Questions About Work Visa

[Haley53]

I'm not sure if this would be better suited here or in the "Closing the Distance" section of the forum, but I'm planning on applying for a working holiday visa for summer of 2013.

A completed and signed application form (PDF 35kb) should be presented at the Embassy of Ireland in Washington, or at the Irish Consulates General in Boston, Chicago, New York or San Francisco together with:

Valid United States passport;
2 recent identical passport photographs with your name on the reverse;
Current curriculum vitae (with references);
Original bank statement showing that you have access to €1,500 (or equivalent) plus a return ticket; or €3,000 (or equivalent);
Originals of any qualifications obtained or letter from school/college/university (where applicable)
The relevant fee of €250 or dollar equivalent as advised by the relevant Mission;

Once the Embassy or Consulate General is satisfied with the documentation above, the application will be approved in principle and the applicant notified. The Working Holiday Authorisation will be issued on submission by the applicant of:

Return airline tickets;
Certificate of medical/travel insurance valid for the duration of the trip (based on dates on tickets)
Valid United States passport that is valid for the entirety of the trip to Ireland ie for a full year after their ticketed date of entry.

There are the requirements.

One question I have is that I was planning on likely booking a return trip, and then paying the fee to have the return flight changed once I'm employed and able, reasons being for financial purposes. My only question with this would be, would the return trip limit how long my stay is approved for? I'm aware that the working holiday visa is good for up to a year but the time you're allotted in the country is based on the immigration officer, so let's say I booked my return trip for 8 months, would the immigration officer go off that or would they approve my visa for what they felt it was worth?

Another question I have is, where do I look into medical/travel insurance? Do I require both? I'm not sure how insurance works. I feel silly, but I've been using student insurance for the past few years, and that's pretty well handled for me by the university, so I'm ignorant. :/ I know my boyfriend suffered a massive toothache and though dental care would be free for him in Ireland, it certainly wouldn't have been here. I'm required to prove that I have it for the duration of my trip, but I'm not sure where to even begin finding a cheap plan. I will be recently graduated but not a student at that point also, but are there any resources you know of that would help me figure it out or does anyone here have any personal experience with travel insurance? I'm curious as to what cost I'll be looking at for it...

The other two questions I have relate to the application and the application process. The application provides a section for "Details of Contact in Ireland" but only if applicable. I will be staying with my boyfriend, but if I gave his address, would that hinder my chances any? For example, would an immigration officer see the male name on the address and assume the worst? I definitely plan on coming back for grad school but I'll have no hard proof of that. :/ So I'm not sure whether or not putting his address, when it's only an "if applicable" part of the application, would be a good, bad, or indifferent thing. The second question is is there anywhere I can find out the processing times? I live near San Francisco so the mailing bit shouldn't be difficult, but if I'm planning on going in late summer 2013, when should I plan on sending in my application?

Thank you in advance!

ETA: Another question is when is a good time to start looking round for employment?

[Zephii]

I think the return trip could be limiting, and I mean, if you'd be able to move the ticket to extend the trip, there's no reason you can't just do the opposite if worst comes to worst. I assume you would ask to be approved for the maximum amount of time, and that the officer would take into account your goals, but I could be wrong.

You can get travel insurance, and medical, from the travel agent

Seeming the details of contact in ireland are "only if applicable" I'd likely err on the side of caution and leave them out, but don't take my word for it.

[Haley53]

Thank you for your input. The only reason I was considering the return ticket is because if I don't have a return ticket, I have to have $4,000 in my bank account, and prove I have access to it, which is double what I'd have to have ($2,000) if I did have a return ticket. Though $4,000 isn't a huge amount of money, it's a huge sum to think about as a student when tickets are $500+ for a single and the application fee is $335. :/ So I had thought that if I had a return ticket, I wouldn't need as much in my bank account, and then the change fee is something like $150 plus the difference (if any) in ticket price, and I'd be in a better place to pay that when I had a full-time job working in Ireland.

I've never worked with a travel agent, but I know there's one downtown. Do they charge for meeting with you, or can you go in with inquiries?

[Zephii]

enquiries are free If you book through one there's usually like a $50 fee for their time.

Proving you have the money can be a pain, I feel you there.
Oh, start looking for work like a month before you go, letting them know your landing date. Likely it wont turn into a job, but you never know, and getting your name out there doesn't hurt.

Or this would be my plan But I've never been to Ireland (so jealous btw)

[Tooki]

The officer will probably give you the full time. I applied for a Estonian visa for about 2 months but he gave me the full 6 months. They would have to have a vendetta against you to give you anything less. And from what I understand about the Working Holiday, it is valid for 1 year but you are free to go in and out of the country.

And I figure that if you get given the full 1 year, you are able to change to flight as desired. Unless you end up overstaying your visa

[lucybelle]

The return ticket thing-- here in CR you HAVE to have "proof of onward travel" to even get into the country. Well obviously, I'm not going to be going back out of the country. So there's a few choices for me: buy a round trip ticket and just eat the money I spent on the return part, buy a bus ticket out of the country (also eating the money since I won't use it) or buy a one-way 100% refundable ticket out of the country. I've done all methods. The last part sounds good, but you lose a ton of money for a short period of time. My one-way out of the country was $800 and it took almost 3 months to get refunded. I got all of it back, but for 3 months I didn't have $800. So for you, you could potentially buy two one way tickets, the second one being totally refundable and just refund it when you get in. The date usually doesn't matter, borders will almost always stamp you in for the full amount of time. (When my SO came to live with me in the states his return ticket was for 2 months later so it didn't look suspicious. He got stamped for the full 6 months, he ate the money on the return ticket and later bought a one-way home.)

Travel insurance- I think as long as you're under 25 or 26 you can still be "a student" with STA travel. They provide travel insurance and a lot of times also have good deals. Plus, changing flight dates with them is like $15 or something. It'd be good to check it out at least.

Contact info- don't put a name just put an address. For all anyone knows it's YOUR apartment.

Processing times- I'd say give it 3 months, at least.

When to look for a job- RIGHT NOW. I applied to schools before I even came down to Costa Rica. Then when I got here I applied again. It still took me 4 months to get a job, and 6 months to start getting paid.

[Haley53]

@Zephii - Oh, okay. There's one downtown, so I may pop in and see what they have to say on my way home from school when I can swing it. I simply want to create a budget. I don't typically have issues meeting them, but having something written down or a ballpark number is generally what helps me set my sights and become motivated enough to reach that goal.

@Tooki - No overstaying for me! :P Don't want to cause any issues that might/would hinder mine and my boyfriend's future. I'm hoping I get stamped in for the full stay! I'm not sure what their process is, though, how much paperwork they look at/consider. I have always been honest with immigration about seeing my boyfriend. The officer in Ireland fooled around with me and we had a laugh about it, and my boyfriend reported the same laid-back experience with immigration and customs when he visited here (Dublin airport pre-clears, so he went through it all in Dublin), so I'm hoping that trend continues. You DO get approved for x-amount of time at the border, right? Where they're letting you get into the country?

@lucybelle - Thank you! I never even thought about those options (although bussing across the ocean might be difficult for me ). Refundable one-ways are around $1,400, looking at them now, which is more than a return. However, I looked for one-ways during the summer. It might be beneficial to consider a refundable one-way for an off-season. $1, 400 is a lot of money to be without. :/ Especially if the refund process is more than a month.

I'll look into STA travel!

Good idea. I never would have thought of that. :P I have been honest with them about seeing my boyfriend before, and his address, but I don't think it was written down anywhere. In fact, the officer gave me a raised eyebrow look when I forcefed him the piece of paper with the address I'd be staying at. In London, they required it and wanted me to recite it (however, I got a bitch of a border patrol officer) from memory. Heh. Should I tell them this summer I'm going to be visiting friends? Friends of the family? Or should I be honest? We recently switched around who would be doing the working holiday, so I never considered if there'd be repercussions to telling immigration I'm going to see my boyfriend. I have always had school and proof of school to go back to, in addition to having proof of employment, if necessary, so I haven't worried. :/

Thank you about the processing times and when to look, as well. I'm trying to figure out how my qualifications will translate, if at all. I have been trying to find any positions in childcare, education, or psychological related postings, as that's where my experience and education is, but even if I can think about working at a McDonalds, it might be worth it. I did find a site with postings for work, and I'm still trying to work out an arrangement to meet with one of my teaching assistants who offered to put my name in with some employers in Ireland, so I'll keep looking and working on my resume so that it meets European standards.

Thank you for your help!

[lucybelle]

About the refundable ticket- it shouldn't have taken so long to refund. My flight was with Delta and I did the whole online-refund thing. Well one month later I get a "check in online for your flight tomorrow" email and I was like HOLD THE EFF UP! I called up and turned out that they only returned the $25 booking fee, and not the FLIGHT. I was real nice with the lady and she refunded it for me. She said it'll take 3 "billing cycles" for it to appear in my account.

You could try looking into buying an "onward travel" flight into the EU. That'd probably be less expensive. Though I wonder if that would be okay with them, or if they want it back to the states. You'd have to ask. For CR, you just need something showing you plan on leaving the country. Doesn't matter where to or how.

And whenever I'm at a border, no matter what the actual reason I'm going, I always say either vacations, traveling, for fun.. etc. It gets you through easier, and it's basically true. I will travel, go on vacation and have fun! I don't think you having said you were going to visit a boyfriend before will come back to bite you. I doubt they record that stuff and there's no way they'll remember.

The bottom line is-- with an American passport you can do just about anything you want and they'll let you in. They assume you are privileged and have money. You have no reason to try to live off their government or defect.

Little do they know...

[Haley53]

Who would I contact to see if that would be the case or not? Would I e-mail the Irish Consulates? Since it mentioned the two different financial ranges for with a return and without, I always assumed one would have to have proof they were returning to America. That's a good idea, though, I'll look into it. And thank you for clarifying the refund bit! I'll have to weigh up my options with that.

Also, actually I never thought of simply saying for a vacation/to travel around. It's true that I want to see other places of Ireland this time around if possible, so I have a back-up if they ask me where I'm curious of travelling to. I get paranoid, I think, in part because I don't want them to catch me out because I'm such a horrible liar and in part because if I did get caught and somehow blurted out my boyfriend's there too, I'd be sent back and banned forever. Obviously I give them more power than I'd like to think they'd abuse... That being said, the only time I got hassled was with a female border patrol officer in London. I've never even had issues with U.S. Customs. So I'll hope the streak continues.

[lucybelle]

Don't email, CALL the consulate and say you want to apply for this permit but want to travel to the EU afterwards. See if they'll accept a flight to the EU.

And don't be so nervous. This is exactly how the conversation will go:
Border guy: "Purpose of visit?"
Freaked out Eclaire: "Travel"
Border: "Where are you going?"
Eclaire: "Dublin (or whatever)"
*stamp stamp*
Border: "Enjoy your stay"

[Haley53]

Oh boy, I hate the phone, but I suppose it's important to do the grown-up thing on this one! I'll call when I get the chance, make a note to do it at some point this week.

And that's generally how it's gone, even with a boyfriend, so I suppose I should breathe deep and get it over with. I'm often a lot more collected on the outside than I feel - I've been told that several times - but I'll try and relax myself and remind me that it's a fairly simple process. I'll keep to "travel/a vacation" this time around. Thank you for the tip and reassurance!