New Zealand WHV 2024 tutorial: how to apply for your Working Holiday Visa

First of all, you need to log in to the official New Zealand Immigration website.

Click on “Log in” at the top right of the page, then on “Working Holiday Visas” or directly on this link to create your account. You will then be directed to this page

If this is the first time you are creating an account on the immigration website, click on “Create an account” at the bottom left. On a new page, you will be asked for the following information:

IMPORTANT – If your first or last name contains special characters such as é, è, ê, ï, ç or ô, these accents do not exist in New Zealand. Therefore, when you apply for your visa, you must enter the letters containing accents without the accent (even if the accent appears on your passport). For example, instead of writing “é”, write “e”, instead of “ô”, write “o”… If you enter “François”, for example, the information on your work visa will read “Franois” and will not match your passport. So be careful!

You will need to fill in:

• Your first name (only your first name, as it appears on your passport).
• Your last name (as it appears on your passport).
• An email address. Make sure this address is correct, as messages from Immigration New Zealand will be sent to this address.
• A username (that has never been used by anyone before you). You will need to remember this when you log back in to the immigration website. Make a note of it!
• A password, to be entered twice.
• You must choose a secret question that will allow you to recover your password if you lose it. You must choose the question from a drop-down menu.
• You must enter the answer to this secret question.
• You must accept the immigration terms and conditions of use by ticking the appropriate box.

The password

Your password must contain more than 12 characters. You must include at least three of these characters for added security:

• Lower-case character
• upper-case character
• number
• special character (e.g.: @,#,?,$). However, avoid special French accents such as ç, é, à, which are not present on all computers and are not recognised by Immigration New Zealand.

Write down your password on a piece of paper and keep it safe. If you lose your password, you will need to remember your username. An email will be sent to you to reset your password.

Once you have completed the form, click on “Register” at the bottom of the page. A new message should then appear to let you know that your profile has been successfully registered.

A few seconds later, you will receive an email from New Zealand Immigration confirming your registration. Make sure that your email box accepts addresses ending in @mbie.govt.nz. Follow this link provided in the email. If they are not already entered automatically, enter your username and password and click on “Login”:

On the next page, select “Click here to apply” under “Working Holiday Schemes” :

You can now start your application.

First of all, you need to select your nationality from the table. Some nationalities are subject to quotas that may be reached (which explains why some countries are marked “Closed”). In this case, it is not possible to apply for a New Zealand WHV.

You will be redirected on a login page linked to your nationality.

Click on “Apply now” to start your application.

How does the application form work?

A new page opens. You will see that you must correctly fill in four sections corresponding to four categories of information requested by New Zealand immigration:

• Personal – there are three sub-sections in this category.
• Health.
• Character.
• Working Holiday Schemes Specific (Immigration New Zealand would like to know if you have already been to New Zealand or applied for a New Zealand visa).

Red crosses mean that none of these parts are complete. When one of them is completed as it should be, a small light blue circle replaces the red circle.

Please note, however, that the blue circle does not mean that there is no typo in the information you have provided (a mistake in your passport number or last name, for example), it simply means that you have answered all the questions asked.

Save and browse the form

You can save the information you have entered to pause and resume your visa application later at any time. Simply click on the “Save” and then “Complete later” buttons to save the information you have already entered.

Once you have completed a form, you can select another section or click on the “Next” button at the bottom of each page. If you think you have made a mistake, you can also go back by clicking on the “Previous” button or directly in the menu.

Take your time to complete your application – there’s no reason to rush.

The “Adviser” tab

A new “Adviser” tab may appear in your application. This category appears if you answered “Yes” to a question in the “Personal” section: “Are you represented by an immigration adviser?”. In principle, you do not need a New Zealand immigration adviser to apply for a Working Holiday Visa.

To remove this category, go back to the “Personal” section and correct your answer to “No”.