Working Holiday Schemes

Working holiday in New Zealand

If you want to get a real taste of life in New Zealand and are between 18 to 30 years of age you might be able to apply under the New Zealand Working Holiday Scheme.

New Zealand has lots of short-term work opportunities for working holidaymakers. Immigration New Zealand encourages people on working holiday permits to consider jobs in the areas of agriculture, horticulture and viticulture (grape-growing).

There is a great range of seasonal and temporary work opportunities to provide you with that much-needed travel income. You might want to experience life in one of New Zealand's bigger cities, or you might want to spend time in parts of New Zealand that are off the beaten track.

The Working Holiday Program is available to selected countries that have a reciprocal agreement with New Zealand for a Working Holiday Scheme.

Applicants must be citizens of those countries and aged between 18 and 30. There are also additional requirements for each of the selected countries that you must meet. A job offer is not required for this application.

New Zealand Work Holiday Program is available to citizens of Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay.

• be ordinarily resident in one of the selected countries and have a passport that is valid for at least three months after your planned departure from New Zealand
be at least 18 and not more than 30 years old
• not bring children with you
• hold a return ticket, or sufficient funds to purchase such a ticket
have a minimum of NZ$4,200 available funds to meet your living costs while you’re here
• meet our health and character requirements
• hold medical and comprehensive hospitalisation insurance for the length of your stay
• satisfy Immigration New Zealand that your main reason for coming to New Zealand is to holiday, not work
• not have been approved a visa permit under a Working Holiday Scheme before

A work visa issued under a Working Holiday Scheme is valid for 12 months. This means that you will have 12 months from the date your application is approved to arrive in New Zealand. You will also receive a multiple entry work visa which allows you to leave and return to New Zealand during your working holiday.

You will be granted a work permit on your arrival in New Zealand, and your multiple entry work visa will be activated.

You will be issued with a multiple entry work visa at the time your Working Holiday Scheme application is approved. A multiple entry work visa is valid for the same period as your work permit. It will allow you to leave New Zealand and re-enter during the period of your work permit. However, any time you spend out of New Zealand will not get added to the time your work permit is valid for.

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