Hello Everyone!
New Zealand will once again be opening 100 slots of Working Holiday Visa for Philippines citizens this coming March 12 2026
With this, I’m going to share a step-by-step guide on how I got my working holiday visa from PH!
For the context, I applied and got my working holiday visa last February 2018 and I think I am still confident that there were no major changes on New Zealand Immigration’s application for registration. Also, to learn more about this scheme, you may directly jump in Immigration New Zealand.
So here’s how I did it.
Pre-Application
Preparation stage started on 2017. I have made sure to secure the date for the next year’s working holiday visa application opening. For everyone’s information, the Philippines Working Holiday Scheme opened for the first time on 5 February 2014 at 10:00 am New Zealand time. From then on, 100 places will be available annually under this scheme allowing young people from the Philippines to stay in New Zealand for up to 12 months.
So if you are applying for this visa, make sure to check on the opening date in advance.
Also, dates may change depending on immigration’s decision so I suggest visiting at least once a week prior.
Next step is to check if you are eligible for this visa.
Requirements for eligibility:
- have a passport from the Republic of the Philippines that is valid for at least three months after your planned departure from New Zealand
- 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 such a ticket*
- have a minimum of NZ$4,200 available funds to meet your living costs while you are here
- meet our health and character requirements
- hold medical and comprehensive hospitalisation insurance for the length of your stay
- have a tertiary qualification granted in respect of a minimum of three years’ full-time university study
- have a level of proficiency in English that is assessed as at least functional (see below)
- be coming to New Zealand to holiday, with work or study being secondary intentions for your visit, and
- not have been approved a visa under a working holiday scheme before.
Once you’re prepare and eligible, are you ready for the next step?
Right! Let’s dig on to it!
There is no free meal! Of course next thing you have to secure is fees. You have to make sure that you have available cash/credit to deploy once your application push through. More on this later.
Last is to secure your internet connection ON the day of the application. Immigration NZ will have a huge traffic on the date of opening since you are competing with thousands of Filipino.
Application Day
Log In Immigration website
Once logged in, select Working Holiday Schemes and click here to apply
Know that on the stage of your preparation, the button “APPLY NOW” as shown on image below is not displayed yet. That’s why it is so important to drop everything and redirect all your focus on this screen.
Make sure to check the time and don’t wait for miracle, Take action!
5 seconds before the opening time, start pressing on F5/refresh or however you want to do it! Remember I told you to secure a fast internet connection? This is why.
Now here’s the real challenge begin. Once you click the button, this will be a battle of yourself. time. patience. and all the fibres, whatever you call it in your body. Note that no matter how loading your webpage get, once you clicked that button. NEVER ever touch or CLICK anything and just hope the internet God will be in your favour. Pray that you will be redirected to the next page!
Now let’s say that your faith has manifested and the next page loads then you are 20% there! ACT fast and check that Captcha, then Submit
You will then be redirected on the next page which is to fill up all the details as shown below
*Note: Information I answered on the box are for fill up purposes only.
Once you have filled up all the necessary details, Submit your application.
You will then be redirected to confirming your application.
This allows you to verify all the information you have inputted are true.
You have to make sure of this since your application can be revoked once they find out that you were being dishonest.
Once you have filled out all the boxes and captcha, proceed to Submit your application.
90% of your application has been completed at this point. BUT don’t get complacent here, you MUST Pay your application as soon as possible to secure your spot.
Don’t delay this one here. I personally know some people who have reached this point in their application and still was not able to secure their spot because the slot was already filled up.
Secure payment for your application and follow the steps as outlined in the images below
Once you have completed your Payment then you have 100% completed your application!
This doesn’t mean that you have the visa yet. This means that you have secured a 1/100 slot for the scheme.
Wait for immigration’s email to comply all the requirements to approve your visa!
With this, you have successfully completed your application! Next step would be to gather all your requirements and wait for their approval!
For all other clarifications, leave a comment below and I’ll try to answer them!
Cheers!!
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