Working Holiday New Zealand

By John Mackay

Fjords, volcanos and vineyards - what's not to love about New Zealand?

This guide tells you everything you'll need to know for your working holiday in New Zealand and beyond:

- what to do before you leave home
- arriving and getting set up - tax ID, bank and phone
- finding work and accommodation
- travelling in New Zealand - where to go and how to get there
- how to claim your tax back when you leave
- how to extend your stay if you decide you want to stay longer

• Language: English
• Publisher: John Mackay
• Release date: Aug 31, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476123103

Book preview

Before you Go

New Zealand is a developed country, where English is the first language. Several people come here each year from Northern Europe and North America on working holiday visa. Bear this in mind if you’re thinking about signing up for a ‘package’ where you pay someone to set up your bank account, tax number etc. Sure, these things take a while to set up, but you can sort them out when you arrive here (the relevant sections in this guide list what you’ll need and where you’ll have to go).

With all of this in mind, the only things you really need to worry about before arriving are making sure your passport and visa are in order, booking your flight, making sure you have enough cash to get set up, and packing.

In terms of arranging your visa, this can be done quickly and painlessly at the link below, and in most cases it doesn’t take long for New Zealand Immigration to confirm that your visa has been granted.

Working Holiday Visa

Duration and age restrictions vary by your country of citizenship. For most countries, you can get a twelve month working visa, which you can apply for when you’re between the ages of 18 and 30 (ie. Before your 31st birthday). You’ll have a year to actually get to New Zealand. Visas are often approved quite quickly, so be sure not to apply too early. If your application is approved, you won’t be able to apply for another working holiday visa for NZ (even if you never use your first one).

For some countries, there is a quota limiting the number of visas that will be supplied to citizens of that country in a given year. These can be exhausted rapidly.

The table below lists the age limit and visa duration