Details of the Youth Mobility Scheme ballot for applicants from Hong Kong (if you have an SAR passport), Japan, South Korea and Taiwan were announced this week. The ballot is due to open on 17 January 2023 at 00:01am local time and will close at 00:01am local time on 19 January 2023. During the period that the ballot is open, entrants will need to email a designated email address and provide their name, date of birth, passport number and mobile telephone number. There are 800 ballot places available for each nationality listed above and an applicant can only enter the ballot once. Successful applicants will be informed of the outcome of the ballot by 20 January 2023 and they will then have 30 days to submit a Youth Mobility Scheme visa application.

The Youth Mobility visa allows holders to live and work in the UK for up to two years. The initial two year visa is not renewable and does not provide a path to settlement in the UK. The Youth Mobility visa is often seen as a stepping stone to obtaining a longer term UK visa, allowing the visa holder to gain valuable work experience in the UK which may put them in a better position to secure a sponsored work visa in the future.

Unsuccessful ballot applicants will be able to try and secure a ballot place in the second round which is due to run in July 2023. Those wishing to explore other available visa options in the interim can get in touch with a member of our team to discuss further.