case, you will need international health insurance. This is sometimes even a prerequisite for being granted a visa in the first place.
• Accident insurance: If something happens to you during your Work and Travel stay, the accident insurance will step in and pay for your transport home. If you already have this sort of insurance, you can just enquire if it is also valid abroad.
• Liability insurance: It is not just at home in Germany that liability insurance is important: it can also prove essential abroad if you accidentally damage other people’s property, which can happen during a longer stay in an Airbnb, for example. Do you already have liability insurance? Then you can simply ask your insurer if it applies abroad or can be extended.
• Travel cancellation insurance: If you have already booked a return ticket, it can be useful to purchase travel cancellation insurance. This will step in if you have to return home early due to an emergency. However, make sure to look closely at which cases are covered by this insurance and whether it makes sense for you.