PHL, New Zealand to offer 1-year work/holiday visa


Starting February 5, citizens of the Philippines and New Zealand, age 18 to 30, may apply for the Working Holiday Scheme (WHS) visa, giving them the opportunity to stay for one year in New Zealand and the Philippines, respectively, for leisure, holiday or temporary work.

Under the arrangement, WHS participants may enrol in training or study for a maximum period of three months or work for one year with a limit of three months per employer. Participants will have to leave the country at the end of the temporary 12-month entry visa.

Under the arrangement, each government will offer 100 WHS visas per year to its citizens.

“The implementation of the WHS is expected to generate closer people-to-people understanding and goodwill through tourism, cultural and educational exchanges and short-term employment and allow young participants from the Philippines and New Zealand to experience first-hand the thriving way of life in each other’s country,” the DFA said Monday in a statement.

It described the WHS arrangement as a “first of its kind for the Philippines and one of 34 arrangements with other countries for New Zealand.”

Interested applicants from the Philippines may contact the Embassy of New Zealand in Makati while those from New Zealand can get in touch with the Embassy of the Philippines in Wellington.

The WHS agreement was signed on Oct. 23, 2012 by Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Sec. Albert Del Rosario and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. The signing was witnessed by Pres. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key. — Elizabeth Marcelo/KBK, GMA News

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