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Steps to apply for a New Zealand Working Holiday Visa (WHV)
Step 1 – Set up an account on the Immigration New Zealand website.
Step 2 – Fill in the WHV application form. Use our tutorial below, as many errors can be avoided by reading it (for example, you must not use accented letters in your first name, last name, city, etc.). 🙂
Step 3 – Pay the visa fees (NZ$455).
The Working Holiday Visa allows you to spend one year in New Zealand (or up to 23 or 36 months for certain citizenships), with the right to travel and work. Under certain conditions, you can even extend your visa by a further three months.
What are the eligibility criteria for taking part in a WHV?
- You must be between 18 and 30 (up to 35 for certain citizenships). You can apply for a visa up to the day before your 31st (or 36th) birthday. But beware of the time difference: you must still be 30 (or 35) on New Zealand time when you apply!
- You must not have had approval for a New Zealand WHV before.
- Depending on your citizenship, you may be required to purchase full medical insurance coverage for the length of your stay. You only need to take out this insurance a few days or weeks before your departure.
- You must have at least NZ$4,200 for your stay.
Before starting your visa application, make sure you have:
- Your passport and a second proof of ID (we’ll get back to this in chapter 4). Your passport must be valid for at least 15 months from your expected date of arrival in New Zealand, otherwise you must renew your passport before applying for your visa.
- A bank card to pay for your visa fees online (Visa or Mastercard only).
When you apply for your visa, you need to indicate your passport’s expiry date and the date on which you wish to travel to New Zealand. Once you’ve indicated your desired departure date on the form, the calculation is made automatically (desired departure date + 15 months). If your passport expires before this date, you won’t be able to submit your visa application.
Therefore, if your passport expires in 16 months and you are not planning on leaving within the next four weeks, you have two options:
- Apply for a new passport and then apply for your visa. (This is the most recommended method, unless you are in a hurry (because you are turning 31, for example).
- Apply for your visa now and indicate a departure date in 1, 2 or 3 weeks, even if you are not expecting to leave on that date. Before going to New Zealand, you will need to renew your passport and notify Immigration New Zealand of the changes in order to transfer your e-visa over to your new passport and to be allowed to board the plane (see chapter 10 for more information on this).
We’ve provided this tutorial to make sure you fill in your visa application correctly, and to help you understand the questions you’ll be asked, as well as the consequences of some of your answers, particularly regarding your health and professional plans. Many parts of the process are common to all nationalities but some may vary slightly.
How long does it take to apply for a WHV?
Allow around 30 minutes to an hour to complete your visa application, following our step-by-step tutorial.
When should you apply for your WHV?
You can do it whenever you like, but we don’t recommend doing it:
- Too early: once your New Zealand WHV has been granted, you have 12 months to activate it by entering the country. If you apply for your visa too early, you might change your plans and you might end up not going. If you don’t go to New Zealand within the allotted time, you’ll lose your WHV and you’ll never be able to apply for one again for New Zealand.
- Too late: as we all know, WHV applications are often processed within a few days, but don’t play with fire by applying for your visa just a few days before your departure!
For example, apply for your visa four months before your departure, so you can be fairly sure that your plans won’t change and that you have enough time to deal with any issues that may arise during your visa application.
How much does the New Zealand WHV cost?
New Zealand WHV application fees cost NZ$455: NZ$ 420 visa fees + NZ$35 International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL).
For more information, check the Immigration New Zealand – Working Holiday Visa page.
Tutorial originally published on 24 July 2012, last updated in August 2023.
(4) Comments
Hi Pamela,
Thank you for this helpful tutorial! I sent off my application a couple of days ago but am a bit worried that I didn’t receive an email confirmation to say this. I’d previously received an email when I created a log in several months ago. Did you get a confirmation email or do you know if we’re meant to?
Thank you!
Michelle
Hi Michelle, Immigration New Zealand is not the greatest at updating people. Sometimes, people don’t even realize their visa has been approved. The best thing to do is to check your visa status on your immigration profile 🙂
Best of luck,
Pamela
Thank you so much for your reply. I got an email today saying my application has been approved. Yay!
Congratulations!!! Let the adventure begin 😀
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