I'm a graduating high school senior. I am enrolled in a university but have requested deferment for one year, a "gap-year", to live/work/travel in Europe. I know that with my US citizenship, I can stay in the Schengen territory for up to 90 days, and in the UK for up to six months, as a general visitor (i.e. I can be their strictly as a tourist, no working).
This is not what I want to do, though. What I need is a visa that allows me to work in a European country (I want to stay in one of the Schengen countries or the UK) and stay there for a period of one year. I would greatly appreciate ANY suggestions/advice/help!!!!
I've spent hours looking at foreign embassy sites, and it seems that for the conventional "work-visa", I need to have an employer in that country offer me a job and prove that there's no citizen in that country capable of that job... for me that seems a bit unrealistic.
I've heard of visas called temporary-residence visas and extended-stay or long-term-stay visas... If there are any visas like these or a visa that would simply allow me to stay in one of those countries for a year, then I could find "friendly" domestic jobs or farm-work and such for a cash payment. Names/requirements of this type of visa or advice on other routes of getting in would be really appreciated!
Thanks all in advance!!!

Yup, those are the realities. You need a job lined up (highly unlikely in this economy), or have to leave after 90 days.

All I can think of is to look for websites where you might find a nanny/babysitting job or English-teaching job. Maybe with one of those lined up you could find a way to stay for a year.

I do not like to reply to forum posts with answers in absolute terms but for a US citizen wanting to work in a Schengen country for one year means you will need to find a position before you leave the US and complete all of the required Visa application requirements which you must pick up in person at the nearest consulate before you depart.

One possible strategy would be to pickup a student Visa by enrolling in a one year program at a school in France. Most large cities have language schools of this type. You could then work <i>au noir</i> (for cash) as a baby sitter, dish washer, farm hand, or even private English teacher (some French might like your American accent). I have known people who have done this but it will take some planning on your part.

I do not recommend you just <i>show up</i> without the required Visa or stay beyond the 90 day requirement.

You have to realize that you are going to be competing for unskilled jobs with a lot of immigrants who actually speak the language of the country you are in. Meaning, Africans who come too work on Italian farms and South Americans who come to work as domestics in Spain or Holland speak Spanish or Dutch. Do you speak a foreign language? If so, you should be focusing on getting a visa from that country.

It used to be that there were jobs available for US passport holders through American-owned companies that do business in Europe. But I don't know if that's still true, and the economy has killed a lot of those jobs in places like Prague, etc., and you will still only be qualified if you spoke the language of the country where you were going.

If you are willing to work as a domestic, you can sometimes get a job accompanying an American family to Europe, and you take care of their kids. But again, I wouldn't trust my kids to someone who didn't speak the language of the country I was in, since they might have to handle an emergency.

It's probably not likely that migrant work would support you. And American companies (providing you are American) would not spend the money to send someone with a high school education abroad, especially if you do not have foreign language skills. There are also rules regarding hiring in-country people vs. Americans in American firms based abroad.

Have you given any thought to where you would stay (type of lodging) for a year, providing you could get a visa. Have you spend any time away from home before and have you given thought to living alone in a foreign country without a support network of family and friends.

You might try the Thorntree site and the forum there which caters to a younger/back packing crowd.

If living/working in Europe does not work out for your gap year you can do a junior year abroad as part of your studies. The French government has a program where they hire former study abroad students who speak French to teach English for 6 months or a year after they graduate from college. The pay is very low but it's an opportunity to live and work in France for a year.

Unfortunately most of the working holiday visas are centred around western european and commonwealth passport holders, and thats why gap years are so popular in those countries

To do this properly you may need to go to uni and then use the following organisations to get the necessary work permits for you:

http://www.bunac.org/USA/
http://www.aiesecus.org

Geordie

In your position, there simply isn't a legal option for the UK or continental Europe, except doing a year's study. There would be if you were Canadian, or Australian, or Japanese. But your government - unlike other affluent countries - won't agree to bilateral schemes allowing our young pre-university people to have a year's working holiday in the US.

There is, however, just one exception. The US DOES have such a scheme with Ireland (www.dfa.ie/home/index.aspx?id=73713. And Ireland has - at present - terrific cheapo air links with the rest of Europe, and no travel barriers between it and the UK. So if you can get a job in Ireland (no easy feat, given the mess of the Irish economy right now), you can work there, then commute for fun to Britain and the continent.

This DOESN'T give you the right to live or work elsewhere in Europe: the usual Schengen rules apply for travel to the continent, and though you can come and go to Britain pretty well as much as you like, there are slightly complex (though practically unenforcable) rules about lengthy stays there.

Good luck with your quest. I'd say getting a visa will be difficult but maybe not impossible. Check this website -

http://www.gumtree.com/
look under Jobs - Travel and Overseas (at the bottom)

There are often interesting jobs in various countries advertised. Occasionally they have jobs where the employer will sort out a visa for you. Just be a bit wary - if it sounds too good to be true...

Kay

I don't think there is much realistic chance that you could find work -- legal or illegal -- in any foreign country given your age and lack of work experience. But you might be able to find situations where you would get room and board in exchange for work. (Try websites like "workaway").

But you couldn't spend all your time continuously in the schengen countries. You could spend 90 days, but then you'd have to go to Latin America or Asia for 180. Then you could come back for another 90 days.

If you combined it with a project of learning Spanish, it might be very meaningful time spent.

You're being given absurd advice.

1. "I'd say getting a visa will be difficult " Cobblers. All you need for an Irish working holiday visa is evidence you're American, 18-30, and you've got money in the bank and medical insurance.

2. "You'd have to go to Latin America or Asia for 180" More cobblers. Just return to Ireland.

For advice - not altogether encouraging at present - on getting jobs in Ireland (where tens of thousands of inexperienced 18 yo Australians and New Zealanders have been finding gap year jobs for decades) go to the UK/Ireland pages of the Lonely Planet Thorntree site.

In Canada, we have a Student Work Abroad Program (SWAP). Not sure if the US has similar programs but might be worth checking. Here is the site in Canada.

http://www.swap.ca/out_eng/index.aspx

What about volunteering overseas? There are probably more opportunities outside of W. Europe but you might be able to find something appropriate. You will likely have to pay for the experience but it seems that it would be very difficult to break even in a work abroad situation. If you go through a legitimate program they should help you with the visa.

Here's a start:
www.volunteerabroad.com

I think it's great that you want to take a year to experience the world. Another option would be working for a few months domestically and then using that money to travel on the cheap through Europe and other areas.

Do not go down the illegal route - overstaying on Schengen's 90-in-180 days tourist visa-waiver or UK's 6-month visitor leave and working in the black economy, without papers and cash-in-hand. To start with, as others have explained, jobs of any kind are rapidly disappearing and you have a very high chance of ending up penniless and roofless. And authorities everywhere are clamping down on illegal work and migration. When caught, it means next flight home at your expense and black mark on your immigration record, jeopardising your future travel and work plans.
Instead, think globally. Young volunteers are in demand in Third World countries to work in local projects to better living conditions and give hope for the future. Peace Corps require 27-month commitment, but there are other programs offering short-term assignments. Start looking at http://www.volunteerabroad.com/search.cfm

So if I'm following flanneruk's post correctly, it's OK to do a non-paying job in exchange for room and board in a Schengen-Country for 90 days, then go to Ireland for 180 day and do anything but paying work, then return to a Schengen country for more non-paying actvity for another 90 days?

I think you have misunderstood zeppole.

Young Americans can get a "working holiday" visa to Ireland that allows them to legally work for up to a year. Flanner provided a link to the Irish foreign affairs website with the details.

The OP could then live and work in Ireland using it as a base to then make short trips into the rest of the continent financed by money earned in Ireland. These trips would have to abide by normal tourist visa rules, i.e. less than 90 days, no work.

Pete,

I think I did get that. But isn't it the case that in order to obtain a working holiday visa for Ireland, the applicant has to show that he or she already has a job?

Flanner said what I was telling the OP was absurd, but I think he misunderstood me. I am telling the OP that he is being unrealistic if he thinks he can line up any kind of paying work in order to get a work visa. The most he can hope for if he wants to be in a schengen country for more than 90 days in his "gap year" is to do volunteer work in exchange for room and board, broken up by spending 180 days elsewhere -- and Ireland won't let him do that, but some Asian and Latin American countries would.

Yes?

'But isn't it the case that in order to obtain a working holiday visa for Ireland, the applicant has to show that he or she already has a job?'

No, the visa holder can just go to Ireland and start looking for a job. They need to have money saved up - around $2000-$3000 - initially to finance their stay until they are fixed up with employment.

<i>I think I did get that. But isn't it the case that in order to obtain a working holiday visa for Ireland, the applicant has to show that he or she already has a job?</i>

Nope. That would be true for a normal working visa, these working holiday type visas are a separate category to allow young people to travel abroad for a year.

From the link flanner gave the requirements are:

* Valid United States passport;
* 2 recent identical passport photographs with your name on the reverse;
* Current curriculum vitae (with references);
* Original bank statement showing that you have access to €1,500 (or equivalent) plus a return ticket; or €3,000 (or equivalent);
* Originals of any qualifications obtained or letter from school/college/university (where applicable)
* The relevant fee of €250 or dollar equivalent as advised by the relevant Mission
* Return airline tickets;
* Certificate of medical/travel insurance valid for the duration of the trip (based on dates on tickets)
* Valid United States passport that is valid for the entirety of the trip to Ireland ie for a full year after their ticketed date of entry.

Ok, thanks! I did misunderstand that.

adrienne suggest the OP should try Thorn Tree world. and it seems the OP has done that...but they are still getting the same advice.