Canada under 35 working visa

beanie i oh

Hi guys,

I was just on the Usit website and am interested in applying for the Canada Under 35's working visa... However I checked eligibility requirements and it states that you may not have resided outside of Ireland for more than a total of 3 years since turning 18. I'm barely over this - about 3.5 years and apparently the allowance was 4 last year.

Does anyone know how strict this is? Some people are telling me to apply and others saying not worth the risk of losing the deposit...

Any advice / experience of applying for this visa greatly appreciated.

Thanks a mill

tenchi-fan

there are other kinds of visa which may be available to you even if you are not eligible for the u35 visa.

North_West_Art

how much is the deposit for this u-35 visa? I have been over and back to Canada since 2001, I went over first on a student visa... this sounds like a very strange rule. Have you been on to the Canadian authorities about this?
By the way, if you are not a student, register for a course now, get your student number & card, then go in and get your student visa.

beanie i oh

Hiya,

It's 419 euro for the visa.. to be paid once you've got a place. Haven't been on to authorities, it does seem odd alright. go4less.ie also offer this visa and the limit is 4 years which makes it even weirder! It's different though as they set up a job for you beforehand and you could end up stuck with something you don't want.

Hadn't thought about doing the student visa thing though!! Is that also for a year? Would you get a student number / visa by just registering..

tenchi-fan

North_West_Art, rather pointless, seeing as the three year rule also applies to the student programme.

beanie i oh, go4less.ie do NOT also offer the u35 visa. They offer a different kind of visa which is not an open employment visa.
And the €419 with usit needs to be paid immediately, not "when you get a place"

I think you'd be best doing a bit of research. You obviously visited the website of usit and go4less so you should read all the T&Cs. It looks like you're definitely not eligible for the usit programme.

Just to add, there are a lot of people who apply for usit's programme and then complain on here when they get caught out by the T&Cs.

RATM

OP where were you abroad for 3.5 years? Because if you were in Europe you won't have any stamps in your passport showing you were there so they need not know.

If you were in US/Oz/NZ, etc then the passport will show the stamps of where you were and when. In that case you might need to 'lose' the passport and stump up for another one with fresh blank pages.

beanie i oh

Hi RATM,

Was only in London for 2 of the years! Then Oz/States for the rest. I did think of the stamps as you said but they might look for other proof e.g. bank statements showing Irish account activity?

Also, don't think a new passport would make a difference; surely the new one would be linked to the previous, otherwise everyone would probably do it!

Thanks though I may have to consider elsewhere at this stage...