The London branch of Immigration New Zealand administers three working holiday schemes: the United Kingdom Working Holiday Scheme, Republic of Ireland Working Holiday Scheme, and the Czech Republic Working Holiday Scheme.
Applications for the Danish Working Holiday Scheme should now be submitted online or sent to the Immigration New Zealand office in The Hague.
Online applications
You can apply for the Czech, Irish and UK schemes online. For more information go to our working holiday scheme pages and click on the link to the scheme you wish to apply for.
Due to the success of the on-line working holiday application system, from 1 January 2007 any applications for working holiday visas received in London, either by post or at the public counter, will be prioritised against other applications. This will mean that it may take up to 30 days to have your application finalised if submitted manually to the London office. People wishing to obtain a working holiday visa for New Zealand under any of the schemes processed online, including the Czech, Irish and UK schemes, should therefore make their application through our website, where most applications are finalised within 48 hours.
Medical certificates
Applicants under the Irish and Czech working holiday schemes should not have to provide full medical and x-ray certificates when lodging an application unless they have spent time in a country which is not considered to have a low incidence of TB.
For further details on exactly what you need to provide when applying for a working holiday visa please go to our checklists page.
UK Working Holiday Scheme
There is no cap on the number of working holiday visas that can be issued to British citizens each year. You can choose to apply for either a 12 month or a 23 month working holiday visa. If you apply for a 23 month working holiday visa you will need to provide full medical and x-ray certificates, which must be completed by an INZ panel doctor and radiologist. If you apply for a 12 month working holiday visa and then later decide you want to spend longer in New Zealand you can apply for an extension to take you up to the full 23 months when you are in New Zealand. If you decide to do this you will need to provide medical and x-ray certificates at the time you apply for the extension. Whether you apply for a 12 month or 23 month working holiday visa you can only work for 12 months of your stay.
Before applying for a UK working holiday visa you should also read the information on the United Kingdom Working Holiday page.
Irish Working Holiday Scheme
The Republic of Ireland working holiday scheme allows young Irish citizens to spend up to 12 months holidaying and working in New Zealand. There are 2800 places for Irish working holiday makers each year. The quota year runs from 1 July to 30 June each year.
As of 25 August 2008 there are 2450 places left in the quota.
Before applying for an Irish working holiday visa you should also read the information on the Irish Working Holiday page.
Czech Working Holiday Scheme
The Czech Republic working holiday scheme allows young Czech citizens to spend up to 12 months holidaying and working in New Zealand. There are 1000 places for Czech working holiday makers each year. The quota year runs from 1 March to 28 February each year.
As of 25 August 2008 there are 269 places left in the quota.
Before applying for a Czech working holiday visa you should also read the information on the Czech Working Holiday page.