Youth Mobility Scheme savings: held 28 days in a row, before you apply

The savings shown above have to sit in an account in your own name, or a partner's who is applying with you, for 28 days in a row, and the last of those days must fall no more than 31 days before you apply. Money a parent sends the week before, or an overdraft limit, does not count, so the money has to be in place at least 28 days before you apply.

A candidate who books the application first and tops the account up afterwards can be refused on timing alone, with the whole amount in the bank. Gov.uk says the money must have been available for at least 28 days in a row. The Home Office counts that period back from the closing balance on your most recent statement, and that statement must be dated within 31 days of the day you apply.

Whose money, and in what form

The account must be in your name, alone or jointly, or in the name of a partner who is applying at the same time or already has permission. A parent's account counts only for students and children, not for this visa. Current, savings, deposit and investment accounts all qualify if you can take the money out at once; shares, bonds and credit cards do not. Money in another currency is converted at the rate on the day you apply, so a balance that only just covers the figure can fall short. The bank must be regulated, keep electronic records, and be one the Home Office can check.

Who can apply

Citizens of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Korea can apply from 18 to 35; the other eligible nationalities up to 30, and holders of Hong Kong SAR or Taiwan passports only after being selected in the Home Office ballot. You must be within the limit on the day you apply. Nobody with a child under 18 living with them, or depending on them for money, can apply, and nobody who has already been in the UK on this scheme.

The visa lasts up to two years. Only Australians, Canadians and New Zealanders can extend it, once, by a year, from inside the UK, and the savings test does not apply to that extension.

Which charges go to the Home Office

To the Home Office:

• The application fee shown above, the same for the visa and for the extension.
• The immigration health surcharge at the lower yearly rate for this visa, paid for the whole visa on the day you apply. It is refunded in full if the visa is refused or you withdraw before a decision; it is not refunded if you withdraw after the grant or never travel.

To a firm, if you use one:

• Its service fee, priced apart from anything sold with it, such as help finding work or a room.

Things to settle before paying anyone:

1. On which dates does your 28-day run start and end, and when will you apply?
2. Is the account in your own name, with the money available at once?
3. Is the surcharge for both years inside the quoted price or charged on top?
4. With a Hong Kong SAR or Taiwan passport, have you been selected in the ballot yet?

The box above gives general information only: in the UK, advice on your own application should come from an adviser registered with the Immigration Advice Authority, or a regulated lawyer, and the adviser finder it links to shows whether a firm is registered.

General information, not legal advice.