Malaysian’s guide to applying for the New Zealand WHV

I applied for this visa around this time last year and am happy to share that I am now 2 months into my Working Holiday in New Zealand and it’s been nothing short of amazing. You’d probably like it even more if you’re a big fan of nature and possibly living out your harvest moon life. So let’s get to it. I’ve organised some information on the NZWHV application and a dose of my own experience applying to it to different segments below:

Part 1: About the New Zealand Working Holiday Visa

Part 2: Am I eligible to apply?

Part 3: What to prepare before the application date

Part 4: Tips and important reminders

[Part 1-3 can also be found on the official NZ immigration website here]

Part 1: About the New Zealand Working Holiday Visa

• This visa is for those who come to New Zealand mainly for a holiday but also wish to work or study during their stay. It permits you to work or study in New Zealand for a maximum of 6 months. (There’s a way to extend for another 3 months but I will save that for another time)
• There is a quota of 1150 applications for Malaysians. Which means that the online application will CLOSE the moment they hit the quota.
• It costs NZD $455 : NZD $420 – Application cost NZD $35 – An International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL)
• Processing time according to the official website is up to 8 weeks. More information on how long it took for my own application to get through below in part 4.
• Application will open online on NZ’s immigration website at 5am(MYT) on 8 February 2024.
• Do take note that you can’t accept a permanent job during this time period nor are you able to bring your partner or child along with you on this visa.
• You must come to New Zealand within 12 months of the date your visa is granted. After you’ve arrived, you can come and go NZ as many times as you like.

Part 2: Am I eligible to apply?

• You are a Malaysian citizen aged between 18-30 years old. If you are currently 30 years old, you may apply up until the day you turn 31.
• You’ll need at least NZ $2,250 to live on during your stay in New Zealand and enough money to buy a ticket home.
• You do not have previous approval for a NZWHV before.
• You have a passport to prove your identity.
• You are in good health, have good intentions and good character.

LINK: Check your eligibility criteria and supporting documents you need to provide here.

Part 3: What to prepare before the application date

• Create an account on Immigration New Zealand website prior to the application date. The site gets really congested on the application day itself so I would strongly recommend you to create an account earlier.
• Application fee of NZD $455 (approximately MYR 1,320~). Payment can be done by Visa, MasterCard or UnionPay debit card. Do make sure that you’ve enabled international payment on your credit card or debit card. **Update 11/8/24: There is an increase to visa charges comes into effect from 1 October. WHV will cost $670 and WHV extension will cost $700.
• A valid passport. Ensure that you’ve renewed your passport to avoid the hassle of having to transfer your passport number on your visa later on.

Part 4: Tips and important reminders

1. Set your alarm because the application opens at 5am. I woke up at 4.30am that day and had time to go through my details for the application again. You want to make sure that the information you key in is correct because there is no undo button after submission and you wouldn’t want to waste time loading a page backwards because you filled in something wrong.
2. Make sure you have a fast and stable internet connection. Remember that there’s only a quota of 1150 and once it’s filled, the application closes and the application usually closes within a day and less. I remember planting myself right next to the modem that morning and hitting refresh like a mad person every time I got kicked out of the website throughout the application process. The experience resembled purchasing hot selling concert tickets.
3. Have your credit/debit card ready and make sure your transfer limit is enough for the transaction. Payment is the last part of the application process and completing it means your application has gotten through. I’ve read from sharing from others online that it seems that the likelihood of your application getting accepted is very high once it gets through, not sure how true this is though.
4. Have all your details ready on a document somewhere. I have everything on a Google Doc tab next to my application tab so that I can easily copy and paste information over.
5. Look through videos on Youtube on the visa application process. This will give you an idea of what the questions are. Some people take it a step further and enable their auto-fill function during this time which helps a lot on the day itself, saving you from keying in your info countless times.
6. Join the MY New Zealand Working Holiday Facebook group. This group is made up of mostly Malaysian WHV holders who use the platform to share resources. Do note that most of the posts and information here tend to be written in Chinese but I’d say that folks in this group are generally happy to help and I’ve seen enquiry posts in English get replies from the community as well.
7. Don’t give up. Some people struggle, some people don’t. I have friends who didn’t succeed in getting their application through for a few years. I consider myself lucky to get it in my first year of trying. My whole application process took 3 hours. I started at 5am and got repeatedly kicked out of the site at different points for 3 whole hours. It was a painstaking 3 hours of refresh and repeat while praying hard that the quota isn’t filled yet. I honestly thought I was done for by the third hour mark especially since I was stuck on the last part which was the payment page. I was really really close to giving up. Thankfully it got through in the end and led me to a page that said “Application submitted”. I applied on 7th February and heard back from them on my visa approval on 15th February via email.

You will see this “Application submitted” notification upon completing payment which is the final part of the application process.

Email from INZ on visa approval

Hope the above helps and I wish you all the best in your application!

Kai Syn

@kaisyn_photography