Working Holiday Scheme Japan

Working Holiday Scheme between Japan and Hong Kong Announcement of results for the second application period for 2012

1. The Working Holiday Scheme between Japan and Hong Kong was launched in January 2010, and the results of the second application period for this year will be announced on 20 November. At that time, the successful applicants’ individual application numbers will be posted on our website and displayed at the consulate’s Visa Section.

2. The annual quota for the Working Holiday Scheme between Japan and Hong Kong is set at 250 visas for each side. Applications for working holiday visas for Japan were accepted by our consulate during two periods this year, the first in April and the second in October, with 125 visas allocated for each period. The second working holiday visa application period ran from 8 to 19 October, and a total of 231 applications were received in this period.

3. All of the visa applications received by the consulate have been subject to careful examination and 145 (NOTE) applications received during the second 2012 period have been approved. Successful applicants will be able to collect their visas during the period from Wednesday, 21 November, 2012 to Friday, 22 February, 2013 (Saturdays, Sundays and consulate holidays excluded). Working holiday visas are issued free of charge.

4. The 231 working holiday visa applications received during the second 2012 application period represented a 21% increase on the 191 applications received during the first 2012 period. The quota for the second period (145) (NOTE) was exceeded by the number of applications received (231) by a ratio of 1:1.6. And the total of 422 applications received in 2012, i.e. during the first and second periods combined, exceeded the annual quota of 250 by a ratio of 1:1.7.

(NOTE): The number of successful applicants in the second period amounts to 145, rather than 125, because 20 successful applicants from the first period did not collect their visas.

The following is a comparative breakdown of this year’s and last year’s application figures

（１）The number of working holiday visa applicants & the number of successful applicants

Compared with the number of applications received in 2011, there was a 41% increase in the number received in 2012 (i.e. 123 more applications).

（２）Gender

It is clear from the above figures that in 2012, as in 2011, the group of successful applicants included a higher percentage of female, as opposed to male, applicants.

（３）Age group

This year, compared with 2011, the proportion of successful applicants in the 23-26 age group was up by approximately 7 percentage points. It was down by approximately 3 percentage points in the 18-22 age group; and by 4 percentage points in the 27-30 age group.

(NOTE) In the first period of 2011, due to the impact of the 11 March earthquake and tsunami on the timing of the application process, we made a special case and accepted one application from an applicant who was 31 years of age. For the purposes of simplicity, this application is included in the 27-30 age group in the above table.

（４）Academic level

In 2011, the percentages of successful applicants in both the “University or higher” & “Others” categories were very similar. But in 2012, there was a significant difference. In fact, the number of successful applicants in the “Others” category (112) was exceeded by the number in the “University or higher” category (158) by a ratio of 1:1.4.

(NOTE) The statistics above include those who are attending but have not yet graduated from their university or school etc.

5. The consulate is very grateful for the interest shown in working holiday visas. We sincerely hope that an even larger number of young Hong Kong people apply for working holiday visas next year.

6. The working holiday visa application schedule for 2013 will be announced on our consulate’s website in December this year.

Source: Consulate General of Japan in Hong Kong

日本駐香港總領事館公佈成功通過二零一二年第二期日港工作假期計劃審查人士的結果

1. 有關自2010 年1 月開始之日港工作假期計劃，今年第二期成功通過審查的人士已有所決定。通過審查的人士之簽證申請受理號碼，將於本月20 日刊載在本館網頁內，並張貼於本館領事部簽證組櫃台。

2. 工作假期簽證的一年間發出數目，為日本、香港雙方各250 個。

今年赴日簽證的兩次申請期間，分別是4 月的第一期和10 月的第二期（簽證發出名額各125 個）。第二期接受申請於10 月8 日至19 日（不包括休館日），在這期間共有231 人申請。

3. 已接受之簽證申請經過本館嚴格審查後，第二期決定有145 人（注）成功通過審查。

成功通過第二期審查的人士可於11 月21 日（星期三）至明年2 月22 日（星期五）（不包括休館日、時間）領取簽證，手續費全免。（注）今年第一期之成功通過審查的人士有125 人，因在這期間內前來領取簽證的人數有105 人，故將第一期餘下的20 個發證名額撥至第二期。

4. 今年第二期的申請數目是231 個。與今年第一期（191 個）比較增長21%。相對於145 個簽證發出名額的倍率約為1.6 倍。再者，今年第一期及第二期合共有422個申請，相對於250 個簽證發出名額的倍率約為1.7 倍。（今年第二期的詳情請參照附表）

此外，去年（第一期及第二期）與今年（第一期及第二期）申請人士的趨勢等如下。

(1) 申請人數・成功通過審查人數

與2011 年比較，2012 年增加了123 個（約41%）。

(2) 男女比例

在成功通過審查的人數佔申請者的比例上可見，結果上，2012 年度女性也是佔較高成功率。

(3) 年齡比例

在成功通過審查的人數佔申請者的年齡比例上，與2011 年比較，23 歲至26歲年齡組別的人數增加約7%，而27 歲至30 歲年齡組別的人數及18 歲至22 歲年齡組別的人數則分別減少約4%及3%。

（注）由於2011 年第一期的地震特例，有一位31 歲人士的申請，已計算在「27-30」的組別內。

(4) 學歷比例

在成功通過審查的人數佔申請者的學歷比例上，去年，「大學或以上」及「其他」的比例大致均等。不過，在2012 年度，「大學或以上」的人數比「其他」的人數多約40%。

（注）包括在學人士。

5. 這次收到的申請總數超過發出簽證的名額，在此僅代表本館說句感謝，同時亦衷心期待明年會有更多香港青年人提交申請。

6. 明年（2013 年）之接受申請期間等，將在今年12 月於本館網頁公佈。

資料來源：日本駐港總領事館