So, you’re heading to New Zealand on a working holiday visa? Congrats! Moving abroad is one of the hardest but most rewarding things you can do – I would know, I’ve done it three times now! A working holiday visa is a fantastic way to live abroad short-term, explore a new destination, and experience an entirely different country.

New Zealand and Australia are two of the best options for young people between the ages of 18 and 30, due to the popular working holiday visa program for each country that citizens of many countries are eligible for. But how do you create a life for yourself in a new place? If you’re not sure how what to do to move, or what to expect when you get there, this is the post for you. Here’s a guide for how to start your life in New Zealand on a working holiday visa!

Step 1: Apply for the Working Holiday Visa (WHV)

You will need to apply for the working holiday visa program of your home country (country of citizenship). Find the list of eligible countries on the official government website.

Working holiday visas for most eligible countries are for one year (12 months). Citizens of Canada can apply for 23 months, and citizens of the UK can apply for a maximum of 36 months. Do not book any flights until you receive the notification that your visa has been granted.

Each country’s visa requirements will be different, and the application process easily merits a full blog post in and of itself. For myself as a US citizen, I needed to have approximately $4200 NZD for my stay, I needed to be ordinarily resident in the US (thank god I’d been back in the US within the last two years!), and I needed medical insurance to cover me in New Zealand. I didn’t require any proof of these documents for the actual application. Nor did anyone ask me at immigration when I landed in New Zealand. While I thought the visa would cost me $420 NZD, I ended up only paying $35 NZD. The visa fee was waived during/after covid to encourage applications for US citizens, and I think this was still in place when I applied in July 2023!

My application process was very easy, and I was granted my visa about three days after applying. I then had one year to arrive in New Zealand and activate my visa. Once I activated my visa, I had 12 months in the country. I’m sure this process would be much more complicated if I required a medical exam or wasn’t as privileged with my US passport!

Step 2: Decide if you’ll work first or travel first

It’s smart to have a loose idea of what you want to do on your working holiday visa in New Zealand. This will likely depend on the season you arrive in New Zealand, and how much savings you have. If you know you won’t have much money to last you when you first land, it’s a good idea to plan on looking for work soon after landing. If you’ve got savings that you know you can travel on for a bit first, amazing! Start thinking of places you’d like to travel to.

Step 3: Decide if you’ll buy a car

While you can travel around New Zealand using public transportation, it’s difficult and expensive. Plus, there are a lot of places – especially hikes and remote places in nature – that are simply inaccessible without a vehicle. Before you come to New Zealand, decide if you want to buy a car during your year here. You don’t want to suffer without a car for months, only to buy one halfway through the year. You also don’t want to buy a car if you’ll spend the majority of your year in big cities (where a car isn’t exactly necessary), and not get the most use out of it. Again, this will likely depend on your savings. If you can afford to buy a vehicle at the start of your year in New Zealand, I highly recommend doing so. You’ll have so much more freedom with your own set of wheels. Van life is HUGE in New Zealand – it seems like every backpacker is living in a van or out of a vehicle! This is a great way to travel and see the country on a budget.

Step 4: Book flights

Once your working holiday visa has been granted, it’s time to book your flight to New Zealand! Most people tend to start their journey in Auckland or Christchurch, as these are the two major cities on the North and South Island, respectively. Some may start in Queenstown or Wellington, but Auckland and Christchurch are the main hubs for international flights. Think about what you want to do for the start of your working holiday visa (work first or travel first), if you’ll be buying a vehicle, and where you want to go in New Zealand.

Step 5: Book your first week of accommodation

Plan on spending at least one week in New Zealand in a city base. You’ll be able to do a lot of the life abroad admin (see below) within that first week, meet other people (probably at a hostel), and get used to your new country. Trust me, it is not worth the stress. I had a monumental breakdown at Bangkok airport before flying to Australia, when my accommodation was canceled and I had nowhere to stay when I landed.

I absolutely recommend staying at Verandah’s Parkside Lodge in Auckland if you’ll be starting your adventure in Auckland. This is a fantastic hostel, very clean, about a 20-minute walk from the CBD. They have a huge, well-equipped kitchen, cozy lounge, and beautiful views from the garden. I stayed here for almost three weeks in May 2024 while I was applying for jobs, and it really felt like home! The staff were very helpful in arranging paperwork for my bank account.

Plus, I met so many awesome people while I was staying here. The backpacker community was so strong, everyone was helping each other out – applying for bank accounts together, offering advice on cars and going to viewings with one another, and supporting those looking for work (like me). There are a lot of other hostels in Auckland (I stayed at another one and it definitely wasn’t as nice), and they might be cheaper. But the community, cleanliness, and comfort at Verandah’s is worth the price difference.

Step 6: Buy travel insurance

Having medical insurance for the duration of my stay in New Zealand is a requirement for my working holiday visa. Even if it wasn’t, I’d never travel without travel insurance! Before you leave, be sure to purchase your travel insurance. There are a lot of travel insurance companies out there, but I recommend finding one that has a high level of coverage for medical expenses and covers trip cancelation. Considering travel insurance for your trip? World Nomads offers coverage for more than 150 adventure activities as well as emergency medical, lost luggage, trip cancellation and more.

Step 7: Get a SIM card

You’ve landed in New Zealand and made it through customs – congrats! Your first order of business should be to get a SIM card. Your life will be so much easier if you have a NZ phone number, and especially to get data. There are a lot of different options out there, but I went with Skinny for my phone plan in New Zealand. I pay $40 NZD every 28 days for unlimited calls, unlimited texts, and unlimited data. The data isn’t the fastest – I get 10GB of “high-speed” data each month, and when that runs out I’m on “endless” data, which can be slow. However, it’s solid value for money and it’s not bad enough for me to consider switching. Use code 792255F (before 30/09/24) when you join for 4GB of bonus data!

Step 8: Apply for your IRD number

Your IRD number is your government tax number. You’ll need this for a bank account and for any jobs you might work. Apply through the Inland Revenue website for your IRD number as a new arrival. The process is fast and simple (I think it took me about 10 minutes). You can select to receive your IRD by text (SMS) or email, which will take two days – I chose this option and received it by email within 24 hours of applying. You can also select to have your IRD number sent to you by post, which will take 10 days. Note that you do need an address in New Zealand as part of your application, regardless of whether you choose to receive your IRD by text/email or not. You can use a hostel address if you need to!

Step 9: Open a New Zealand bank account

There are so many different banks in New Zealand, it’s hard to know which one to choose. Westpac, ANZ, BNZ, ASB Bank, Kiwibank… the list goes on. I chose to open my account with BNZ. This was mainly because they will accept a letter from a hostel (temporary accommodation) as proof of residence. I applied online (I needed my IRD number for the application), and they emailed me that they approved my application the next day. Then, I needed to go in person to a branch with my passport and proof of residence to finish the process. I received my debit card in the mail exactly one week after I went to the branch in person. I would absolutely recommend BNZ as a bank for backpackers in New Zealand!

Step 10: Apply for a job (if looking for work)

The process of getting a job in New Zealand will look different for everyone. I spent 5 weeks traveling around the country with a friend, before settling down in Auckland to job hunt. I applied for 44 jobs in about a month. In the end, I received four job offers, and managed to choose the best overall package for myself and my immediate goals. (And yes, I turned down a job working for a helicopter tour company to be a barista in a cafe because the pay was so much better at the cafe.) A lot of jobs come and go through word of mouth and networking, which is obviously difficult when you’re new to the country! These are a few places to get started:

• New Zealand Backpacker Jobs 2024 (Facebook group)
• New Zealand Backpacker JOBS (Facebook group)
• Backpacker Board
• Backpacker Job Board
• Seek (the main jobs website in New Zealand)

I knew I wouldn’t have a car, which seriously limited my options. I also knew my number one goal was to save money, so I was looking for jobs that had accommodation included or available at a subsidized rate. Be wary of committing to move to a city without anywhere to live. Queenstown is apparently especially bad for housing. I saw several jobs there that wouldn’t consider applications unless you had already secured accommodation. But looking for jobs as a backpacker in New Zealand could be a whole post in and of itself, same as the visa application.

If you aren’t necessarily needing to earn money, consider work exchanges and housesitting as a great way to stretch your savings – this is what I did in Australia! And if I wasn’t broke, I’d definitely be doing more of it here in New Zealand.

• Trusted Housesitters – the platform I currently use, sign up using this link for a 25% discount!
• HelpX – I used this platform for work exchanges in Australia
• Workaway
• Worldpackers
• Facebook groups – there are so many WOOFing/work exchange websites out there

I’ve found that the hardest part of moving abroad is often the logistics and administrative work at the beginning. Life abroad isn’t easy, and some days will be more challenging than the rest. Once you settle in, the experience can be so amazing – I’ve absolutely loved my time in New Zealand so far! If you’re planning on moving to New Zealand on a working holiday visa, you’ll need to make a lot of decisions – it can be overwhelming and stressful. I hope this post helps anyone with planning a move abroad to New Zealand and settling in to your new country!

If you’ve moved to New Zealand, what are your top tips for someone at the start of their journey?

You might also like my posts:

Moving to Oz on a Working Holiday Visa: How to Start Your Life in Australia

How Much Does it Cost to Travel New Zealand for 6 Weeks? (2024 Guide)

How to Get a Work & Holiday Visa (WHV 462) for Australia

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