Destination guides > New Zealand & Pacific Islands > Travel essentials > Working in New Zealand > New Zealand Working Holiday Visas
New Zealand
Working Holiday Visas
Citizens of Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Czech, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States of America and Uruguay are allowed to work in New Zealand on a temporary basis through the Working Holiday Scheme.
The Working Holiday Scheme allows citizens of the above countries aged between 18 and 30 to undertake temporary work to help fund their travel in New Zealand.
In most cases you are not permitted to work for the same employer for longer than three months.
Most applicants are eligible for a 12-month Working Holiday Visa, but British passport holders can get a 23-month visa and applicants from Malaysia and Singapore are only eligible for a six-month visa.
Applications from Singapore are also restricted to either undergraduate students or graduates of a Singapore university or polytechnic.
Working holidaymakers who can show that they have worked for at least three months in the horticulture or viticulture industries (picking grapes or other fruit) are eligible to apply for an additional three month stay in New Zealand.
To be eligible for a working holiday permit under this scheme, applicants must be:
* resident in the country of their passport;
* aged between 18 and 30
* not be accompanied by any children on their visit to New Zealand
* able to provide sufficient funds to cover their visit to New Zealand, in most cases this means at least $4,200.
For many nationalities there is a quota limiting the number of working holiday permits issued each year. If the quota for your nationality is full you may have to wait until the scheme recommences the following year. You can increase your chances by applying for your working holiday visa as close as possible to the scheme commencement date.
Quotas and scheme commencement dates for working holiday visas are shown in the table below:
| passport | quota | scheme commences |
|---|---|---|
Argentina |
1000 |
8 December |
Belgium |
2000 |
1 November |
Canada |
2000 |
1 January |
Chile |
1000 |
30 September |
Czech Republic |
1000 |
1 March |
Denmark |
2000 |
1 February |
Estonia |
100 |
2 April |
Finland |
2000 |
1 August |
France |
5000 |
1 March |
Germany |
unlimited |
- |
Hong Kong |
200 |
1 April |
Ireland |
2800 |
1 July |
Italy |
1000 |
1 April |
Japan |
unlimited |
- |
Malaysia |
1150 |
1 January |
Malta |
50 |
1 July |
Mexico |
200 |
31 March |
Netherlands |
unlimited |
- |
Norway |
unlimited |
- |
Singapore |
200 |
1 November |
South Korea |
1500 | 1 April |
| Sweden | unlimited | - |
Taiwan |
600 |
1 June |
Thailand |
100 |
1 July |
United Kingdom |
unlimited |
- |
United States of America |
TBA |
- |
Uruguay |
TBA |
- |
