9 countries where you can do Work and Travel

Many backpackers travel to Australia, New Zealand and Canada with a working holiday visa, but there are many more work and travel countries. Germany has besides Australia& Co for example also work and travel agreements with Japan, Chile, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea. Also, a working holiday program was recently agreed upon with the Brazilian government, which is expected to take effect in the near future.

I believe that very few backpackers travel to other work and travel countries because it is simply not known that this is even possible. For this reason, in this post I’d like to go into a little more detail about each of the countries where you can do work and travel.

Content of this article

Work and Travel

• in Australia
• in New Zealand
• in Canada
• Japan
• In Chile
• in Taiwan
• in South Korea
• in Hong Kong
• in Brazil

Insurance for your stay

travel time up to 365 days
Extension up to 5 years
No deductible
Medical repatriation even if “only” medically useful
Reimbursement of contributions in case of early return home
Accidents at work insured
From 1.05 € per day

Work and Travel in Australia

Australia is without a doubt the best known and most popular of the work and travel countries among backpackers. With the working holiday visa you can stay and work there for 12 months. In addition, Australia has the special feature of the Second Year Visa, which allows you to extend your stay to 24 months, or to enter again for 12 months at a later date.

Finding a job in Australia can be a bit difficult due to the high number of other backpackers, but with a bit of initiative and flexibility in terms of location and activity it should not be a problem. Certificates like the RSA certificate or the Whitecard help to find a suitable job.

Work and Travel in Australia is the perfect start into the backpacker life, because you will quickly meet like-minded people and you will find your way around very quickly due to the English language.

Work and Travel in New Zealand

New Zealand is also one of the most visited countries when it comes to work and travel stays and offers with the English language an easy start for future globetrotters. The Working Holiday Visa for NZ allows you to travel through this breathtakingly beautiful country for up to 12 months and to supplement your travel funds with odd jobs as soon as your start-up capital runs low.

Work can be found in agriculture, construction, hospitality and many other industries. Again, it is important to be proactive and actively look for jobs that will pay enough to cover living and travel expenses.

The independent organization of a work and travel in New Zealand should present you with as few obstacles as Australia and can be done very well without an expensive agency.

Work and Travel in Canada

Canada is attracting more and more backpackers who want to work there, so that work and travel in Canada is becoming more and more popular. You can only apply for the Working Holiday Visa for Canada during certain periods, which are announced on the website of the Canadian government. In addition, there is only a limited number of visas for German citizens, which is also announced every year again and in different amounts by the Canadian government.

The possibilities to find work in Canada are unlimited and range from ski resorts, fruit picking and farm work to normal jobs in cafes, hotels and on construction sites. Also here the start is relatively easy due to the English language and you can start right away without necessarily booking a language course. In some parts of Canada, however, French is also spoken.

Important to find a job in Canada are, as in Australia and New Zealand, the application for a tax number (SIN) and the opening of an own bank account.

Work and Travel in Japan

Work and Travel stays in Japan are not so common compared to the countries mentioned above, but offer the perfect opportunity to get to know a completely different culture. Japan is really an interesting country and offers with numerous job opportunities also a solid basic framework for Work and Traveller. Jobs can be found in beach or ski resorts, or in agriculture (packaging factory, etc).

Speaking Japanese is not only helpful when looking for a job, but also in everyday life. In the big cities like Tokyo and Osaka you should be able to speak English.

Work and Travel in Chile

Chile is the first country in South America with which Germany has agreed on a working holiday program. Since 2014, German citizens between the ages of 18 and 30 can spend a working holiday in Chile and get to know the country and its people.

Chile is the perfect destination if you want to learn Spanish and are interested in South American culture. Job opportunities can be found in tourism, among other things, as English and German language skills are very advantageous here. For example, you could work in a hotel in the capital Santiago de Chile, or help out at a surf camp on the hundreds of kilometers of coastline. Of course, speaking Spanish is still very helpful, so a language course at the beginning of your trip is highly recommended.

Work and Travel in Taiwan

The bilateral agreement with Taiwan has also existed for several years and allows working stays of up to 12 months. Here you will not only find the Taipei Tower (the tenth tallest building in the world), but also many other things to discover that are not found in the western world.

You should definitely take a language course here, either before you arrive or shortly after your arrival. Otherwise it will be quite difficult to find jobs and to get in contact with the locals.

Work and Travel in South Korea

South Korea also has a working holiday program for German citizens, with which it is possible to spend a longer stay including work in South Korea. Jobs are rather limited if you do not speak Korean. Exceptions are so-called language cafes, where you are welcome as a foreigner. In these cafes you will be employed as a waiter/waitress and teach English and/or other languages to Korean guests on the side. In other professions without customer contact it should theoretically be possible to find a job.

A language course before departure or during the stay is of course also highly recommended here.

Work and Travel in Hong Kong

The world metropolis Hong Kong is also represented among the Work and Travel countries, so that it is also possible to spend a longer stay abroad and live for up to 12 months here. I personally couldn’t imagine living here for more than 1-2 months, as I’m not much of a city person, but for someone else it could be an interesting way to spend time abroad. Of course, Hong Kong is not only the city, there are also islands and mountains that you can explore during your stay.

There are also many possibilities to find a job. Of course it helps to speak Cantonese or at least Mandarin, but in tourism and jobs without customer contact you can also manage with English and German.

Work and Travel in Brazil

The bilateral agreement between Germany and Brazil is unfortunately not yet effective, but should be implemented in the near future. The current (and already signed) agreements provide for a working holiday visa, which allows you to spend up to 12 months working in Brazil. Brazil will soon be one of the possible Work and Travel countries for German citizens.

As soon as the visa for Brazil is available, I will definitely be one of the first to apply for it. How cool would it be to travel through Brazil for a year, learn Portuguese and work for example in Rio de Janeiro??