Working Holiday Visa... how to make a break overseas for a work "vacation".

After whole days locked in the house, stuck on my computer, doing a lot of research on Google, I can call myself quite prepared on the subject, and I feel ready to share my knowledge.

The first Working Holiday program that I discovered was the one for Canada. Unfortunately I arrived late, I decided to leave Italy near the end of February and the 15th was the day when the visas for Italians ended.
Canada was my first choice, a family I know lives there and surely everything would have been easier, they would have helped with accommodation and work, but Canada allows us to participate in this program up to 35 years of age, so I still have some time!

After this first disappointment, I stumbled upon the Working Holiday Visa for Australia (This is the official Immigration link). Here, the age limit is 30 years of age. I am still on time to apply for it, same thing for the Working Holiday Visa for New Zealand.



The WHV for Australia is renewable for a year if you work at least for three months in a farm (I need to get informed on the age limit), while it is renewable only for three months in New Zealand (again if you have worked in a farm).

The Working Holiday Visa allows us to travel, work and study in a country in another part of the world, a unique chance in life, which will be neither undervalued or forgotten. With the WHV you can work for the same employer for 3 months in NZ and 6 months in Australia (check the Immigration website for more details related to your nationality).

You can apply online for the WHV, pay the fee by credit card and wait for your brand new Visa delivered on your email address. Then you have a year of time to arrive to NZ and a year to stay there from the date of arrival. Same thing for Australia.

You have two options to start this adventure. Just organize everything by yourself, like booking flights, transfers and hostels online, or rely on agencies that help you get accustomed to a new country, helping you find jobs, homes, and with bureaucratic practices, etc, obviously for a high price.
I have decided that to do everything by myself. It's a way cheaper and not that difficult. It could seem scary, but actually it's a piece of cake.

Here is what you need when you arrive in NZ (but the same goes for Australia):

• Health insurance that covers the period that we are abroad
• SIM card from a local telephone operator
• Accommodation (very easy to find online)
• A bank account 
• A New Zealand IRD number(Inland Revenue Department)  To work in NZ you will need a national insurance number (or an IRD, Revenue Department Nubmer), otherwise you will be subject to a taxation of 48% (the so-called Emergency Tax or Emergency Taxation), so that you can begin to earn money and pay the taxes according to the normal tax of 29%. At the end of the trip it is possible to request a reimbursement of the taxes paid in excess.
• A job! !

Things, as it seems, are quite simple, have I convinced you to leave? ?