Youth Mobility Visa: Everything you need to know about applying as an Australian
Disclaimer: I can only speak from my own experience of applying for the Youth Mobility Visa. This is not professional advice. If you have any queries, you are best to contact the UKVI office directly.
When I decided that I was going to make the leap and move to London in 2024, I found the most helpful information about the Youth Mobility Visa application process from others who had been through the process themselves (as well as the official UK government website, of course). So, hopefully by sharing my experience, I can help some of you learn more about what to expect from the whole process!
Before you begin the visa application process
One thing I did before I began the visa application process, and what I also recommend you also do, is create a new UK email address for yourself. I simply made a new Gmail account with ‘uk’ in the address, and this way, I could start this exciting journey with a fresh email inbox intended for anything UK-related.
I found this made it easier to keep track of any important visa-related emails throughout the process, as they weren’t getting lost among the hundreds of promotional subscription emails I usually receive in my existing inbox. You can then also use this email address as your primary one once you’re in the UK, to keep things separate to your Australian email address.
Let's walk through the visa application process
It can be a little scary to take the first official step of moving abroad and apply for the required visa. Here’s a quick overview of each step you’ll need to take in the Youth Mobility Visa application process, so you know what to expect.
Get your required docs and info together: It’s best to have all of the documents and information you’ll need ready before you actually begin completing the visa application to make the process as straight forward as possible. You will need:
- your valid Australian passport
- the date you plan to arrive in the UK (the date you want your visa to be valid from)
- your current address details, and details of any other addresses you’ve lived at in the past 10 years
- details of any dependants travelling with you
- details of both your parents (name, DOB, nationality)
- details for where you will initially be staying when you arrive in the UK
- details of any previous travel history in the UK
- details of every country you’ve visited in the past 10 years (including dates)
- details of any convictions or penalties you’ve recently received
- details of the financial institution (your bank) you will use to provide evidence of sufficient funds
- details of the post office in the UK that you will nominate to collect your BRP card from when you arrive (choose one in the area you intend to stay in for your first 10 days in the UK)
- ensure you have sufficient funds in your bank account to pay for your visa application and your Immigration Health Surcharge payment (I had to pay around AUD$2,500 for the application and IHS payment, though this is expected to increase in January 2024. Calculate how much your IHS will be here.)
Complete the visa application: Once you have all of your documents and information ready, head to the UK government website and begin a new visa application. It took me around 25 minutes to complete the application, so set aside some time to sit down and fill yours out. You don’t want to rush through it – make sure you consider and answer each question carefully, so you don’t make any mistakes that would risk your application being rejected. You can always save your progress and return to it later, if necessary.
Book your biometrics appointment: Once you’ve completed the application and successfully paid the application and IHS amounts, you will need to book an appointment with VFS (the Australian company the UKVI office uses for biometrics) in your closest capital city. This is for your biometrics appointment, which is the last step before your visa application gets lodged for assessment. You will be able to log in and upload digital copies of any supporting documents you need or want to include in your visa application (including your evidence of sufficient funds from your bank) right up until the day before your appointment.
Attend your biometrics appointment: The appointment only takes around 15 minutes from start to finish, though make sure you arrive a little early to ensure you are on time and ready to go once they call you in. My biometrics appointment was at the Brisbane VFS office, and this was how my appointment went:
- I arrived 10 minutes before my 1pm appointment time
- They collected any documents I brought with me (see your appointment instructions for what documents you need to bring)
- I put my bag in a locker in the reception room, and they scanned me with a metal detector wand for a security check
- I sat in the reception waiting area for 5 minutes, before they called me into the back room
- We spent around 10 minutes going over all of my application details, and they collected my passport
- They took me into a side room to get my fingerprints scanned and to get my photo taken for my passport vignette and BRP card (which I will pick up from my nominated post office when I arrive in the UK)
- They confirmed they had everything they needed to lodge my application, and that was the end of my appointment
Wait for your application outcome: This is the most nerve wracking part – the waiting. The turn-around time was actually very quick for me, and I received an emailed letter from the UKVI office saying my application was successful just 5 business days after my biometrics appointment, and received my passport with the visa vignette in it the next day (I paid to get it posted back to me, so I didn’t have to travel to Brisbane again to pick it up from the VFS office). This timing obviously varies depending on the complexity of your application, the capital city your biometrics appointment was held in, the time of year you are applying, etc.
Some additional things you may find helpful
These are a couple of things I learnt during the application process that may also be helpful for you to know.
If you’ve made a small mistake on your visa application:
- If you realise after you’ve submitted your application that you made a small mistake, you can write a letter of acknowledgement correcting the mistake, which you can submit as one of your supporting documents on the VFS website before your biometrics appointment. I accidentally wrote the name of my financial institute incorrectly, so I wrote a short letter acknowledging that I made an innocent mistake, and giving the correct name of my financial institute.
Check if you can receive a free UK mobile SIM card:
- I was given a free UK mobile SIM card at my biometrics appointment, which gives me a free month of data that I can use when I arrive in the UK. I’ve heard that this isn’t always something that everyone receives at their biometrics appointment, so it could depend on which VFS office you have your appointment at. If you aren’t given one, it could be worth asking the person holding your appointment if they have any available that they can give you, as it saves you having to arrange a new mobile SIM card yourself when you arrive in the UK.
Hopefully all of this information has helped you gain a better understanding of the Youth Mobility Visa application process as an Australian, and what you can expect when you go through the process yourself.
I wish you the best of luck for a successful visa application outcome!