New Zealand Working Holiday Visa Blog

New Zealand Working Holiday Visa Blog:

Hello again! In this post, I’ll share some news and some interesting information with you. You can use the title, New Zealand Working Holiday Visa Blog, as a hint. Forgive me for the less than regular updates but I do have a good reason. Over the last few months, I’ve been thinking hard about where I want to go after my contract in Korea is up.

South Korea has been wonderful but I have realized that two years in Korea is all I’m destined for. But even with that said, I’m not ready to go home so there began the search for the next country I will call home. That’s when I stumbled on a wonder of wonders. Something that I never knew existed before now: Working Holiday Visas.

What is a Working Holiday Visa?

A working holiday visa is a visa that lets you work and travel in a country for as long as your visa allows. In New Zealand in particular (other countries have their own programs, but the focus of this post will be New Zealand) that means young adults from between the age of 18-35 years old can live and work in New Zealand for a year, or 23 months if they are from Canada or the UK.

What are the Requirements?

Health:

You must be in good health and depending on where you apply from you may have to prove it. More on this later.

Character:

You must be of good character so no criminal record.

Age:

If you’re applying as a US Citizen, you must be between the age of 18-30 years old.

Leaving The Country:

You must have either a ticket to leave New Zealand or enough money to buy a plane ticket out.

Living Funds:

You must show that you have enough money to live on while you’re in the country so the government requires you to have at least  NZ $4,200 and you can prove you have this with bank statements.

Medical Insurance:

You must have your own medical insurance to cover you for the length of your stay in New Zealand.

What if you apply from South Korea?

So I said I would come back to the health requirement so here it is. South Korea is considered a country at risk for tuberculosis so to apply for my Visa I had to provide a chest X-ray to go with it.

If you have been living in one of the countries New Zealand considers a risk for TB for more than three months, you might have to provide a chest X-Ray as well.

Is it difficult to get the Chest X-Ray?

I can only speak for what it was like doing it in Korea but for me, it was very simple. The New Zealand government website provides a list of countries and hospitals that have eMedical. Through eMedical, my results were sent electronically to New Zealand the same day I did my X-Ray. It was all quick, painless, and easy.

The only issue was there are only four locations in South Korea that have the option for eMedical. Three are in Seoul and one is in Busan. If you can’t get to these locations then you’ll have to go through another process to send your results, but you will still be able to send them.

How Much Does It Cost?

This is the best part.
Nothing.
If you apply as a US citizen the fee is waived and you can get a visa to live and work in the beautiful Hobbitty country of New Zealand for nothing at all.

So What Now?

That’s what you, my fine people, are going to find out. My solo female travel blog will now also become a New Zealand Working Holiday Visa Blog as I document what it’s like to go through the process and ultimately what’s it like to live and travel in Zealand as a solo female traveler.

Wish me luck!