Travelling to New Zealand on a Working Holiday visa

As there is no official au pair programme in New Zealand, you can apply for a Working Holiday visa to travel to New Zealand and work as an au pair.

Requirements overview

You must, among other things:

• be a citizen of one of the following countries: Argentina, Australia*, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Chile, China, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong (HKSAR), Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, South Korea, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, USA, Uruguay or Vietnam
• be at least 18 and no more than 30 years of age
• not bring along any children with you
• hold a return ticket or sufficient funds to purchase such a ticket
• have between NZ$2.250 and NZ$7.000 of available funds (the country of citizenship will determine the exact amount)
• meet the health and character requirements
• hold a medical and comprehensive hospitalisations insurance for your entire length of stay
• not have been approved for a visa under a Working Holiday Scheme before

*Australian citizens may study, work and live in New Zealand without a visa. Find out more on this topic on the Immigration New Zealand website.

You can check all requirements and schemes on the official website for the Working Holiday visa. New Zealand limits the number of visas annually available for applicants from certain countries. Please consult the official website or check our quota list to get an overview of the number of visas available for your home country.

Working Holiday visa conditions

The Working Holiday visa for New Zealand allows you to enter the country and work for a host family as an au pair. Depending on your home country, you may stay 6-23 months in New Zealand on this type of visa. However, you may not take up permanent employment, but only occasional or part-time jobs in order to finance your stay in New Zealand. You may apply for the Working Holiday visa for New Zealand only once. Under certain circumstances, however, au pairs may extend their stay or apply for another type of visa.

Employment period

You may work for one or several employers for up to 12 months.

Nationals of some countries may not stay with the same employer for more than 3 months. These countries include Brazil, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam.

If you are a national of Chile, China or Slovakia, you can stay with your host family for up to 6 months. Nationals of all  other countries can stay with their host families for up to 12 months.

Paying taxes

You will need to get an IRD number and give it to your employer for tax purposes. Apply for your IRD number online through the Inland Revenue's Travelling to New Zealand webpage. In New Zealand, you pay tax on a pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) basis. This means that there should not be a large refund or outstanding amount to pay when you leave.