Asia is on a lot of people’s bucket lists. The Asian region offers travellers unique insights in to different cultures, food, beautiful places and manic cities. Travellers love to extend their time in this part of the world as they can live a very good life for a much cheaper price than in some of the Western countries. They often do this by moving abroad and living and working and an Asian country. If you would like to extend your time in the Asian region, why not live work and travel Asia. Here’s how. 

My post is divided into 2 sections. The first section is about the visas available so you can move abroad to live and work in Asia on a working holiday visa. The second half of this post covers the typical jobs backpackers in Asia get.

Asian Countries

Asia is the largest continent in the world, not only for land area but population. With some 48 countries making up Asia, they are often categorised into the following regions. 

Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan
East Asia: China, Macau, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan.
South Asia: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka; Afghanistan and the Maldives.
South East Asia:  Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
West Asia: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Georgia, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey. (Some of these countries I have included under the Middle East).
North Asia: Russia, Mongolia, Japan, Korea and China

How to Live Work and Travel in Asia Legally

Asian countries allow you to backpack and travel through them on a holiday visa, usually issued for up to 3 months. However, if you want to extend your stay by working you will need the appropriate legal documentation. Lucky, many Asian countries offer a Working Holiday Visa and / or a Digital Nomad Visa allowing you to live and work in a particular country usually for up to one year.

Asian Working Holiday Visa

What is a Working Holiday Visa you ask? Well a Working Holiday Visa is a reciprocal agreement between countries that allows citizens of a country to live and work in another. This visa though is only available to those aged 18-30 (sometimes 35) years of age. But if you are and get one you are allowed to live and work in that country that issued the visa for up to 12 months, sometimes longer.

Asian Countries with a Working Holiday Visa

Asian countries with a working holiday include:

• Bangladesh
• China
• Hong Kong
• Japan
• Malaysia
• Phillipines
• Singapore
• South Korea
• Taiwan
• Thailand 
• Vietnam.

To apply for one of these visas, firstly find out if your country of origin has a reciprocal visa through the High Commission or Consulate of the country. 

Asian Digital Nomad Visas

What is a Digital Nomad Visa? Well a Digital Nomad Visa is a visa allowing people who work online and make a living working online to continue to continue working online in another country. There is a cost associated with getting one, sometimes a few thousand dollars. But some are issued for up to 10 years.

Asian Countries with a Digital Nomad Visa

Asian countries with a digital nomad visa include:

• Indonesia
• Malaysia
• Thailand

Other Visas to Work in Asia – The Work Permit

To obtain a work permit to work in Asia you will need to find a company that will sponsor you. Many travellers get a work permit to teach English in Asia. Many people in Asia want to learn English and there is a vast number of English language schools offering courses. From children to adults to business people, English is the language many Asian people want to learn.

If you don’t qualify for any of the visas, take advantage of moving around and living and travelling in a country for the full 3 months allowed. You may here of ‘the visa run’. Well this is when your stay in a country is almost up but you want to stay longer. Well, you travel to a nearby country for a day or two and return to the country you left earlier for another 3 months.

Over 30 – Don’t Qualify for a Working Holiday Visa in Asia – What Do You Do?

Unfortunately, there is an age limit on the working holiday visa. If you don’t qualify for a working holiday visa for one of the Asian countries because you are over the age limit, don’t worry, there are options available to you. Opportunities are less, but they still exist. Read my post Over 30 – Your Work and Travel Options.

Typical Traveller Jobs in Asia

Travellers will often take on different types of work when they work and travel in Asia. These include working in a hostel, domestic work, hospitality work in tourist hot spots and being a digital nomad. But the biggest type of employment for backpackers in Asia is teaching English.

Teach English in Asia Jobs

People of all ages want to learn English in Asia – kids, teenagers, adults and business people

If you didn’t qualify for a working holiday visa or digital nomad visa don’t worry. Teaching English has long been a way for travellers to extend their stay in most Asian countries. In fact, Asia offers some of the best paid work opportunities in the world for teachers of English. This is because many English Language Schools will sponsor travellers to teach English. Now just because you can speak English doesn’t mean you can teach it. Therefore, having a qualification such as the TEFL Certificate will help you obtain a good job. Popular countries to find a job teaching English in Asia are Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

Bar Jobs in Asia

Bar jobs are a universal job and many a bartender can secure a job in Asia, if you have the right visa. If not, the not so legal options is to work for cash which is possible as some bars, particularly in tourist areas may offer marketing work where you promote the bar to get people inside.

Scuba Diving Jobs in Asia

If you are a certified scuba dive instructor you may be able to get a job in one of Asia’s well known diving spots. Many countries seek PADI and SSI trained instructors to look after their guests who wish to dive.

Busking in Asia

Not everyone considers busking a job, but if you are musical you may wish to ply your trade on the streets. You will possibly be moved on by the police but hopefully you will have made some cash for your efforts. You could even ask in the bars whether you could play a set for cash!

Hostel Jobs in Asi

Asia has long been the land of backpackers seeking to experience Asia on a budget. And their choice of accommodation is a hostel offering cheap accommodation. Hostels exist in most countries and they seek staff to look after their guests. From checking them in and out, to cleaning or cooking breakfast, you could get a hostel job. In many cases you may work as a volunteer in exchange for free food and accommodation rather than a wage, particularly if you don’t have the right work visa. Many travellers get a hostel job.

Online Jobs

Many travellers start up an online business and make money to fund their travels around Asia. From travel blogging to website design to bookkeeping to social media management, there are many different jobs you can do online so you can work and travel Asia. Many of you may already have online jobs or use market places like Fiverr or Freelancer to get work whilst travelling. You will be very pleased to know that Asia has some good Wifi and plenty of good co-working places available.

Are You Ready to Work and Travel Asia?

If Asia is on your list and you want to extend your time in the region then consider your options to live work and play in Asia. I hope the above has given you some inspiration. If you’ve lived, worked and travelled through Asia I would love to hear in the comments.

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