Working holidays relaunched, critical worker wage threshold lowered

From today, the Working Holiday Visa Scheme will reopen for applications on a rolling basis, which will come as welcome relief for many NZ employers and industries.

The following working holiday schemes will reopen to applications:

Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, USA, Japan.

There is no limit on the number of working holiday visas granted to people from these countries, so applications can be made at any time. All others will open on a rolling basis.

Additionally, NZ employers can potentially help to secure border exemptions for their offshore talent without the need to demonstrate the workers’ skills are “not readily obtainable in NZ” (the previous very high threshold). The workers must earn at least 1.5 times the median wage (NZD $84,240 a year or NZD $40.50 an hour) and be in roles of longer than 6 months’ duration, as well as meeting the other generic visa criteria.

For enquiries about your or your workers’ potential visa eligibility, contact me at james@jamesmcleod.co.nz or on +64 22 645 9875.