About us

We are a team of current and past working holiday makers providing free resources to help you prepare for your own WHV (Working Holiday Visa). Our name pvtistes (pay-vay-teest) comes from the French acronym for WHV, which is PVT (programme vacances-travail). The istes at the end of the name denotes someone who embarks on a PVT.

Experts in the Working Holiday Visa since 2005.

About us

Pvtistes.net was started in July 2005 by co-founders Mathieu and Julie. As they were preparing for their move from France to Canada on their working holiday, they realised there were very few free online resources to help young adults prepare for their WHV. So they set up a discussion forum where travellers could ask questions and share tips with one another, based on their own working holiday experiences.

Since then, pvtistes.net has grown and become a comprehensive resource covering many destinations. A full team of writers produces in-depth articles and guides, and even hosts events where you can ask questions or make friends ahead of your WHV.

As you’ll see below, the team currently consists of writers specialising in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Japan, Korea, Peru, and New Zealand. Everyone is either a current or former working holiday maker, so almost all of what they share is from actual experience!

At the heart of everything we do is still the spirit of community. Since the beginning, volunteer moderators and contributors have ensured a fun and safe environment for travellers to share their thoughts on our forum. Thank you to all current and past contributors for your time, insight and engagement.

Our site is independent and entirely financed through our special partnership offers (take a look). The team works exclusively with trusted companies offering products or services useful to travellers, WHV holders and expats. This way, you can support us whilst also benefitting from discounts and interesting perks on plane tickets, travel insurance, car hire, mobile phone plans and more.