WHM visa offers opportunities where a Commonwealth citizen aged between 18 and 30 can come to the UK for an extended holiday of up to two years. You can work full time legally for one year and there are no restrictions on employment as you are free to take up jobs in any category. However, holiday should be the main reason for your stay in the U.K. and work should be incidental to Holiday. This visa may be extended or converted under certain circumstances. This is a 2 year multiple visa and given only once in life time.

• Are a citizen of a country listed in Appendix 3 of the Immigration Rules, a British Overseas Territories citizen, a British Overseas citizen or a British National (Overseas)
• Are aged between 17 and 30
• Want to come to the UK for an extended holiday, and intend to take employment as part of your holiday for no more than 12 months during your stay
• Do not intend to set yourself up in or run a business, or work as a professional sportsperson during your stay
• Are single, or are married to someone who also qualifies as a working holidaymaker and you plan to take the working holiday together
• Do not have any dependent children aged five or over, or who will be five before your holiday ends
• Can support yourself and live in the UK without needing any help from public funds
• Have not spent time in the UK on a previous working holidaymaker visa, and
• Intend to leave the UK at the end of your holiday.

Please note the WHM is due to be deleted later by autumn of 2008 when the new points-based system Youth Mobility Scheme of Tier 5 is launched

Tier 5 of the points based tier immigration service is designed to accommodate two different groups of people immigrating to the UK on a temporary basis. Fifth tier visas apply to people who wish to immigrate to the UK in order to participate in a youth mobility scheme. In addition, they cater for a range of specific temporary employment opportunities.

As a specialist UK immigration consultancy, we can offer complete UK visa services for all tiers of the new system and can help you to establish which is the most suitable for your needs. Our immigration consultants can offer immigration lawyer advice at every stage of your application and can manage your relocation to the UK offering on arrival services to help you adjust to working in the UK.

The introduction of the UK tier visa structure is intended to simplify and rationalize outgoing UK immigration services into a more straightforward and transparent structure. As part of this process, visas for the fifth tier will replace a range of youth mobility schemes such as the Commonwealth Working Holidaymaker (WHM) and the Au Pair Programme with a single system which introduces a uniform set of requirements.

Tier five is available to applicants from participating countries aged 18-30 and will grant leave to enter the UK for a maximum period of 24 months. As with tier 3 visas and tier 4 visas, British immigration through this route is a temporary entitlement and applicants will be obliged to return to their home country at the expiry of the grant.

Unlike a tier 1 visa or a tier 2 visa, both of which are intended as routes to settlement in Britain, the fifth tier does not afford any benefits of permanent residence in the UK. Applicants may not be self-employed or function as professional sportspeople, and like tier 3 visas, they cannot bring dependents into the country or switch to any other tiers of the system.

Fifth tier immigration does not provide a route to settlement nor the opportunity to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) often known as permanent residency. UK visas for immigration at this level will not constitute a first step to those wishing to apply for British naturalization as a UK citizen. With this in mind, spouse immigration and dependent immigration are not permitted. Whilst the marriage visa, fiancé visa and De Facto visa or unmarried partner visa categories will function outside the new structure, they will not be relevant to applications of this kind.

Applications for UK visas for immigration must be accompanied by a certificate of sponsorship. This is true of all tiers with the exception of a tier 1 visa which directly replaces the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, or HSMP. In the fifth immigration tier, certificates are issued by the applicant’s home Government and serve as an assurance that an applicant will abide by the terms of the scheme undertaken.

Fifth tier visas for the UK also accommodate the following categories of temporary workers immigrating to Britain who do not qualify under the requirements of a tier 2 visa. Once again, the maximum duration of leave is 24 months and switching to other tiers is not permitted. Dependents will be admitted but will only be allowed to work in the UK if the principle applicant is afforded more than 12 months leave.

UK visa applications can be made by creative artists, sportspeople or entertainers providing that a sponsor has been organized. Sponsors must be able to confirm that applicants pose no threat to the domestic workforce and will engage only in the specified activity.

Sponsorship from a charity or benevolent organization is required for applicants entering the UK via this route. Sponsors must be able to demonstrate that the activity is directly relevant to the organization and that it will not be permanent. You will only be given permission to stay in the United Kingdom as a voluntary worker for a maximum of 12 months. At the end of this period you will need to return home. There is no limit to the number of times you can come to the United Kingdom as a voluntary worker, however you must not stay longer than 12 months on any visit and you must not plan to live permanently in the United Kingdom.

With the exception of ministers of a faith who engage in a preaching and pastoral capacity, religious workers may visit Britain if they are sponsored by the faith community.

Entering the country as part of an accredited exchange, development or knowledge sharing scheme is permitted subject to sponsorship by the organization running the scheme is question.

In some circumstances, Britain is obliged to allow specific categories of immigrants into the country to work. International agreements Such as the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (VCDR) 1961 relating to diplomatic household servants would be examples of this. The sponsorship role would be fulfilled by means appropriate to the specific agreement

The Training and Work Experience scheme or TWES visa service allows an organization to bring in a non-EU citizen for the purposes of training towards a professional or specialist qualification, or practical work experience, on the basis that the candidate will return to the organization's office in their home country to utilize the experience gained while working in the UK.

A TWES permit will only be granted to a person who is engaged in a capacity additional to the normal staffing requirements of the employer. Once a TWES application is successfully processed, an applicant will need to apply for entry clearance to come to the United Kingdom.

This section explains what the au pairs scheme is and how you can apply to come to the United Kingdom to work as an au pair. The au pairs scheme is aimed to provide young people from certain countries with the opportunity to come to the United Kingdom for a short time to work for an English-speaking family. You will be expected to work up to five hours a day for your English-speaking family. They will provide you with your own room and a weekly allowance. The au pairs scheme is a short-term immigration category. When your visa expires you will be expected to return to your home country.
Please note : The au pair scheme is due to be deleted later by autumn of 2008 when the new points-based system Youth Mobility Scheme of Tier 5 is phased in throughout U.K.