What are the chances of being granted a 2019 Working Holiday Visa?

As of mid January (early on in the Visa season), there is still a great chance of obtaining a WH Visa for many IEC participating countries. Now is the best time for Au Pairs to apply and the best time for families to start interviewing future Au Pairs. If you are seeking an Au Pair for September don’t leave selection until summer! For the best results, give yourself as much time as possible for Visa approval. Remember, just because the Au Pair has been accepted into the pool doesn’t mean she is guaranteed an invitation to apply.
We’ve posted a chart below to help you visualize the current availability of Working Holiday Visas. Australia is always the best bet as there is no quota. For host families this chart is helpful in determining which countries are the “best bets” when searching for your next Au Pair. Compare candidates in the pool to number of spots available. As you can see… countries like France are long-shots.
Pool | Quota | Invitations to date | Invitations last round | Spots available | Candidates in pool | Chances of invitation |
Australia | Unlimited | 2088 | 848 | Unlimited | 247 | Excellent |
Austria | 165 | 127 | 65 | 87 | 64 | Very Good |
Belgium | 750 | 541 | 325 | 407 | 247 | Very Good |
Chile | 725 | 57 | 30 | 688 | 4062 | Very Low |
Costa Rica | 80 | 27 | 14 | 64 | 230 | Very Low |
Croatia | 275 | 182 | 80 | 172 | 26 | Excellent |
Czech Republic | 1000 | 0 | 0 | 1000 | 2032 | Low |
Denmark | 350 | 143 | 53 | 257 | 23 | Excellent |
Estonia | 110 | 0 | 0 | 110 | 145 | Open |
France | 7150 | 700 | 500 | 6709 | 16535 | Very Low |
Germany | 4490 | 2441 | 2225 | 3044 | 485 | Excellent |
Greece | 180 | 0 | 0 | 180 | 224 | Open |
Hong Kong | 200 | 135 | 90 | 120 | 43 | Excellent |
Ireland | 10500 | 2671 | 1341 | 9002 | 512 | Excellent |
Italy | 1000 | 760 | 590 | 566 | 82 | Excellent |
Japan | 6500 | 1378 | 1378 | 5233 | 186 | Excellent |
Latvia | 40 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 111 | Open |
Lithuania | 175 | 32 | 10 | 155 | 608 | Very Low |
Netherlands | 480 | 0 | 0 | 480 | 701 | Open |
New Zealand | 2500 | 0 | 0 | 2500 | 563 | Excellent |
Norway | 130 | 47 | 8 | 96 | 1 | Excellent |
Poland | 635 | 0 | 0 | 635 | 741 | Open |
Portugal | 1750 | 222 | 47 | 1606 | 18 | Excellent |
San Marino | 25 | 4 | 0 | 23 | 1 | Excellent |
Slovakia | 315 | 66 | 66 | 275 | 596 | Very Low |
Slovenia | 80 | 0 | 0 | 80 | 67 | Open |
South Korea | 4000 | 0 | 0 | 4000 | 12692 | Very low |
Spain | 890 | 0 | 0 | 890 | 1445 | Open |
Sweden | 580 | 125 | 26 | 502 | 10 | Excellent |
Taiwan | 940 | 75 | 30 | 906 | 4329 | Very Low |
UK | 5000 | 3815 | 1810 | 2756 | 3027 | Very good |