Czechs heading Down Under

Young people looking to escape the cold of the Prague winter might soon be able to move to the warmer climes of Australia for an extended break.

Taking a working holiday to the country could become easier with Australia announcing it has begun talks with several countries, including the Czech Republic, on establishing reciprocal work and holiday visa arrangements.

If implemented, the work and holiday visas would allow young Czechs and citizens of the partner countries aged between 18 and 30 to enjoy an extended visit to the country.

Participants would be able to stay for up to 12 months and take on short-term work and study during that time. Each arrangement would have an annual cap on visa grant numbers.

Other countries included in the negotiations with Australia are Hungary, Israel, Latvia, Poland and Slovakia.

"The start of discussions for these new work and holiday arrangements recognizes the value of Australia's evolving bilateral relationships with these countries and will strengthen our cultural and people to people links," said Chris Bowen, the Australian minister for immigration and citizenship.

However, anyone contemplating a working holiday visa is being warned the arrangements may not be in place for some time.

"Negotiating work and holiday arrangements, which must be reciprocal and agreeable to both partner governments, can take some time to finalize and implement," Bowen said.

The work and holiday visa will differ from Australia's existing working holiday visas, because applicants would be required to have the support of their government, hold or study toward tertiary qualifications and speak functional English.

In Australia, the announcement of the new visa negotiations has been applauded by tourism groups who say there is plenty of seasonal work available for young Czechs.

"There are 36,000 job vacancies in tourism and hospitality around the country," said Tourism & Transport Forum Chief Executive John Lee.

"Allowing more working holidaymakers to visit Australia will go some way to alleviating the labor shortage many tourism operators are facing."

There have been concerns in Australia, however, about how many foreign young people are arriving in the country on working holiday visas amid steep increases in the numbers issued to citizens of some countries.

A report released in November by Bob Birrell of the Centre for Urban and Population Research at Melbourne's Monash University called for a variable cap on the number of working holiday visas issued, suggesting the number issued should depend on Australia's unemployment rate.

For several years, many young Czechs have embraced similar visas offered by countries such as New Zealand and Canada. Each year, up to 1,200 Czech adults under the age of 36 can qualify for a 12-month working holiday visa in New Zealand. The scheme, which was established in 2004, has become very popular with young Czechs who mainly take up seasonal jobs such as fruit picking.

Similarly, in Canada, 1,000 working holiday visas are offered each year to Czechs aged between 18 and 35, and recipients are allowed to spend up to 12 months in the country working, traveling and improving their language skills.

Anyone contemplating heading Down Under to escape the European winter would face another challenge - dealing with the heat: The average temperature across the entire continent Jan. 7 was above 40 degrees Celsius.