February 20, 2017

Ultimate Guide to Ireland’s Working Holiday Authorisation

Sara Expat, Moving to Ireland Ireland working holiday, moving to Ireland, US citizen living in Ireland, US expats, working holiday authorisation 122 Comments

I’ve gotten many emails over the past few years of people who come across my blog and want to know “How did you do it?” How, at 22 years of age, did I move from South Louisiana to Dublin, Ireland? Did I do it through a program? Did I have a job? How did I afford it? Was it scary?

Well, folks, I’ll tell you how I did it. I up and moved to Dublin, with no job or place to live, because of a little something known as the Working Holiday Authorisation – an amazing (yet little-known) program between Ireland and citizens of The US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Hong Kong, Chile, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan.

The rules and requirements vary slightly from country to country. For the purpose of this post I’m focusing on the Working Holiday Authorisation offered to people from the United States.

So here we go!

[UPDATE: This post has been updated in 2022 with new/updated information. For example, some processes/applications that had to be done in-person when this article was originally written in 2017 have now been moved online, companies that are no longer in business have been removed, etc. This has all been reflected here.]

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February 2, 2016

Expat Life in Ireland // Month #9 recap and photos

Sara Expat, Expat Life Recaps Expat in Ireland, US expat, working holiday authorisation 25 Comments

Ah, what I’ve been secretly dreading…2016 in Dublin. The year when my life as an expat in Ireland could come to an end, with my visa expiring in May of this year. But I don’t want to be sad and think about it too much. Instead, I’m going to continue sharing what life is life as an expat in Dublin!

Of course I had SO MUCH FUN ringing in the new year in Dublin, and there’s a lot of things I’m looking forward to in the next few months. But, it being 2016 means I’m even closer to having to leave this wonderful life behind. It means the end of my year of being an expat in Ireland.

That’s right. My Irish Working Holiday Visa officially ends at the end of April of this year. So I’m currently trying to figure out a way to stay. I’m even looking into some classes to be able to stay as a student. Because I REALLY want to stay.

But other than that semi-stressful endeavor, life here is (of course) wonderful. January was yet another great month on this beautiful island I’ve been lucky enough to call home for the last 9 months.

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January 5, 2016

Expat Life in Ireland // Month #8 recap and photos

Sara Expat, Expat Life Recaps American living in Ireland, Expat in Ireland, US expat, working holiday authorisation 8 Comments

December was a whirlwind of a month, with the holidays being so fun yet so busy! So, I apologize for my lack of posting.

But, the good news is that I have SO MUCH to share about Christmas in London and the general holiday season in Dublin! Last month may have been quiet, but this month was cold, hectic, festive, and perfect! And spoiler alert: I’m still having an absolute BALL being an American expat in Ireland.

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December 1, 2015

Expat Life in Ireland // Month #7 recap and photos

Sara Expat, Expat Life Recaps American living in Ireland, Expat in Ireland, living abroad in Ireland, US expat, working holiday authorisation 4 Comments

We’re over the halfway mark 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 OK you get it, I’m sad that my time as an American expat in Ireland is FLYING by.

The month of November will be known to me as The Month Where Not Much Happened.

Yeah, my hectic and crazy streak over the past 2 months was bound to come to an end sometime. I mean, last month I did visit another country and 2 different Irish cities. So to be honest, this month didn’t have too much going on.

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June 8, 2015

Expat Life in Ireland // Month #1 recap and photos

Sara Expat, Expat Life Recaps Expat, living in Dublin, monthly update, moving to Ireland, working holiday authorisation 9 Comments

I’m a little late on writing this post, as technically last Thursday marked a month of living in Ireland. But, that just goes to show how insanely hectic life has been since I moved here! Getting settled in as an expat in Ireland has pretty all-consuming.

Just for a little background info, my friend Maggie and I moved to Dublin, Ireland on a year-long working holiday authorization visa. When we moved across the Atlantic at the end of April, we had no jobs and no places to live lined up. Not nerve-wracking at all, right?! So here is a summary of our first month of expat life in Ireland!

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