Note from the author: BUNAC is not the only organization that can get you an Australian work visa (or "working holiday visa"), but they are the organization I used, and therefore the only one I can write about from experience. If you have information about another group you used, then please let me know and I’ll be happy to share. Also, I have not been paid or in any other way compensated by BUNAC for this review. I paid my $475 just like everyone else. LT

When I first started researching visas online, the same two or three names came up over and over, along with a dozen or so places like Harry’s Visa Express. I asked around my office full of travel pros and got more than one endorsement for BUNAC. From their website I ordered the brochure and initial application, and there was nothing but smooth sailing from there on in.

I ordered the information on a Tuesday and it arrived at my office on Friday. I already had my passport, so I was able to fill out the short application in about 15 minutes. From there I went to the bank to get the $475 application fee (fully refundable if you aren’t accepted or if the program is full), took it to the post office for a money order (no personal checks allowed), and had the entire thing done and mailed off in about an hour.

The following Thursday I received my acceptance letter along with the actual visa application where they ask if you’ve ever been in prison or if you have any diseases that they don’t want to get in Australia. You are given a deadline by which time you have to send in the application along with a photocopy of your airplane ticket, proof of at least $700 in funds, your passport, and payment for travel insurance. It took me about a week to get my plane tickets in the mail and to get a statement from my bank, and then it was off in the mail again.

Once you’ve sent everything in, it can take a couple of weeks past the deadline you were given (the date they take it all off to the government people for the actual visa) for everything to be processed and sent back to you via overnight courier. You get a nice little package along with your passport, which is where I think BUNAC does a great job of not just giving you the legal stuff you need, but the extras that will make your arrival a lot simpler.

Some of these extras include:

• The Lonely Planet Australia guide. Damn heavy, but useful, and it saves you from having to buy one.
• A voucher for your airport transfer. No need to hunt around for a bus or cab, or even cash, when you stumble off the plane, blurry-eyed. Your transfer is pre-paid, door-to-door service from the airport to your hostel.
• No paper voucher, but a letter indicating where you will be staying, free, for the first two nights. I was at the Hotel BakPak, right downtown, close to Hyde Park and just about anywhere else you want to go. Check-in is a breeze since you don’t have to mess around with money or anything, so you can just go straight to your room and crash if you want.

You will also receive instructions for contacting IEP (BUNAC’s Aussie counterpart) when you arrive to sign up for an orientation session. Don’t blow this off. Besides getting some advice about job hunting, travel, and necessary tax information, you’ll also get a phone card, a voucher for a free harbour cruise, and information about the services IEP can provide for you, including a free month of luggage storage, mail forwarding, and emergency contact numbers.

BUNAC won’t do all the work for you. You still have to get your own job, find your own flat, and figure out your own finances. But it’s nice to know there’s someone you can go to with questions, or even just a place to collect your mail. The choice is yours, I’m just trying to make it a little easier for you.