Disclaimer: the information provided within these pages is for educational purposes only. Please consult with qualified professionals for more specialised information, tailored to your unique circumstances.

Welcome back my literary friends!

Today we are talking about applying for a T5 Youth Mobility visa from Australia for 2 years to live and work in the United Kingdom.

Once you’ve confirmed your eligibility, I found it a pretty simple process to apply via the UK visa application page. The only other major requirement is proof of financial stability (money to support yourself during your stay) in the form of a bank statement. You can only apply for the visa 6 months prior to your intended departure date. You can see more details on the application ‘process’ here.

There are several declared fees associated with the application including;

• The application fee (at time of writing £244 or $454 AUD)

• The Healthcare Surcharge (at time of writing £470 per year or $1,750 AUD for 2 years)

• Proof of Financial security (min. £2,530 in savings or $4,704 AUD) not a fee but money you ‘need’ nonetheless.

As part of the application, you are required to upload a copy of your passport, bank statement and tuberculosis status (if required in your country). One key point when it comes to passports - in Australia you cannot have a visa entered into your passport if your passport expires prior to the conclusion of the visa (this may change but I was advised this by the Passport office in Australia). My passport expired in October 2022 and the visa was due to run until February 2024. An added cost for me was the purchase of a new passport and the associated photographs. Sadly in this situation, you do ‘lose’ the remaining time on the passport you surrender.

Once you’ve checked everything and are certain of your elegibility, the process is as follows.
In Brisbane, Australia, where I submitted my application I;

1. Completed the application online and uploaded my Passport and my bank statement.

2. Paid the application fee and the health care surcharge for the 2 year visa.

3. Selected my preferred ‘entry window’. This is the period within which you intend to arrive in the UK.

4. In Australia, you are required to attend a ‘Biometrics Centre’ to have your fingerprints taken and submit your passport for the visa to be printed inside.

This is where things got very confusing for me, and if I hadn’t already had a friend go through the process, I would have been certain it was a scam! Be warned, below is what might be considered my equivalent of the ‘bakers verbose blog entry before finally getting to the recipe’. Feel free to skip down!

Once the application has been processed, it opened a window advising me to ‘book an appointment’ for this ‘biometrics interview’. I printed a copy of my application to have it on hand, and saved a copy in PDF form. The UK confirmation email also advises you to print a copy of the application. There was very little information that I could find on what this appointment included or what I needed to do in preparation. I was directed to a website run by VFS Global. It was at this point that the correspondence I was receiving switched from the .GOV.UK groups and became VFS Global. I followed all the links, logged in and booked the appointment and this is where some additional ‘fees’ started appearing. Once the appointment is booked, the VFS portal is where you upload ‘additional documents’.

Appointment fee $106 AUD. Check.

I was advised after I arrived at the appointment that I needed a printed copy of that email, as it is what is sent off with the Passport to the UK office in Sydney. This is not stated (as far as I could see on the email or the document) as a required document to print and bring with you. My understanding was the application pages needed to be printed along with the passport copy and the finance documents and proof of payment of the UK fees.

Recap: Take with you to VFS Office for Biometrics Appointment

1. Passport (with minimum 2 years + 6 months validity if applying for full 2 years)

2. Printed copy of application from GOV.UK site

3. Printed photocopy of passport

4. Printed bank statement

5. Printed copy of VFS Appointment confirmation with Barcode

When I attended the appointment I had one quick question about the visa process and was advised that the staff member was unable to answer my question. I didn’t realise that VFS is essentially the ‘postal service’ for the Visa office. They do not have any information or resources when it comes to the process or the system. If you have questions, be sure to call the GOV.UK number to ask first, otherwise, you will pay for another biometrics appointment if you leave and return later to submit your passport with your questions answered.

I had to laugh, because walking into the VFS office, I was still 50/50 on whether or not I was walking into a scam and about to hand my passport over to these people! Once I got inside, things only got worse. I recall phoning my mother afterward and saying, ‘well I’m quite certain I’ll never see that passport again!’ I couldn’t fathom how my passport could safely make it to Sydney and back again, let alone with a valid visa inside! The reasons for my scepiticism continue below…

During my ‘interview’ I was asked if I would like to pay $2 for an SMS to advise when my passport was leaving Sydney. I was supremely confused and asked if I would recieve an email advising that my passport was ready and was told ‘no’. The only way to find out if my passport was on its way back to Brisbane was via this SMS. That or I could pay $30 to have it delivered to my home. At the time this was happening, Australia Post was struggling to send letters, let alone important documents around the country due to COVID-19! I opted to collect it from the office.

I was advised that I would be told (via this SMS) when my passport was leaving Sydney but not advised when it had arrived and was ready for collection. I was told that the office was only open two days a week between 3pm and 4pm for collections. When I asked about how I would know if my passport was ready for collection, I was advised ‘wait three weeks after you get the SMS, just to be safe, and then come in. Don’t call we’re not always here. Just come in. If it isn’t here, then you’ll have to come back in another week and check again.’

I should mention at this point that there is no way of knowing if your visa has been ‘approved’ in this timeframe. There is no notification from the UK Gov. or VFS during this time to advise if your application is successful. Funny as it is, you have to wait until you get your passport back, open the package and see if there is a letter inside stating your success and see the visa pasted inside your passport.

Despite all of this, I handed my documents to this woman, and was told if I’d forgotten anything that the charge was $30 per page for scanning and ‘upload’. Thankfully I think I had everything I needed and therefore dodged that one. The biometrics portion of the interview is having your fingerprints scanned digitally, your photo taken and your signature recorded electronically. Let’s just say their setup is not designed for comfort, and certainly not designed for left handers like me. I had to re-sign my signature four times because the ‘pad’ you have to sign was wedged where only a right handed person could reach it properly! The woman assisting me was less than impressed with my attempts.

To my surprise and delight, I received an email that afternoon advising that VFS had confirmed receipt of my passport and that it was on its way to Sydney. Only 10 or so days later, I had an email stating that my passport had left Sydney and was due to return to Brisbane. Lo and behold, 30 seconds later, my $2 SMS arrived advising the passport had left Sydney!

Two days later, I had another email advising my passport was in Brisbane and ready to collect. With a catch. If I wanted my passport back outside the 3-4pm window on Monday or Wednesday, I had to pay $12. Now, I know what you’re thinking. Anna, this just sounds silly, why were you frustrated at paying $12 to get your passport back? At this point, I really was elated at the thought that my passport had by some miracle found its way back to Brisbane. But I had thought that the ‘application fee’ I’d paid the UK Government of $454AUD would have included these aspects of the process. The thing I found most funny was, the cost of the bus to get into the city to collect my visa was $4 each way, plus the SMS and the $12 to collect it, meant that it would have almost been more cost effective to pay the $30 to have it posted, if I had faith it would arrive due to the postal backlog!

Nevertheless, I made my way back into the city and nearly fell over when, after paying my $12, I was handed an envelope with my passport which contained a valid visa. I rang my mother in elation on the way to the bus, astounded that the correct passport with the correct visa had miraculously made its way back into my possession.

All in all, it was less difficult than I expected, but also more traumatising than I anticipated! The process was reasonably simple to navigate (if you don’t care about details, planning, punctuality or organisation) and I got my passport back in one piece.

So, like any good MasterCard ad, we had;

• New Passport Photos $16

• New Passport $301 AUD

• The application fee $454 AUD

• The Healthcare Surcharge $1,750 AUD

• The Biometrics appointment Fee $106 AUD

• The SMS notification $2AUD

• The Passport collection Fee $12 AUD

• Trauma, priceless.

  There’s some things money can’t buy.

Now I have my passport safely back in my hands, and an entry window commencing February 2022.

Have you applied for a UK visa as an Australian Passport holder? What was your experience like?

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