Tuesday, 07 February 2023 / Published in New Zealand

New Zealand’s Working Holiday Schemes Reopening

On 3 February 2023, Immigration New Zealand announced the reopening dates of its capped Working Holiday schemes for the year.

Once each scheme opens, it’ll stay open until all allocated spaces are filled. Once all spaces are taken, the scheme will close until 2024.

2023 Reopening dates

The reopening dates for New Zealand’s Working Holiday Schemes are as follows:

Working Holiday Scheme	2023 Opening Date	Cap (People per Year)
Malaysia	7 February	1,150
Portugal	21 February	50
Mexico	28 February	200
Estonia	9 March	100
Philippines	16 March	100
Hong Kong	28 March	400
Slovenia	6 April	100
Hungary	27 April	100
Slovakia	4 May	100
Austria	11 May	100
Korea	18 May	3,000
Luxembourg	1 June	50
Poland	8 June	100
Latvia	15 June	100
Czech	22 June	1,200
Israel	4 July	200
Singapore	11 July	300
Taiwan	18 July	600
China	1 August	1,000
Malta	10 August	50
Lithuania	17 August	100
Thailand	24 August	100
Turkey	31 August	100
Argentina	14 September	1,000
Croatia	26 September	100
Peru	3 October	100
Brazil	10 October	300
Chile	19 October	940
Uruguay	2 November	200

What are the Working Holiday schemes?

The Working Holiday schemes are agreements between New Zealand and other countries allowing the citizens of those countries to work in and explore New Zealand.

The associated visa is a Working Holiday Visa. This visa is available to young people, usually aged 18 to 30, but 18 to 35 in select countries.

More about the Working Holiday Visa

As discussed above, the Working Holiday Visa allows young people to work in and explore New Zealand.

The main purpose of the stay must be to holiday, with both work or a short amount of study as the secondary intentions.

Furthermore:

Most visa holders can stay in New Zealand for up to 12 months on a Working Holiday Visa. Those from the UK or Canada are eligible for visas up to 23 months.
Working Holiday Visa holders cannot accept permanent job offers while in New Zealand.
Each country has its own employment conditions. For instance, some countries stipulate that you can’t work for the same employer for more than three months while in New Zealand, while others don’t.
Working Holiday Visa holders can study one or more courses for up to six months in New Zealand.
Visa holders must have enough money to buy a return ticket.

Working Holiday Visa requirements and conditions for each country

Please visit each country’s page on Immigration New Zealand to see the requirements and conditions of its Working Holiday Visa:

Europe

North America

Canada | USA

South America

Asia

Middle East

Israel | Turkey

What if you want to work in New Zealand permanently?

Visa holders who want to live and work in New Zealand permanently must explore their visa options to allow them to do that.

New Zealand has work visas for skilled migrants and migrants with job offers from accredited New Zealand employers. Partners of New Zealanders also have visa options that allow them to work in New Zealand.

Our advice? Speak with a licensed immigration advisor so that they can assess your eligibility against the requirements of the various visas. It’s the best way to ensure that you know exactly what options are available to you.