If you’re planning on doing a New Zealand Working Holiday Visa, navigating through all the information can be overwhelming. I know, I’ve been exactly where you are! Which is why I have compiled a list of essential resources to help ease your mind and make your move to New Zealand that much easier!
★ There are a ton of useful links and information in this post, ‘bookmark’ or save this page so you can always come back later.
Roys Peak, New Zealand
Table of Contents
New Zealand Working Holiday Visa Application
1. I wrote a very thorough and detailed how-to guide on the New Zealand working holiday visa application process.
2. You might need to obtain a chest x-ray scan to prove you’re free of tuberculosis. Here’s a step by step guide with all the information you need on getting a chest x-ray.
3. As part of the requirements by New Zealand immigration, you will need to have travel insurance on your working holiday. I did my research and ended up going with OrbitProtect. I chose them because their rates were much more reasonable than other companies and they offer a plan specifically tailored for your New Zealand working Holiday.
Accommodation in New Zealand
4. NZ Flatmates is a good place to start! We tried this by creating a profile for the city that we’re looking for an apartment in. You can write a bit about you, your living habits and what you’ll be bringing. We had several people contact us to check out their places.
5. Facebook Marketplace was actually how we ended up finding a place in Auckland. You can set the miles radius from an area you’re looking for accommodations in. It’s also great to just browse and see how much rent people are asking for and get an idea for your budget.
6. If you’re looking for more temporary stay, you can always use air bnb, if you’re new to it, click here to receive $61 NZD in travel credit!
Milford Sound, New Zealand
Prepare for work and life in New Zealand
7. Are you wondering how much money you’ll spend during your first month here in New Zealand? Let me foreshadow by telling you, everything is crazy expensive here! I made my own first month budget/spending breakdown to help you get a better idea!
8. Courtney at Travel Daze wrote a great article on 24 Things You Need to Know Before Visiting New Zealand. She covers some fun facts as well as important things to know before arriving in New Zealand!
9. Buy + Sell Auckland Central (FB group | Public) If you’re planning to move and settle down in Auckland, this FB group is great for many random things like buying furniture for cheap prices, flatmates wanted, etc…
10. Buy Sell Anything Wellington (FB group | Public) Same as above, but for those of you looking to move to Wellington.
11. Queestown (NZ) Buy Sell or Swap (FB group | Closed) A ‘closed’ Facebook group simply means you need to answer a couple of questions and wait for the admins to accept your request to join. It’s really simple.
12 + 13. New Zealand Backpackers + Backpackers New Zealand.These two Facebook groups are specifically for people on a New Zealand Working Holiday. They’re both well established with over 50k members. They’re basically a community for asking ANY and ALL questions you may have in regards to your working holiday and time in New Zealand. You just need to request to join. Again, a very simple process!
EXTRA RESOURCE:
TransferWise – If you’re planning to travel or work abroad for any length of time, TransferWise is a must have app. I’ve used it for sending money from my New Zealand bank account to my U.S account with minimal fees. The reason for this is when you do a bank to bank transfer, the sending AND receiving banks take a chunk of fees. For example if I wanted to send money from a foreign account into my Chase account, I would’ve incurred 15-30$ of fees, but with TransferWise, it was only 4.88$ It’s free to sign up and you can download the app onto your phone! Sign up with my link and get your first transfer for FREE.
Whanganui Marine Reserve, New Zealand
Getting around in New Zealand
14. First of all, flying within New Zealand is quite affordable. If you’ve just arrived and have yet to purchase a car or camper van, I highly recommend getting the Skyscanner mobile app. I put destination as “everywhere” to check for cheapest flights!
15. Skybus is a easy and affordable service that will take you from Auckland International airport to city center and surrounding areas. The buses run 24/7 and price for one way ticket is $18NZD. I personally use this bus to get to work everyday, their team is so friendly and helpful.
16. AT HOP (Public transit in Auckland), you can download their AT Mobile app, This is useful when using the buses and trains in Auckland and knowing how much your trip will cost.
17. Maps.me, if you haven’t already heard of this app, you’re missing out! It works everywhere, all you have to do is install the mobile app(IOS) or Andriod app and download the map of any city/area. Once you’re there, this map allows you to navigate without using any data. It’s one of the most used offline maps for travelers.
18. The CamperMate App is great for you if you plan on purchasing a car or van and will be spending most of your time moving nomadically around New Zealand. You can use this app to check for camp sites and get details on what kind of vehicles and restrictions may apply at each place.
19. Backpacker Cars NZ (FB group | Closed) This Facebook group was recommended to me by several backpacker friends I met. They successfully found their car/van through this group.
☀︎ Always be cautious when buying a car from someone, make sure you take it to a mechanic to get a thorough check up. I have heard stories of people giving fake documents on the condition of a car and well, you can imagine the headache afterwards when the buyer finds out there’s a ton of things wrong with it.
Finding a job on your New Zealand working holiday visa
20. I wrote a post on How to Prepare for Working in New Zealand. It’s a comprehensive step by step guide on how to get a New Zealand phone number, bank account, and IRD number.
21. Are you wondering if city life is more suitable for you? Or if you would prefer doing only seasonal farming jobs on your working holiday? I interviewed people who have done both, you can read their experiences plus my tips on which is the right job for you in New Zealand!
22. Backpacker Board Jobs This site is great because the employers who post on here knows and are okay with hiring backpackers/working holiday-ers. Unlike more general employment sites where you have to sort through the ones that are looking for more permanent employees. This is also great for finding farm and/or hospitality jobs. (I found my vineyard job on here)
23. TradeMe NZ is sort of a one stop shop for flatmates, jobs, sell/buy/swap items.
24. Seek is another job hunting site. I like this one because under search > classification: you can check multiple boxes at once. For example, you can search for retail and restaurant jobs at the same time. (whereas most other job sites you can only type in one keyword per search)
25. indeed nz is another one you may already know or have used in your own country.
26. NZ Farm Source is a site you can look at if you want to stick to rural jobs such as agricultural or dairy farm work etc…keep in mind, a lot of rural jobs are seasonal, so you’ll be on the look out for the next job every couple to few months.
27. Auckland Hospitality Jobs (Facebook group) This place is happenin’ with daily posts of people offering their services as well as employers looking to hire people immediately. Just write a short blurb of what kind of job you’re looking for, when you can start, and what you can do. Employers may contact you if you seem like a good fit.
28. Madison recruitment A recruitment agency that you can submit a CV to online, or walk in to one of their office locations. They specialize in office/admin roles, I have heard people finding work successfully with them.
29. Beyond recruitment is another recruitment agency for office/admin jobs.
30. I spent hours researching and building my New Zealand CV aka resume. It’s probably in a different format than what you’re used to in your country. Click here to get the FREE resume template I created.
If you have any questions about the New Zealand Working Holiday visa, feel free to leave me a comment!
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