Working holiday in New Zealand - what does DD need to do?

pandora205 · 21 December 2008 at 6:59PM

My 19 yo and boyfriend (who is a New Zealander) are off to NZ in January. She has a working holiday visa which is valid for 12 months and has accommodation arranged (with bfs family). She has bought a one way flight as they are not sure how long they are staying.

I've promised to pay for insurance (is it best through STA who have handled the flights etc.?) What else does she need to do - apart from save like mad? She is asking whether it would be a good idea to set up a bank account over there or whether to open another here (with no costs for overseas withdrawals).

Any other advice please?

Thanks

blue_haddock · 21 December 2008 at 10:48PM

Its going back 5 or 6 years since i did the working holiday thing in New Zealand so things could be out of date but when she gets there she will need to apply for a tax number so she can pay tax on her earnings. Without this she will be limited to cash in hand work. She will also need to open a local bank account for wages to be paid into.

pandora205 · 22 December 2008 at 2:05AM

Thanks. I'll let her know to apply for a tax number when she arrives.

This is where her boyfriend's family lives:
http://www.90milebeach.co.nz/Imagemap/index1.html
which beats the British winter I would say!

Generali · 22 December 2008 at 3:37AM

pandora205 wrote: »

My 19 yo and boyfriend (who is a New Zealander) are off to NZ in January. She has a working holiday visa which is valid for 12 months and has accommodation arranged (with bfs family). She has bought a one way flight as they are not sure how long they are staying.

I've promised to pay for insurance (is it best through STA who have handled the flights etc.?) What else does she need to do - apart from save like mad? She is asking whether it would be a good idea to set up a bank account over there or whether to open another here (with no costs for overseas withdrawals).

Any other advice please?

Thanks

She should check with the embassy that it's ok to have a one-way ticket. I recently emigrated to Aus and for a while it looked like I'd have to come here on a holiday visa and then complete my visa application. I was told by the embassy that if I arrived with a holiday visa and a one way ticket I'd most likely be turned away on attempting to enter the country.

pandora205 · 23 December 2008 at 7:00PM

Thanks. That's a good point. She did discuss it with STA (student travel co that she's travelling with). They have said it is okay but she needs to take bank statements to show she has sufficient funds to live there for several months (I think it was £1500). I will get her to check.
I found a very good book which I've bought her for Christmas about living and working in New Zealand, so that may well have information in it too.

mad_rich · 23 December 2008 at 7:15PM

Excellent info here, courtesy of TNT Magazine:

http://tntonline.co.uk/leavingtheuk/

madtrekker · 23 December 2008 at 7:40PM

I did a working holiday in NZ in 2003 - 2004. I'd echo my concerns about the one-way ticket.
Regarding bank accounts etc., I found it very useful to have a Nationwide Flex Account in the UK (free of charge withdrawals overseas). Great for birthday cheques from relatvies, UK savings, UK tax rebates, last lot of wages etc to go into. Get her to do this ASAP as can take a week or two for card to come through etc.
She will also need a New Zealand bank account for wages to be paid into there. This is something to sort out when she gets over there and knows which have branches / ATMs where she's living - there are several to choose from and all have pros and cons. Most accounts you have to pay for which comes as a shock to someone from the UK who is used to free banking. It's not much though; some you pay a monthly fee (e.g. £5/month) or others charge say 50p per transaction.
She'll need to get the tax code ASAP - it's called an IRD number. Maybe her BF's parents could arrange to have some forms ready so she can send them off as soon as she arrives? You can't get a job without this (it's a bit like our National Insurance number).

pandora205 · 28 December 2008 at 12:48PM

Thank you for all the advice everyone.

I'm going to phone the NZ embassy to check the requirements re. money and return flights as STA have given DD different advice.

I'm trying to persuade her to open a Nationwide Flex Account but she can't see why she can't just transfer money into her NZ account (not that she has one yet). She's also talking about putting money into her bf's account which I'm not very happy about. I might go into Nationwide and have a chat with them, as she may do it if it's really simple to do.

I have paid for her insurance for 6 months, so that bit is sorted now.

pandora205 · 25 August 2009 at 7:21AM

Well, 8 months later my daughter is having a fab time and is currently working in a ski resort. They (she and NZ boyfriend) are now planning to stay on for another year. She needs to extend her working holiday visa to 23 months but doesn't have internet access etc. so I'm looking into this.

Has anyone else done this? I've found the pages on their website but its a bit confusing so I may need to give them a ring.

Thanks for any help.

Smiley82 · 25 August 2009 at 9:06AM

Glad to hear your daughter is having a great time!

If you look at the below link (possibly the one you already found):
http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/general/generalinformation/qanda/whsonline.htm

What if I want to stay longer?
If you applied under the United Kingdom Working Holiday Scheme for a 12-month stay on or after 28 November 2005 and want to stay longer, you can apply to extend your stay for up to 23 months total. You will have to apply in New Zealand by submitting a manual application at an Immigration New Zealand branch before your permit expires. You will need to provide a Medical and X-ray Certificate (NZIS 1007) PDF if you did not provide it with another application.

If you applied under another working holiday scheme and you want to stay longer, you can apply for another type of permit as a temporary worker, student, or resident but you cannot extend your permit under the working holiday scheme.

Still probably not that clear, but it sounds like it's something your daughter will have to do in person within NZ.

Good Luck!

pandora205 · 25 August 2009 at 2:34PM

Thanks for this link. I think I saw part of that earlier though couldn't make sense of it. The best thing I can do it print it off and send it to her, then she can organise it herself.

Working holiday in New Zealand - what does DD need to do?

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