How To Get Started Living and Working in New Zealand

So you want to get started living & working in New Zealand? Here is a list of things you’ll need to take care of before you can really start to settle down.

Visa Application

If you want to stay longer than the 3 month tourist visa provided upon entry into the country, you’ll need to apply for a visa to extend your stay. There are a variety of visas for which you can apply, but one of the most common is a Working Holiday Visa. For Canadians, Immigration New Zealand (INZ) can grant either a 12 month or 23 month visa. The application is done online and the process is fairly simple.

Cost: $165NZD

Medical Examination & Chest X-ray

Depending on which country you apply for your visa from, and if you’ve recently visited countries with high tuberculosis rates you’ll need to have a medical exam and/or chest x-rays done. INZ has a list of “Panel Doctors” in various countries that are part of their ‘eMedical’ program – meaning that the results of your exams can be electronically submitted to INZ. If the doctor is not affiliated with eMedical, your results will have to be couriered to New Zealand. This is all assuming that you’re applying from outside New Zealand. If you chose not to apply for your visa until after you’ve arrived in NZ, then you can easily go to a Panel Doctor once you’re in the country (there’s 40 alone in Auckland!)

The chest x-ray takes about 15 seconds, but the medical exam is a bit more involved. Urine & blood samples are taken for testing, and the doctor will go through your family history as well as performing basic reflex, sight, breathing etc tests.

Once you’ve submitted your visa application online, you have 15 consecutive days to submit your medical results to INZ (technically, you don’t have to submit anything if your doctor is affiliated with eMedical, but you do have to ensure that you allow enough time for the results to be sent from your doctor). The results from the blood tests generally take 3 business days, and then the processing into the eMedical/INZ channels takes another day or so. If there is something a little off with your blood tests, you’ll have to go back in & give more blood to have the tests redone.

Cost: they vary based on medical clinic, but the cheapest we found was $250NZD

This is a timeline of how our visa application process went:

Thursday: Make appointment for medical exam the next day Friday: Go for medical exam & chest x-ray. Submitted visa applications on INZ website Tuesday/Wednesday: received confirmation from eMedical that our exam results had been submitted to INZ Thursday: received confirmation that our visas had been approved

With your working visa, you’re now legally allowed to work in New Zealand!

IRD Number

An IRD number is similar to a SIN number in Canada. The Inland Revenue Department is responsible for the tax side of things in the New Zealand government. You need an IRD number in New Zealand to work & get paid.

The forms for registering for an IRD number are available online (Form IR595). You simply need to print them out, fill in the blanks and go to the PostShop to have an ‘in person verification’ and then have them mailed away. Your IRD number will be mailed to you in about 2 weeks time. If you need your number sooner than that, you can call a toll free number and they’ll give you your number over the phone.

Opening a Bank Account

If you want to work in NZ, chances are that you want to get paid as well. To do this, you’ll need a bank account. There are plenty of banks to choose from in NZ. Most of them offer a simple account with no monthly fee. Do your research and find a bank that works well for your needs. Popular banks are: KiwiBank, ANZ, BNZ, ASB, & WestPac. Most banks will let you set up an account online, but you’ll need to pop into a branch to show a few key documents (visa, IRD number, address etc).

Renting a Flat

Mac & I lived in a hostel for a week before we moved into our flat. One week in an 8 bed dorm (with me being the lonely female) is 7 days too many! Auckland – where Mac & I chose to live for now – is a HUGE sellers market. We contacted about 25 places, received responses from about 10, and saw 5 places before agreeing to sign the lease on our current flat. Popular websites to find flats are TradeMe and the Facebook group: Flatmates Wanted – Auckland.

Things to note: Rent prices here are per week (pw). Keep an eye on the ad if the price includes utilities (power, water, & internet). If you’re only planning on being stationary for a few months, consider boarding with flats with current flatmates. Check to see if the flat will accept couples.

18+ ID Card

New Zealand has a policy similar to Ontario where any place that sells alcohol will ID anyone that looks under 25 years old. Because of our exceptionally good looks, Mac & I get ID’d every time (haha). Unfortunately for us, most stores won’t accept our Ontario drivers licenses as a form of identification. Since we’re not too keen on carrying our passports with us in order to buy alcohol, we applied for an Over 18 ID Card. You can pick up the forms at the library (in the Citizens Advice Bureau). You’ll need to provide a passport-sized photo, and get your application signed by a justice of the peace (also present in the library). You can then have the form mailed and you’ll receive your ID in about 2 weeks time.

Cost: $35NZD

Cell Phone & SIM Card

We survived 9 months in Central & South America without having a SIM Card in my phone. We did however, make good use of the WiFi in our hostels meaning that we could Skype, FaceTime, & iMessage with friends and family fairly frequently. Now that we’re somewhere more permanent, having the ability to phone & text people without having to rely on a WiFi zone was pretty key (especially when looking for jobs etc). Phone plans here are immensely different than back in Canada.

First, you buy a SIM card. SIM cards are really inexpensive – some hostels even hand them out for free! After you’ve popped your SIM card into your phone, you’ll have to activate it by calling a number on the package that the card came in. Following that, you’re ready to top up your balance. This can be done by buying a voucher for your phone provider from a convenience store, or, if you have WiFi, logging into your provider’s app on your phone and adding a credit card number with which you’ll use to top up. Once you have money in your account, you can buy a value pack. Value packs range from $9 a month (a MONTH!), to $50. The cheapest will give you a bunch of texts, a few phone call minutes, and potentially some data. The higher priced packages will give you virtually most things unlimited and a very high data package.

The most popular phone providers are: Skinny, Spark, 2degrees, & Vodafone. Vodafone used to be the most popular, but that’s changed in the past few years. Mac & I both have Skinny SIMs – we were told that they also have the best coverage nationwide, as well as the best priced phone plans.

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We’ve been here a little over two weeks now, and looking back now, man did we accomplish a lot! Due to limited (& expensive) WiFi access in our hostel, we logged a LOT of hours in the library (which was thankfully located steps away!). Our visas have been approved, we’ve moved into our new flat, I started work on Tuesday and Mac has had a few interviews & trials for jobs. Everything is coming up roses! Hopefully the good vibes keep coming!