Canadian moving to London work advice

Hi, Im set to leave for London on March 4th with my Tier 5 youth mobility visa. My plan is to work there for a few months and enjoy the city (also take some small trips in between to Amsterdam, Paris, Barca etc), then move to the Greek islands for the summer followed by Turkey, Croatia etc. I was in Europe last summer and I know London is expensive in comparison to other European cities which is why I will be looking to find work almost immediately after landing..give or take a day or two. My goal is to find a pub or restaurant that offers decent pay and plenty of hours but the main benefit I'm looking for is a place to live. I've been reccomended to find pubs that provide staff live in opporunities. Therse a few websites that say they provide it but all require close to 600$ ahead. I know plenty of people have done this so I can't see why I wouldnt be able to, but any reccomendations would be great. Also I've given myself a realistic time frame to find work in the city before I blow through my cash and I'm looking for plan b's so if anyone has suggestions for other cities in Europe that are good for under the table work I'd also appreciate any info of that nature. I've heard Barcelona, Berlin and Prague are good for this?

Aaaaah... I don't think that you'll be able to work in any other country, as your Tier 5 is only for the UK. Seems to me, you can only spend a "holiday" in continental Europe (like a week), not extended periods of time to work (like 2 months, unless a company sends you there), since it's not an ancestry visa, or a work permit for the countries you named.

I'd look into that if I were you, as you could get into trouble when going through security/immigration in airports or random checks by police or government of any country, considering how much illegal immigration and illegal work is being done.

I recommend that you should do some more research. If you are found to be in violation of your visa, there could be serious repercussions. What you're proposing sounds wrong, and illegal from my perspective, but this is opinion only.

I'm going to look into that myself and see what I can find... I'm curious about this now.

EDIT: check this document out: http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/siteco ... idance.pdf

Admittedly, it says nothing about long holidays outside the UK. Every site that I've gone on say that it's "to experience life in the UK". It seems to me that there is an agreement between Canada and the UK that the work is only to be done in the UK, and that you spend a large portion (60-80%)of your time in the UK. If you don't, you're breaking the contract between you, Canada, and the UK.

Personally, I would never risk 1) a potential criminal record/blemish on my record which could jeopardize my chances for employment in my home country, 2) my chances of working in the UK again or in other countries, or 3) being barred from travelling outside my home country for 10 years to the rest of my life.

In all honesty, I don't know. This is how I myself interpret the info. You may need to call someone to get the info. Or, maybe you can get away with it. You'll definitely have to weigh the odds.

Hey thanks for the info, I should maybe re-clarify that I have every intention of trying to find work in the UK for a few months and I was more so looking for advice from anyone if they knew areas or specific places in the city that are known for hiring travelers and provide any sort of staff living deals. That being said I do plan on going to the Greek islands for may and June and a bit of July + some of eastern Europe for the last month or so of the summer, but that would qualify as plain old backpacking, nothing more, nothing less.

Oh, ok. I'm sorry, I misunderstood. The way I read it was that you were going to spend much longer in the continent.

Sorry about that!

With a Tier 5 you can spend as much time as you want outside of the UK - My visa actually started 6 weeks before I even entered the UK for the first time because I was travelling for a while beforehand and they can only post-date the visa for 3 months from your date of application. You won't be able to work on the continent, but you can spend as much time as you like there and still return to the UK without a problem. I understand that as a UK resident you can visit the Continent as a UK resident, but regardless, if they treat you as a Canadian citizen either way, you still have really good visiting opportunities for the continent, since various countries allow from 90 days to 3 months visit without requiring a visa. Man, being Canadian is great.

As far as work goes... I met quite a few people in London that ended up working at hostels because it was awesome. I know the Astor chain hires backpackers but you may want to contact them in advance to see if there are openings (some locations also offer lodging to staff).

Hey, thanks for all the tips. Much appreciated.