NZ working holiday visa for Brits: age 35, 3 years

If you're British and 35 or under, New Zealand will let you live and work here for up to three years with no job offer at all.

The short version

The United Kingdom Working Holiday Visa is for UK citizens aged 18 to 35 [1].
You can apply for 12, 23 or 36 months, and work in any legal job (but not a permanent one) for the whole stay [1].
It costs NZD 770 (about £320), which includes the NZD 100 visitor levy, and you need at least NZD 350 (about £146) for each month you plan to stay [1].
Stays of 23 months or longer need a medical certificate and chest X-ray; stays over 24 months also need police certificates [1].
The age limit went up from 30 to 35, and the maximum stay from 23 months to three years, on 1 July 2023, under the UK–New Zealand free trade agreement [2][3].

What changed with the trade deal

For years the deal was simple: aged 30 or under, up to 23 months. The UK–New Zealand free trade agreement upgraded the scheme in both directions. New Zealand's side came into force on 1 July 2023, raising the age limit to 35, extending the maximum stay to three years and allowing work for the full three years [2]. Young Kiwis got the same deal on the UK's Youth Mobility Scheme from 29 June 2023 [3].

INZ also said at the time that it was bringing back an annual cap of 15,000 visas for the UK scheme, set above the number normally granted to leave room for growth [2]. Check INZ's page for the current position before you plan around a start date.

Who can apply

According to Immigration New Zealand [1], you need to:

be a UK citizen (the visa is for British citizens; other kinds of British nationality aren't the same thing)
be aged 18 to 35 when you apply
not have had this visa before. INZ says you can't apply again if you've already held it, even if you never used it [1]
have a passport valid for at least three months after the visa ends, and at least 15 or 26 months after you first arrive, depending on the length you choose
satisfy INZ that your intentions are genuine: this is a working holiday, not a back door into a permanent job
have a ticket out of New Zealand, or enough money to buy one on top of your living costs

You can't bring children on this visa, and a partner has to qualify and apply for a visa of their own [1].

How long, and what it costs

Your choice	Funds you need to show (NZD 350 a month)	Extra checks [1]
12 months	NZD 4,200 (about £1,750)	Possibly a chest X-ray or medical, depending on where you've lived
23 months	NZD 8,050 (about £3,350)	General medical certificate and chest X-ray
36 months	NZD 12,600 (about £5,250)	Medical certificate, chest X-ray and police certificates

The fee is NZD 670 plus the NZD 100 International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy, so NZD 770 (about £320) in total [1]. If you start with a shorter visa and decide you love it, you can apply later for the balance of the 36-month period, which costs another NZD 770 [1]. Medicals and police certificates from an earlier application can be reused if they're recent enough: within 36 months for medicals and 24 months for police certificates [1].

INZ says 80% of applications are decided within two weeks. Once it's granted, you have 12 months to arrive in New Zealand [1]. You can apply while you're temporarily visiting another country, so if you're halfway through a stint in Australia, you don't have to fly home to Blighty first.

Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = NZD 2.4016).

What you can and can't do

Work

You can work in any legal job for the full length of your visa, with no job offer needed before you arrive [1]. The two catches:

No permanent jobs. You can't take up a permanent position [1]. Temporary, casual and fixed-term roles are fine. In Auckland, that means hospitality, retail, events, office temping, construction labouring and seasonal work outside the city, such as fruit picking in the Bay of Plenty or Hawke's Bay.
No commercial sexual services. You can't provide them or run or invest in that kind of business [1].

If an employer wants to keep you on permanently, you'll need to switch to a work visa such as the Accredited Employer Work Visa.

Study

You can study or train for up to six months in total [1]. Handy for a first aid course, a barista course or a skippers' ticket, but not a degree.

Your first fortnight in Auckland

INZ reminds you that you'll pay tax on what you earn, so you need a New Zealand bank account and an IRD number from Inland Revenue [1]. Without an IRD number, your employer has to deduct tax at the non-declaration rate, which is a nasty surprise on your first payslip. A rough order of play:

Book somewhere to stay for the first couple of weeks. A hostel or short-let in the city centre or Ponsonby keeps you close to job agencies.
Open a bank account. Some banks let you start the process before you arrive, but expect to prove your identity once you land.
Apply for your IRD number online once you have a bank account.
Get an AT HOP card for buses, trains and ferries.
Sort a local SIM. Keep your UK number if you need it for bank logins back home.

Our guide to your IRD number, bank account and first month in New Zealand goes through each step.

Healthcare and insurance

Get proper travel or working holiday insurance before you fly. The UK has a reciprocal healthcare agreement with New Zealand, but the Foreign Office says it covers urgent treatment for British nationals who live in the UK and are on a short-term visit, not routine care or prescriptions (when we checked on 7 November 2026; page updated 19 March 2026) [4]. A working holidaymaker living here for a year or more doesn't fit that description neatly, so don't rely on it.

One Kiwi quirk that works in your favour: accident injuries in New Zealand are covered by ACC, the state accident compensation scheme, which covers visitors as well as residents. It doesn't cover illness, though, and it won't fly you home.

The UK side of things

A year or two in New Zealand doesn't usually make you non-resident in the UK for tax, but three years might. A few points to check:

HMRC. If you're leaving the UK to work abroad full-time, HMRC wants to hear from you, usually on form P85 [5]. Our guide to the Statutory Residence Test explains how your days in the UK count.
Student loan. The Student Loans Company expects you to tell it when you move abroad for more than three months. See UK student loans while living abroad.
National Insurance. A three-year gap in your record can be filled later with voluntary contributions, if you're eligible.
Voting. You can stay on the electoral register from abroad as an overseas voter.

Want to swap tips on jobs and flat shares with other Brits on a working holiday? Our community group for Brits in New Zealand is a good place to start.

New Zealand's working holiday visa for Brits: up to 35 and up to three years