Facebook
Instagram
YouTube

Internship Visa Process for New Zealand

You are required to obtain a Work and Holiday Visa to participate in the internship program in New Zealand. It is your responsibility as a participant in this program to obtain this visa before departure.

The Working and Holiday visa is for young people who want to holiday and work in New Zealand for up to a year. It is a temporary visa that encourages cultural exchange and closer ties between New Zealand and eligible countries. You may not apply for a working and holiday visa if you have previously entered New Zealand on this visa category in the past. You may only utilize this visa once.

Working in New Zealand – six months with one employer: You can generally only work six months with one employer. This visa allows you to:

  • Stay in New Zealand for up to 12 months
  • Work in New Zealand, generally for up to six months with each employer
  • Study for up to six months
  • Leave and re-enter New Zealand any number of times while the visa is valid.

COST: $280 NZD – payable online via credit card. This amount is subject to change, so please check the latest information.

ELIGIBILITY

  • Usually be permanently living in the United States of America – this means you can be temporarily visiting another country when you lodge your application.
  • Citizens of the United States of America must have a passport from the United States of America that is valid for at least three months after your planned
    departure from New Zealand.
  • Non-US citizens/permanent residents must check their eligibility requirements for this visa. There may be different visa requirements depending on your citizenship. You can review requirements by country here:
    https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zealand-visas/options/work/thinking-aboutcoming-to-new-zealand-to-work/working-holiday-visa
  • Be at least 18 and not more than 30 years old.
  • Not bring children with you
  • Hold a return ticket or sufficient funds to purchase a ticket*
  • Have a minimum of NZ$4,200 available funds to meet your living costs while you are there
  • Meet their health and character requirements
  • Hold medical ad comprehensive hospitalization insurance for the length on your stay
  • Be going to New Zealand to holiday, with work or study being secondary for your visit
  • Not have been approved for a visa under the working holiday scheme previously
  • If you are already in New Zealand, you must hold a valid temporary visa.

*You are required to hold sufficient funds for the duration of our visa and for the purchase of an outward ticket from New Zealand. Such evidence may be requested on arrival at the border.

APPLYING FOR A WORKING HOLIDAY VISA

You will apply online through the New Zealand Immigration website: https://www.immigration.govt.nz/secure/Login+Working+Holiday.htm

  • Immigration New Zealand will delete any unsubmitted applications before opening each working holiday scheme (WHS).
  • Check the following information is exactly the same in your passport as your working holiday application:
    ○ Name
    ○ Date of birth
    ○ Passport number and expiration date – do not use your national identity number.
  • You must only use letters from the English alphabet when completing your online application. If your name contains non-English alphabet, copy the English spelling
    of your name from the machine-readable zone that appears at the bottom of the bio data page of your passport (the machine-readable zone starts with <>). Eg. If
    your name contains the non-English letter ‘ö’, it will appear as ‘oe’ in the machine-readable zone.
  • You must only apply for the WHS from the same country as the passport that you will use to travel to New Zealand. E.g. If you intend to travel to New Zealand on a
    Taiwan passport, you can only apply for the Taiwan WHS.

STEP 1: REGISTER

After you register, login to your new account.

STEP 2: CREATE A NEW APPLICATION

  • In the upper left hand corner you will see a section that says ‘online services’. Select Working Holiday.
  • Select the United States from the dropdown (if you hold a passport from a different country and have not discussed this with your API program manager, please contact us before proceeding).

STEP 3: ANSWERING THE APPLICATION QUESTIONS

Below we’ve included some points of clarification to certain application questions:

  • Family Name = Last Name
  • Given Name = First Name
  • Occupation = Indicate “Student” or “Intern”
  • Health Questions – You will likely be able to answer ‘no’ to all of these questions. If there are any questions you feel you should answer ‘yes’ to, please contact your program manager to discuss further before proceeding with the application.
  • Character Questions – You will likely be able to answer ‘no’ to all of these questions. If there are any questions you feel you should answer ‘yes’ to, please contact your program manager to discuss further before proceeding with the application.

If you have any other questions while working through the application, please contact your program manager to seek clarification.