Escaping to the land of beautiful blue skies

Adding to your life experiences with a working visa takes a bit of planning, writes Laura Slattery

Sunny climates, responsibility-free jobs, open roads: living and working abroad is something many people plan to add to their list of life experiences and their CVs.

More and more graduates are disappearing abroad before they embark on their careers here, while others hope to build up their skills and the necessary funds and take a career break later on.

But leave it too late to make your escape and you could find you have a number of hurdles to climb at the immigration office before the long-haul flight with your seat on it comes anywhere close to taking off from Irish soil.

Irish nationals have the right to live and work in any European Union state for any period without a work permit, but English-speaking countries a few thousand more air miles further away often impose age restrictions on temporary visas, strict application rules to prevent people overstaying and rigorous eligibility rules for more permanent stays.

Australia is the number one destination. Some 12,000-14,000 Irish people travel there on a working holiday visa every year.

"There has been a huge increase in the numbers of one-year visas to Australia, based on the fact that they're very easy to get," explains Ms Paula O'Sullivan, an information officer at Emigrant Advice, an information and referral agency based in Dublin for intending and returning emigrants.

"They have risen in popularity as the US has closed its doors. People who risked going to the US and finding work illegally are now going to Australia and, to a lesser extent, New Zealand," she says.

However, to apply for these 12-month working holiday visas you must be 18-30 years of age, have no dependent children and meet certain character and health requirements.

You must also have a current account balance of at least €3,174 to satisfy the Australian government that you won't become dependent on the state. To show that you have strong ties to Ireland, you should submit a letter from your current employer or college showing that you will be resuming your employment or studies on return. Owning property is another satisfactory tie.

Before you go

The Australian embassy in Dublin stopped dealing with over-the-counter visa services in October last year, but Irish people who want to apply for a working holiday visa can do so online.

Applications for these eVisas can be downloaded at www.immi.gov.au. They must then be sent to the Australian High Commission in London, with a bank draft or cheque for £65 sterling (€92).

If this sounds a little awkward, then a Dublin-based service provider for the Australian government, Visas Australia, will handle the application and track its progress. If the application is unsuccessful, they will refund the fee.

A working holiday eVisa costs €130 through Visas Australia and should be ready within two to three days. A label visa, which proves to an Australian employer that you have a work permit, costs €150 and takes four weeks to arrive.

These labels can also be obtained by queuing in a government office once you are in Australia.

Visas Australia also offers travel insurance to backpackers through a site called Coverworks.com.

Standard world annual multi-trip policies won't typically cover backpackers for a lot that they want to do, according to Mr John Mahon of Visas Australia.

Coverworks.com sells its annual Australia policies for premiums ranging from €120, for medical only, to €290 for full cover for every type of manual work and extreme sports.

When you arrive

Most hostels have noticeboards advertising any temporary jobs that are available, according to Ms O'Sullivan.

If there is a shortage of work in the cities, people sometimes end up following the harvest, she says, finding work fruit-picking.

Irish people in Australia often have to hop from job to job in order to satisfy the condition that a person on a working holiday visa cannot work full-time, part-time or casually for more than three months at any one employer, including contractors and employment agencies.

This can be problematic during times of economic downturn, when even casual jobs are scarce.

"People have ended up coming back early or heading off to Thailand," says Ms O'Sullivan.

And if the jobs situation remains depressed, Irish people are unlikely to be able to find an employer who will sponsor them to stay in Australia after their working holiday visa expires.

When you come back

Every year, thousands of people overpay income tax while working in Australia, according to Taxback.com, which advises Irish travellers on how to reclaim tax from a number of countries.

The company also offers a free tax estimate and can arrange for the refund on your behalf in exchange for a small percentage of the refund.

Working holidaymakers are often not granted a tax-free threshold, so at the end of the tax year, you should be entitled to a refund.

Taxback.com also says that employers sometimes overcharge income tax as a safeguard to ensure they have deducted at least the correct amount.

Once your visa has expired, you can claim back "superannuation", which are compulsory pension contributions that your employer pays into a fund on your behalf. These contributions can be up to 9 per cent of your salary, but may not appear on your payslip.

However, if you plan on migrating to Australia permanently in the near future, it might be a good idea to leave the money invested, in order for it to generate a good level of retirement income.

Staying on

Unless you have family connections down under, you would need to have special skills that are in demand or the sponsorship of an Australian employer if you want to stay in Australia permanently.

Sponsorship can be tricky to secure, while applying for permanent residence is an expensive process with little guarantee of success.

If you have business skills and an Australian employer can prove that you are the only person who can do your job, you may apply for a temporary business (long-stay) visa for four years. At this point, you may be eligible to apply for permanent residency.

You must be under 45 to even be considered. Australia operates a points system, with points dropping off rapidly after the age of 29.

Successful applicants need a total of 115 points, with a different number of points assigned for various occupations.

For example, engineers, carpenters and psychologists all receive 60 points. Public relations officers, acupuncturists and marine biologists are granted 50 points, while ambulance officers, dental hygienists and office managers get 40 points.

Nurses and teachers are most in demand and will receive priority processing, according to Mr Mahon, who says Visas Australia gets calls from people "in tears" on the phone, desperately trying to get back into the country legally.

"If you're working in whatever the current shortage area is, they will bend the rules for you very easily," he says.

Applicants also score more points if they have savings to support themselves while they find a home and a job or if a family member already lives in Australia. "You get more points if they live in a low density population area," explains Ms O'Sullivan.

The Australian High Commission estimates that applications on the basis of your independent skills can take up to 20 months.

Getting married to an Australian citizen is another way to avoid having to celebrate Australia Day from the wrong hemisphere.

A long-term cohabitee of an Australian citizen - a de facto partner - may also apply for residence.

Both married couples and de facto partners will have to prove that the relationship is a genuine one.

In the case of de facto partners, applicants must have been in a relationship for at least a year and have evidence of shared financial and social commitments such as joint bank accounts or a child's birth certificate and photographs of the happy couple.