Working holiday visas (2026): which countries and who can apply, from official lists

Working holiday visas depend on agreements between two countries

A working holiday visa is not open to everyone. Immigration New Zealand says that, to apply, you must be a citizen of a country that has a working holiday agreement with New Zealand, and that if your country is not listed it cannot give you a working holiday visa. IRCC says that to take part in International Experience Canada your country or territory of citizenship must have a youth mobility agreement with Canada. France-Visas says your country or territory must have signed an agreement with France.

So each host country has its own list. Being on one country’s list says nothing about another country’s list. The sections below quote each host country’s official list and age rule.

Immigration New Zealand: Who can apply for a working holiday visa

IRCC: International Experience Canada, who can apply

Australia: Working Holiday (subclass 417) and Work and Holiday (subclass 462)

Australia runs two separate visas with two separate lists. The Department of Home Affairs says applicants for the Working Holiday visa (subclass 417) must be 18 to 30 years old (or 35 years old for some countries), must have a passport from an eligible country or jurisdiction and must not be accompanied by dependent children.

Home Affairs gives this list for a first subclass 417 visa, with an age range for each passport:

• 18 to 35: Canada, Republic of Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Republic of Korea, and the United Kingdom (including British National Overseas passport holders).
• 18 to 30: Belgium, Estonia, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Japan, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Taiwan (other than an official or diplomatic passport).

The Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462) is for people 18 to 30 years old (inclusive). Home Affairs lists these passports for a first subclass 462 visa: Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Türkiye, Uruguay, United States of America and Vietnam. It says China, India and Vietnam passport holders must take part in a pre-application ballot and be randomly selected before they can apply for a first subclass 462 visa.

More detail: the Australia country page.

Home Affairs: Working Holiday visa (subclass 417)

Home Affairs: First Working Holiday visa (subclass 417)

Home Affairs: Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462)

Home Affairs: First Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462)

New Zealand: working holiday schemes

Immigration New Zealand says working holiday visas are available to young people normally aged 18 to 30, but 18 to 35 in a select few countries, and generally for up to 12 months. If you are from Canada you can stay for up to 23 months, and if you are from the United Kingdom up to 36 months.

Its list of countries with a working holiday visa agreement is: Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, Uruguay, USA and Vietnam. For Singapore, the list names a Work Exchange Programme Visa rather than a working holiday visa. The list page does not say which countries have the 18 to 35 range.

More detail: the New Zealand country page.

Immigration New Zealand: Who can apply for a working holiday visa

Canada: International Experience Canada (IEC)

Canada’s working holiday is one category of International Experience Canada. IRCC says your country or territory of citizenship must have a youth mobility agreement with Canada, and that some countries only allow you to participate once while others allow you to participate twice, but in different categories.

IRCC’s eligibility table gives an age limit for each country or territory. Among those with a Working Holiday category, the limit is 18 to 30 for Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong SAR, Iceland, Japan, the Netherlands and Sweden, and 18 to 35 for Australia, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Republic of Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. Switzerland appears in the table with No in the Working Holiday column.

More detail: the Canada country page.

IRCC: International Experience Canada, who can apply

IRCC: IEC eligibility by country and category

United Kingdom: Youth Mobility Scheme

GOV.UK says you can apply for the Youth Mobility Scheme visa if you are aged 18 to 35 and from Australia, Canada, New Zealand or South Korea. You must be aged 18 or over when your visa starts, or 35 or under when you apply for it.

You can apply if you are aged 18 to 30 and from Andorra, Iceland, Japan, Monaco, San Marino or Uruguay. People from Hong Kong (with an SAR passport) and Taiwan must be selected in the Youth Mobility Scheme ballot before they can apply. British overseas citizens, British overseas territories citizens and British nationals (overseas) aged 18 to 30 can also apply.

GOV.UK says there is a different scheme for Indian nationals, the India Young Professionals Scheme visa, rather than the Youth Mobility Scheme.

More detail: the United Kingdom country page.

GOV.UK: Youth Mobility Scheme visa, eligibility

Ireland: Working Holiday Authorisation

Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs says Ireland’s working holiday agreements allow people of both countries to gain life and work experience abroad for a period of time. Its table lists these countries and areas: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan and the USA, and says to check the link for each country to find out how to apply.

That list page does not state an age range; the rules are on the pages for each country, which were not read for this revision.

More detail: the Ireland country page.

Department of Foreign Affairs: Working holiday authorisation

Japan: working holiday programmes

Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says Japan started working holiday programmes with Australia in 1980 and, as of 1 April, 2026, has programmes with 32 countries/regions. Applicants must be between 18 and 30 years of age both inclusive at the time of application; for Australia, Canada, South Korea and Ireland, the page says an applicant should be between 18 and 25 unless the authorities of that country and Japan agree to extend the limit to 30.

Japan’s page is the only one read here that gives a maximum number of visas per year for each partner:

The same page says working holiday participants are strictly prohibited from working at bars, cabarets, nightclubs, gambling establishments and other premises affecting public morals in Japan.

More detail: the Japan country page.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan: The Working Holiday Programmes in Japan

Germany: Working Holiday Programmes

Germany’s Federal Foreign Office lists Working Holiday Programmes with Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan and Uruguay. Andorra appears in the German-language version of its answer; the English version of the same answer omits Andorra, and a shorter English FAQ answer on holiday jobs lists fewer partners. Applications may be submitted by young people between the ages of 18 and 30, except citizens of the Republic of Korea, who may be up to 34 years old. The programmes enable stays of up to twelve months.

More detail: the Germany country page.

Federal Foreign Office: What exactly is the Working Holiday programme?

Auswärtiges Amt: „Working Holiday“-Programme (German-language answer)

France: Programme Vacances-Travail

France-Visas lists 16 countries with a working holiday agreement with France: Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Japan, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Mexico, Peru, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan and Uruguay.

The age window for applying depends on the country. For Chile, Hong Kong, Mexico and Peru, you may apply between the age of 18 and the day of your 30th birthday. For Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, South Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, Taiwan and Uruguay, between 18 and the day before your 31st birthday. For Argentina, Australia and Canada, between 18 and the day before your 36th birthday. The visa’s duration is one year and it may not be extended, unless otherwise stipulated.

More detail: the France country page.

France-Visas: Young travellers

Working holiday age limits side by side

The table repeats each age rule in the wording of its official page. Where a page gives a general range and a longer one for some nationalities, check the list for your own citizenship in the section above.

Indian and Egyptian citizens

India is on Australia’s subclass 462 list, where Home Affairs says India passport holders must be selected in a ballot to apply for a first visa. GOV.UK points Indian nationals to the India Young Professionals Scheme visa instead of the Youth Mobility Scheme. India does not appear on Australia’s subclass 417 list, nor on the New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, Japan, Germany or France lists quoted on this page. More on European routes: moving to Europe from India.

Egypt does not appear on any of the country lists quoted on this page. More: official routes from Egypt.

What the official pages used here do not cover

This page uses the official partner lists and age rules only. It does not give fees, proof-of-funds amounts, processing times, minimum wages, living costs or tax rates, although some of the official pages state some of these. Ireland’s list page and New Zealand’s list page do not give the age rule for each country. Apart from Japan, the pages read do not state annual caps. The working holiday programmes of other host countries, such as South Korea and the Netherlands, were not read for this revision. None of the pages read says whether a working holiday leads to a longer-term visa or residence. Where this article is silent, no primary source was read; the silence is not a rule.