How to Get a Working Holiday Visa for Australia, Canada, and New Zealand

As I said, my vast experience with the working holiday visa scheme has brought me to writing this fact-filled piece. You know how passionate I am about traveling and I want to let you in on my ‘insider knowledge’ on this particular way of traveling.

What is a Working Holiday Visa?

A working holiday visa is a visa that allows young people, typically aged between 18-30 years old or up to 35 years old in some countries have an extended holiday in a country for 1-2 years and work to fund their travels through said country.

Why a Working Holiday Visa has worked for me

I love the freedom a working holiday visa offers. My husband and I have been traveling together for 10 years. And we have lived and worked in Queenstown, New Zealand, Whistler, Canada, and Sydney, Australia under the Working Holiday Scheme.

Think about it – you move to a beautiful new country and get to explore said country and the nearby surrounding countries easily and cheaply. What we like to call ‘Expat Travel’ is a great way to see the world. It means you have a base country for the duration of your visa, and you can earn money while essentially “traveling.”

As much as we love travelling long-term without a care in the world. There is no way we would be able to do that without having lived in and earned a good wage in countries like Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

As for how we decide on where to relocate to – we decide on a country that we are both interested in and one that offers a working holiday visa. For us, it’s a fantastic way to see the world. Live, work and travel in one country then at the end of your working holiday visa take a significant time off to backpack before moving onto your next destination.

Luckily, for us we are from Ireland and England, both passports make it relatively easy to get a working holiday visa.

The cost of each working holiday visa

• Australia: $635 AUD
• Canada: $272 CAD 
• New Zealand: From $420 NZD

AUSTRALIA

How to get a Working Holiday Visa for Australia

Perhaps the most popular of the lot. I think everyone knows someone who’s done a working holiday visa in Australia. This visa is called the Subclass 417 visa.

Step one –

It’s pretty easy to start the application process. You can start applying online here. The first step is to set up an IMMI account (see photo below), and the next page asks you to set some security questions and set a password.

Step two – 

• Et voila, IMMI account set-up. You then login to your IMMI account and start the application process for your Working Holiday Visa.  It takes about 15-20 minutes to fill out the application.
• The visa costs $635 AUD. This does not cover other costs, such as the costs of health assessments, police certificates, or any other certificates or tests you may need.

FYI – If you’re a Nurse or plan on working in Social Care or with children, you will need to do a health assessment. Find out more about working as a Nurse in Australia here.

Important information about the Australian Working Holiday Visa

• It can take anywhere between 11-32 days to process the visa, according to the official Australian Government website.
• Important note – on this visa, you can work for any one employer for a maximum of 6 months, there are exceptions to this rule, however.
• Also, be aware that at the application stage, you will need to prove that you have “sufficient funds”. You must provide a bank statement as a proof you have enough money to support yourself in Australia ($5,000 AUD). You may also be asked for this bank statement when you enter Australia so ensure you have a copy of a recent bank statement proving this upon entry.

Renting and Working in Australia

If you’re looking for an easy entry into expat travel, then I highly recommend Australia as a starting point. The visa is cheap, quick to get, and relatively stress-free. The work-life balance in Australia is amazing, with an average of 5 weeks annual leave, 10 paid sick days and the pay is high. Australian employers will even pay you for your pension (it’s called superannuation in Australia). And at 9% of your salary, that can add up to a lot of money. Which you can claim back when you leave. 

It’s easy to find a job even a few days after arriving (especially if you sign up with a Recruitment Agency when you land).

But, keep in mind, Australia is an expensive country to move to! In the most populated city, Sydney – where we lived, a person’s average expense for one month is $4,100 AUD, and that includes rent, food, and public transport. The average person’s salary in Sydney is $92,000 AUD per year or $44 AUD per hour.

Rent is expensive and hard to come by, especially in cities like Sydney and Melbourne. Renting a room is the way to go to begin with, try – flatmates.com.au or gumtree. Other good places to search for a place to rent in Sydney are on Domain and RealEstate.com.au

The most desirable areas to live in Sydney include Bondi, Surry Hills, Balmain, and the Northern Beaches (areas like Manly or Mosman) – which are home to the best beaches in Sydney. In these areas, you can expect to pay around $3,000 AUD per month for a one-bedroom apartment.

So, as you can see,, moving to Australia with a decent chunk of savings is important – as it’s highly unlikely you’ll earn the average salary for the first couple of months.

FYI – in order to work and get paid, you need a Tax File Number or TFN. Get this in your first few days (more info here).

CANADA

How to get a Working Holiday Visa for Canada

If Australia is an “easy” visa to get, then Canada is the opposite. Beware, it’s a very time-consuming application process. However, It has changed since we applied back in 2014, and it sounds like it’s a bigger pain in the ass. But I promise it’s worth it in the end. It’s called the IEC Working Holiday Visa Program.  Now, settle in potential expat travelers because this is a long read.

Here’s how to be accepted to the IEC program –

• You must be a citizen of one of these countries
• Have a valid passport for the entire duration of your stay in Canada, so if your passport expires a year after entering Canada, that’s only how long your visa will be. Ensure you have at least 3 years left on your passport at the application stage.
• You must have a recent bank statement proving that you have $2,500 CAD, you will typically only be asked for this on landing in Canada.

Note – You must have private health insurance for the entire length of your visa. I recommend True Traveller

Step one –

• Complete the Come to Canada questionnaire.  If you meet the criteria, you’ll receive a personal reference code.
• Enter this code to create your IRCC account
• Fill in your IEC profile.
• Submit your profile and choose the IEC pool(s) you want to be in. For example, ‘Ireland: Young Professionals’ is an example of a pool.

Then, it’s a case of waiting to be selected, as you’ll need to receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) to continue the process. It’s a frustrating wait as the numbers in the pool can greatly exceed the number of permits available.

If you receive an ITA, you have 10 days start your application for a working holiday visa in Canada.

Step two – 

• As soon as you press the ‘Start Application’ button to formally accept the ITA, you’ll have 20 days to submit your work permit application and pay any relevant fees.
• Gather and upload all the documents (e.g. police or medical certificates) requested by IRCC. If you don’t have these immediately, you can upload proof that you’ve applied for a police cert or medical exam (additional charges for these).
• Pay relevant fees. To get a Working Holiday Visa in Canada, it will be necessary to pay a participation fee of $172 CAD, and an open work permit holder fee of $100 CAD.
• IRCC will assess your application and may request additional documents.

If your application is a success, a letter of introduction (LOI) will be sent to your account. Bring this with you on your journey to Canada as you’ll need to present this to an immigration officer at a Port of Entry (POE), such as an airport or border crossing. This is where you’re provided with a work permit.

In short, the process for an IEC Working Holiday Visa is a lengthy (and at times stressful process). It offers you 2 years to work in Canada up to the ripe old age of 35. You can work for the same employer for that entire time if you wish, and you don’t have to do regional or farm work to get your second year (like Australia).

Working in Canada

I personally recommend the IEC visa for people who want to set up a ‘home base’ for a longer period of time. A lot of people stay past their working holiday visa for Canada and opt for Canadian residency.

It can be hard to leave Canada – the lifestyle is good, and once you get a ‘good’ job, it’s hard to leave it behind. But, the big downside for us was the measly 10-day annual leave and 0 paid sick days (that was just the jobs we worked whilst there, so I can’t speak for them all).

It took me a little longer to find a job in Vancouver than Sydney, but again I suggest signing up with a Recruitment Agency to get your foot in the door. We did find it much easier to find a job when we were living in Whistler.

The wages are lower in Canada compared to Australia, the average hourly salary is around $22.22 CAD per hour. But the cost of living is lower e.g groceries are cheap (however, chicken and cheese are extortionate in British Columbia).

Renting in Canada

Rent, too, is a little more reasonable than Australia. We found ours by walking around the area we wanted to live in (Westend in Vancouver), and if an apartment block had an apartment available to rent, they would display it on a board outside together with a number to call. Other good websites for renting are Padmapper and Craigslist.

Rent in the popular ski resorts like Whistler and Banff are notoriously expensive and competitive. For example, for rent in Whistler Village (where we lived for 18 months), you are likely going to pay at least $2,800 CAD per month for a studio and $3,000 CAD for a one-bedroom apartment. 

NEW ZEALAND

How to Get a Working Holiday Visa for New Zealand

Working holiday visas to New Zealand are available if you’re in the 18-30 age bracket, but 18-35 in a select few countries. They let you travel and work in New Zealand for up to 12 months, or 23 months if you’re from the UK or Canada. You need to have a return ticket, or enough money to pay for one, and be coming mainly to holiday, with work being a secondary intention.

Step one – 

• You need to create an account on the New Zealand Immigration website, link here And see photo below for what this page will look like:

• Now, once you’ve created your account go back to the Apply Online page. You must complete all 4 tabs – Personal, Health, Character and Working Holiday Specific. When all tabs show a tick, you are good to go. Hit “submit”.
• Review the legal statements, tick all the boxes that apply, and hit “submit”.
• You are now on the Confirmation Page. On this page, you will be invited to pay for your application. Note – your application will not be processed until your payment is cleared. The next page will display your fee (usually around $420 NZD, but it depends on your home country). click on “secure payment site” in the text.

Step two – 

Et voila, with this all done you wait. It took only a few days for an email to appear in my inbox from Immigration New Zealand stating that my Working Holiday Visa has been approved. To print your visa off you must login to your Immigration New Zealand account.

Note – You need to have at least $4,200 NZD to live on during your stay. So, print off a recent bank statement and have this when you land at the airport in New Zealand.

Working in New Zealand

The Working Holiday Visa to New Zealand is probably the least difficult and least time-consuming visa of the lot. It was a very quick process for us; literally, within 4 days of applying, we had our visa. It was very easy for us to set our lives up here in New Zealand.

The minimum wage in New Zealand is $23.15 per hour.

I found a job pretty much right away in a luxury hotel in Northland. It was a job I had my eye on since we first applied for the Working Holiday Visa, and I was lucky enough to get it. Paul on the other hand struggled to find a job in construction, as the town we were living in in the Bay of Islands area was quite small.

After about a year we moved to the tourist mecca of Queenstown in the South Island – and the jobs are plentiful there, especially in construction and hospitality (our two trades).

New Zealand is similar to Australia in that you get an average of 5 weeks of annual vacation and 10 days of paid sick leave. The work/life balance is amazing, and the pay is decent (although not as high as in Sydney).

Renting in New Zealand

Depending on where in New Zealand you live, rent here can be a lot cheaper than Australia and Canada. For example in the Bay of Island we paid just $350 NZD per week for our house but when we moved to Queenstown – the price increased to around $500 NZD for a similar type of property.

You search for rental properties direct with the rental agencies such as Harcourts and LJ Hooker. We have lived in Northland and Queenstown in New Zealand, so we can only speak from experience on both. A weekly food shop for two can cost between $150 – $200 NZD per week here in New Zealand. Add on electricity and other bills like WiFi (both of which are quite reasonable), and my best estimate is that each person would need to earn $600 NZD per week to live comfortably in New Zealand – more in Queenstown, Auckland, and Wellington!

A summary of our working abroad experience

So, there you have it our life of expat travel so far. And honestly, I can’t recommend it enough. We’ve lived and worked in 3 beautiful countries together and earned enough money to travel to over 40 countries. We’ve gained invaluable work and life experience and met so many amazing friends along the way. It’s an easy, relatively stress-free way to travel.

Now that we’ve gone through all the ‘most popular’ Working Holiday Visa’s who knows where our next move will be. All we know is that working abroad works perfectly for the kind of lifestyle we want. It may work perfectly for you too.

Any questions at all about the Working Holiday Visa system, expat travel in general or anything else please comment below.

Before you go, you may also enjoy reading our most popular blog posts, including –

The best beaches in Northland, New Zealand

How to have the BEST 24 hours in Queenstown

17 Best Things to do in Whistler this Summer (2024 Guide)

21 Unique Things to do in Whistler (2024 Guide)

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