RGH80

I'm stuck in an endless loop with the IEC application.

I sign in with my GCKey, then end up back on the immigration landing page. When I go to 'My Account', I have to sign in again and then wind up back on the landing page. I can't see anywhere to submit an application.

Am I just being stupid?

thingstodo123

Any inclination of when the first draw is?

From a quick google it seems that last year they were - November, December and July.

On another note I completely agree with some of the other posters. The prospect of being stuck in limbo waiting to see whether or not you get in does not appeal at all.

I've already been waiting for three months and don't feel like it is fair to take a new job here then just leave with very little notice.

Maybe it's time for a bar job ha.

christmasoompa

Twitter/Facebook says November.

Nope, it didn't open until Nov last year, first draw was 16th December. And then regularly from then on until it closed in July, certainly at least a few draws in between. The exact dates are probably on the IEC 2016 thread if you want to have a hunt.

HTH.

CRAY

GULP!

No idea why, perhaps because the system has changed since you participated?

The whole application seemed extremely basic to be honest this year...Maybe...Too basic...which worries me a little that I did something wrong despite triple checking all my answers.

It didn't even ask if I had participated previously. Entire sections were as basic as "what language do you want to receive correspondence in" etc.

I'm hoping that they just really streamlined the initial process and then more detailed submissions will come when applying for a work permit should you get invited.

ChrisBan

Doubt it.. I used my GCKey this summer, same one I've had for the past 3-4 years.

CRAY

Bugger....

Can't think why my old one would have been revoked then. I never had any hiccups with immigration or problems with the police etc. Also, my new application went through fine, received a letter from them in my account saying I was in the pools at least.

I would have thought it might have prevented me from creating a new account with the same details if there was any issues 'flagged' with them.

Have you used your GCkey continuously for the past few years? The only thing I can think of is that I have had a 3 or so year hiatus from applications.

ChrisBan

I didn't use it for over 2 years until this summer. Probably locked yourself out trying an incorrect password, or someone else accidentally tried using your key to log in. Could be any number of things, doesn't really matter if you use the same account or just create a new one.

Mattmunro

My wife and I just got our applications to the pool in

I have to say that the website is pretty shoddy and took me about an hour to submit (spread over two days) because their website was dying every other screen!

Anyway, mustn't moan... Fingers crossed and good luck everyone whilst we play the waiting game!

Snowy560

Lots of people have reported problems with the online systems and portals during the last few days.

S

Vulcanoid

Probably related to around 50,000 young people around the world all getting their profile in on day 1, weeks before any draws will be made

beckiwoo

Wow!

It really is becoming very sort after. Id be interested to know the amount of people applying for the last 5 years and see the % increase since Brexit for the UK stream

Vulcanoid

That would be interesting, yeah - seen a lot of people in the facebook groups reference it, at least tangentially.

My guess above was trying to be conservative - there were 5k oversubscribed places last year from UK, about 8k taken from Ireland, thousands more from France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, & I don't know numbers but at least hundreds from Austria, Belgium, the Baltics, Balkans, Scandinavia... - it must be an immense pressure on the servers as everyone jumps in at once.

Public service reminder: It's not against the clock anymore! Slow down everyone, relax, and chill

ChrisBan

2011 was the last year you had to mail your application to France, permits were still available into the depths of August so I suspect most of our peers were too lazy to wait 2-3 months to hear back. The switch to online spiked the numbers, suspect it remained relatively flat at that point at 3-4k above spots.

I feel anyone using Brexit as an excuse... is just looking for an easy excuse because they feel they have to justify doing something they want to do, and Brexit sounds more dramatic than "I'm following my dreams". I had Canada in my sights 2-3 years before I moved over, I personally don't believe that will tip enough people over the edge to see an immediate spike. I feel if there is any Brexit effect, we won't see any tangible demand changes for at least another year or two if/when the economy starts going down the toilet, youth unemployment increases etc etc.

I'm more interested to see if the move to a 1 time two year permit has any impact, as it appears to have done with Ireland 1-2 years after. Assuming everyone went for a second year, 5000 less people trying to apply for a second permit each year surely helps. Interesting to see that currently as of Friday only 360 people in the Ireland working holiday pool and 2k in UK pool... will be interesting to see how much these numbers change once people get over the server issues.

kswoosh

Hey

Does anyone remember roughly how many draws there were last year, and how many invitations were sent out with each draw?

Less than 4K people in the U.K. pool right now. I assume that number will continue to grow. Not sure if the lack of rush required is why not everyone has jumped in the pool, or if demand is simply lower this year due to the change to 2 year visas (no renewals, all new applicants each year).

rachjoy88

Hi!

I know these posts are few months old now, but Ive just applied (well, been put into the pool) for an IEC visa... It says on the website the quota is 5,000 and currently they have 5,070 candidates in the pool, so no idea if I will get one or not!

Do either of you guys know anything about your applications?

I'm 28 and I too have done the Australia working holiday (when I was 22) now really wanting to travel again before I hit 30 and I'm too old for the visas!

Also looking for travel buddies (if I do get a visa, that is!)

Rachael