Terms and Conditions

1. Agreement to these terms

These Terms and Conditions ("Terms") apply when you use the Working Holiday Work website at workingholidaywork.com and when you apply for or use our Helping Hand service. "We", "us" and "our" mean Working Holiday Work. "You" means the person using the website or the service.

By using the website, or by ticking "I agree to the terms and conditions" when you apply, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the website or apply.

These Terms are governed by the law of England and Wales.

2. Our services

We publish free guides and information about working holidays in Japan. Through Helping Hand we also offer:

• the Season Programme, a paid package of preparation and support (section 4)

• job searching and introductions to partner employers in Japan (free, see section 5)

• Support Only, a smaller paid package of support (section 6)

3. Who can apply

You must be at least 18 to use our services. Helping Hand is for people who can apply for a Japan working holiday visa: you must hold a passport from a country or region with a working holiday arrangement with Japan and be within its age limit, usually 18 to 30, when you apply for the visa.

You must give us accurate and complete information. We may decline an application, or stop providing a service, if information you gave us is false or misleading.

4. The Season Programme

The Season Programme helps you prepare for and make the most of your working holiday. It is open to anyone going to Japan on a working holiday, including people who have found their own job.

The Season Programme fee is payable once your working holiday visa is granted and you have completed the pre-departure course. Nothing is due before then.

5. Applying, the hello call and job searching

Applying and the hello call

After you apply, we contact you to book a free hello call. On the call we get to know you, check your visa eligibility and talk through what you are looking for. We screen applicants against written criteria: visa eligibility, availability for the season, fit for the roles available, language level and how reliably you come across. Whether you buy a package plays no part in screening.

• If you pass our screening, we may introduce you to partner employers suitable for you. Introductions are not guaranteed: employers decide whom they interview and hire.

• The job search continues until you find a job you're happy with, and ends once you accept a job. After that we are still happy to give you advice.

• Partner employers recruit and contract with you directly. You send them your CV and arrange interviews with them. Working Holiday Work is not your employer and is not responsible for the employer's pay, conditions, accommodation or decisions.

6. Support Only

The Support Only fee is payable within 7 days of signing up.

7. Payment

• Prices are in pounds sterling (GBP). Prices shown in other currencies are a guide; we convert at the latest rate on the day you pay.

• We send you an invoice when a fee becomes payable. Please pay within 7 days of the invoice.

• Prices do not include the items in section 9.

8. Cancelling and refunds

• You can cancel the Season Programme or Support Only at any time by giving us 5 business days' notice, without penalty.

• We refund anything you have paid for services not yet provided, using the prices in sections 4 and 6.

• This is in addition to your legal rights, including any right to cancel within 14 days of agreeing to a service bought online.

9. What is not included

Neither package includes:

• flights and other travel costs

• travel insurance, which the visa requires

• visa application fees

• the proof of funds the visa requires

• accommodation costs, food and other living costs in Japan

10. Your responsibilities

• Give us accurate information and tell us promptly if anything changes.

• Apply for your visa yourself, on time, with our guidance. The embassy or consulate decides your visa; we cannot guarantee it is granted.

• Arrange travel insurance and your travel to Japan.

• If you accept a job, arrive on or before your start date and meet your commitments to the employer.

• Behave professionally with partner employers and with us.

11. Using the website

You must not use the website for anything unlawful, post false or misleading information, impersonate anyone, try to gain unauthorised access to our systems, or use automated tools to collect data from it.

The website, its design, text, guides, graphics and logos belong to us. You may read and share our content for personal use, but not copy, sell or republish it without permission.

Our free tools, including the Japan working holiday itinerary builder and the visa eligibility checker, are for planning only. They are not an embassy or government service, and they are not legal or immigration advice. Working Holiday Work is not connected to any embassy, consulate or the Government of Japan.

• Only the embassy or consulate decides your visa application. Using our tools does not make approval more likely and does not guarantee it.

• The places, activities and seasons we suggest are ideas for you to research, not checked facts. Dates, prices and opening times change.

• Embassies change their forms and requirements. You are responsible for checking your itinerary and documents against your embassy's own instructions before you apply, and for what you submit.

• The tools are provided free and as they are. We are not responsible for refused, delayed or returned applications, or for any costs that follow, such as visa fees, flights or bookings.

12. Our liability

• We provide our services with reasonable care and skill.

• We are not responsible for partner employers' decisions or conduct, visa decisions, or events outside our reasonable control, such as natural disasters, pandemics, travel bans or government restrictions.

• Our total liability to you in connection with these Terms is limited to the fees you have paid us.

• Nothing in these Terms limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot be limited under English law, and nothing affects your legal rights as a consumer.

13. Privacy

Our Privacy Policy explains how we use your personal information, including sharing your details with partner employers when we introduce you. It forms part of these Terms.

14. Content partners

Sometimes we offer a discount on the Season Programme or Support Only in return for photos, videos or written content from your season ("your content"). The discount and the content it covers will be shown on your payment page or agreed with you in writing.

If you accept a content partner discount:

• Ownership: you transfer to Working Holiday Work all copyright and other rights in your content, including content you create later in your season. This is in return for your discount.

• Our use: we can use, edit, crop and share your content anywhere, including our website, social media, emails, adverts and other marketing, with no time limit.

• Credit: we will credit you by name when we use your content where we reasonably can, for example in a caption or photo credit. You waive any other moral rights in your content, so we can edit and crop it.

• Your own use: you may still share your content on your own personal social media. You must not sell or license it, or let any other business or organisation use it.

• Your promises: you confirm the content is yours, that anyone who can be clearly identified in it has agreed to it being shared, and that it does not break anyone else's rights or any law.

Nothing in this section affects your rights under data protection law. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal information, including images of you.

15. Disputes and governing law

If something goes wrong, please contact us first and we will try to put it right. These Terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction. If you live elsewhere in the UK or in another country, you may also be able to bring a claim in your local courts.

16. Changes to these terms

We may update these Terms. The version you agreed to when you applied applies to your application and any package you buy, unless you agree to a new version. The date at the top shows when these Terms were last changed.

If any part of these Terms is found to be invalid, the rest stays in force. These Terms, our Privacy Policy and our Cookie Policy are the whole agreement between you and us.

17. Contact us

Working Holiday Work, London, United Kingdom. Email hello@workingholidaywork.com, or legal@workingholidaywork.com for questions about these Terms.