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Working Holiday Programme
What is the Working Holiday Visa Programme?
The Working Holiday Visa Programme is based on bilateral agreements between Germany and Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, the SAR Hong Kong, Taiwan and Uruguay, as well as a Youth Mobility agreement with Canada.
The Working Holiday Programme aims at enabling young people to gain insight into culture and daily life in Germany. The intention is to promote increased mutual understanding and your primary aim should be to visit Germany. Employment is permitted throughout the validity of the visa but should remain of temporary character in order to facilitate additional financial means to your holiday travel intentions in Germany. Conditions regarding length and type of employment are governed by the individual bilateral agreement.
To be eligible for a Working Holiday you must be at least 18 years of age but have not turned 31 yet (35 for Canada) when filing your application and not be accompanied by dependent family members (e.g. children) during your stay.
Citizens of Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan and New Zealand may apply for their working holiday residence permit with the local immigration office (“Ausländerbehörde”) after arrival in Germany and without having obtained a visa prior to travelling to Germany. Citizens of Argentina, Chile and Uruguay require a visa prior to travel to Germany and may apply at any German mission abroad. Other nationals should contact the German mission in their home country.
General information
To be eligible for a Working Holiday Visa and apply at the German Embassy in Ireland you must
- be a citizen either of Argentina, Australia, Chile, Israel, Japan, New Zealand or Uruguay,
- be at least 18 years of age but have not turned 31 yet when filing your application,
- not be accompanied by dependent family members (e.g. children) during your stay
- not having participated in this program before.
To be eligible for a Visa based on the Youth Mobility agreement with Canada you must
- be a citizen of Canada,
- be at least 18 years of age but have not turned 35 yet when filing your application.
Conditions regarding length and type of employment are governed by the individual bilateral agreement:
- Citizens of Argentina may work for a total of six months only. A valid Argentinian police record must be submitted with the visa application.
- Citizens of Australia, Chile, Japan, New Zealand and Uruguay may work for up to six months with the same employer. After that employment may be continued for a different or several other employers for the remaining time. Both fulltime and part-time employment are allowed.
- For citizens of Canada please refer to the information provided by the German Missions to Canada.
- Citizens of Israel may work for up to three months with the same employer. After three months employment can be continued with a different employer.
Self-employment or freelance work is not permitted for citizens of Argentina, Australia, Japan and New Zealand.
Under German law, all residents must have sufficient health insurance cover. Please read our additional information on health insurance requirements.
Processing times:
In this visa category, based on previous experience, most applications will usually be processed within about 3-4 weeks. Please note that in some cases processing times may be longer.
Please understand that we cannot respond to questions regarding the status of your visa application. Should we have any questions or should we require additional documentation to process your application, we will contact you.
How to apply for your visa:
- Complete the VIDEX online application form, print one copy of the form including the barcode page (page 7) and sign the form on pages 5 and 6. Separate application forms are required for each applicant.
- Compile your supporting documentation to bring to your appointment: