Working
Holiday Visa, have you heard of it before? It is a type of visa for
you to work in New Zealand for seasonal jobs (such as weeding,
factory jobs etc) for youths below a certain age. The age is
determined based on your government agreement with New Zealand. For
example in Singapore the age limit is 30 years old.
For
the Working Holiday Visa, there are also situations whereby there is
a quota annually for the different country application. For Singapore
the quota annually is 200.
For
the Working Holiday Visa, the amount of time you can stay in New
Zealand is also dependent on the number on the agreement between your
country and New Zealand. For example in Singapore, when we obtain the
Working Holiday Visa, we can only stay for 6 months.
To
obtain the working holiday visa, you will need to apply through this
website stated below:
Once
you reach New Zealand the first three things you must do are the following:
1)
Creating the bank account
2)
Create tax number
3)
Getting your NZ mobile number
1)
Creating the bank account.
Stories
that I heard about making the bank account, if you just arrive you
need to ask the bank to post you a postcard to the residential place,
and then you had to show the post card to the bank who will then be
able to help you open an account. This should usually take you 5
days.
But
when I was making my bank account, i realise you can create it
within the same day. You just have to possess a letter of accommodation from the place you stay. The letter of accommodation can from anywhere (such as YHA backpackers accomodation, Holiday Park
etc).
However,
the letter must have the letter head of the place you stay, and most
importantly must document that you are staying with them, and also
the date and signature of the person who handed you the letter. The
bank will call the place such as YHA and check with the person if you
are really staying there, if you are not, they will not allow you to
open your bank account.
a)
Types of Banks in NZ
There
are multiple banks in NZ, and the more well-distributed banks
are ANZ and BNZ. Kiwi banks is in the post office, however
this is not a good bank to use. Though it is a local bank, as the
problem is that the withdrawal of money is only possible when the
Kiwi postoffice is open (which is regular working hours). There is no
retail ATM machines around for Kiwi bank.
The
other main important thing to use for well-distributed banks are that
they have many ATM Machines.
Note:
If you withdrawn money from ATM machines that are not owned by your
relevant bank, there is transaction fee, which may not be worthwhile
for you, especially when you are travelling. Thus it is
important to find for well-distributed banks.
b)
Types of Bank Cards
i)
EFTPOS
In
New Zealand, EFTPOS is frequently used by the merchant.
From what I understand the reason why most retail shops offer eftpos
is that people are not used to paying cash, they feel that it is an
hassle, thus there is demand for cashless payment. For the supply
wise, the NZ Business owner feels that evevn though there is
transaction fee, the money received is real time, they do not need to
waste time to bank in the money, thus the convenience is worth it.
ii)
Internet banking Access
You
can get your eftpos card within the same day, however, if you want to
get your internet banking access you need to obtain another separate card which will come in around 5 working days. Separate banks have
different requirements for internet banking 2 factor verification (2FA) as stated in the attachment.
Note:
The 2FA is not an electronic token / mobile number.
In
New Zealand security is not yet so tight. The other thing about the
bank is that, if you are not at the location to receive the internet
banking card, you can ask your friend to collect on your behalf. You
just need to tell the bank, and no further verification is required.
I think this is a more trusting society, as if this is Singapore, you
would still need a letter of authorisation, with the relevant
photocopied IC etc for verification.
I
love this trusting nature on NZ:)
iii)
Debit Card
If
you are on working holiday visa, you are only able to apply for debit
card which allows you to purchase items or services online via your
NZ bank account. There is an annual fee required to be incurred to
obtain a Debit Card. The rates is dependent on the different bank.
For
us who are on Working Holiday, we are not eligible for credit card
due to the salary amount:(
2)
Create your Tax number
There
are mainly two ways of getting your tax number via
online submission to offshore@ird.govt.nz
or printing out the relevant IRD form (742)
as stated in the link below
,
and
its relevant supporting documents and submit to
the Kiwi Post office.
The
relevant supporting documents are as the following:
-
Bank account details (a documented letter from your bank stating that
the bank account is operating).
-
Passport / Driver License
-
Identification Card (Your country's IC)
-
Working holiday visa
-
Evidence if you are tax resident in your own country (eg. Tax
evidence that you pay in your country)
I
personally would choose to submit via online submission, as I do not
need to print out all the documents, and with the advancement in
smartphone, you can take pictures of your hard copy documents and
send them as pdf. For online submission, it takes around 5 working
days to process the tax number.
3)
Getting your phone number
There
are multiple phone companies in New Zealand. The prices are mainly
around $20 for the lowest plan as at 2016. There are some plans that
offer benefits such as free wifi per day etc at certain spot (such as
a phone booth etc).
These
may be one of the key considerations to purchase the phone plan, as
sometimes you may be going to hostel that may not have free internet
access, and as we know backpackers want to save money, thus if there
is a place there offers free wifi, well that will be great:)
Currently
the plan that I am using now is from Spark, and it offers me free 2GB
wifi per day at specific phone booth location as stated in the link
below.
For
the phone companies, most or all should have developed apps to state
where the places that have wifi. The app will also tell you your
usage level (for phone call, sms and data). Topping up could also be
performed via the app.
To
obtain your NZ phone number, you can either go to the Supermarket
(eg. Countdown) to purchase the relevant phone cards. However, if you
want the people to assist you to setup your phone, just go to the
phone company outlet (Eg. Spark outlet) to ask them to help you.
Remember not to lose your old phone sim card during your working
holiday !!!
Well
thats all for the the administration of Working Holiday Visa. Will
document other important stuff in the next article.
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