You have flown all the way from the UK to New Zealand, worked for a bit, travelled for a bit and suddenly, a whole year is nearly over.
If you’re anything like us, you may be wanting to extend your UK working holiday visa whilst in New Zealand.
We found everything online to be extremely confusing and not very straight forward. This article will help you as we have every link and form that you will need- all in one place.
Our first-year visas ran out in November 2023 and we extended for another year as we didn’t quite feel like we were done with New Zealand yet. And then we came to the end of our second-year visa in November 2024 and felt the same! So, we extended again. So having done it twice we consider ourselves semi-pro’s (which is absolutely not something to brag about as it has cost us twice as much in visa fees).
When discussing the steps involved in extending your visa in this article, we will just assume that you are applying for the full remaining balance on your UK Working Holiday Visa (which is three years total as of a regulation change in 2022).
In this article we outline all the necessary steps, all the costs and a rough timeline to extending your working holiday visa. From your medical check to obtaining your police certificate and filling out all of the documents correctly.
Step 1: Apply for your Police Certificate (do this at least 2 months before your visa runs out as it does have to come from the UK)
Step 2: Book your Medical Check
Step 3: Get a copy of your passport signed by an official
Step 4: Print out and fill in the INZ1223 WH Scheme application form
Step 5: Send all documents to Immigration New Zealand (address provided on the INZ1223 form)
Step 6: Wait for processing – usually around three weeks
Step 7: Provide information for any queries (if necessary)
Please note: these steps do not necessarily have to be completed in this order, but this is the order we recommend to get it all done on time.
Forms/ Links Needed to Extend your UK Working Holiday Visa
- Proof of identity – Justice of the Peace, Police etc
Total Costs
Estimated cost for this is around the $1,100 NZD mark.
Our costs:
- $420 visa processing fee
- $516 medical check
- £65 ($120NZD ish) UK police certificate
This is an estimate as different medical clinics may have different prices, you may choose to pay for premium service with you police certificate, and you may need to get passport photos taken.
Timeline
We think that three months is adequate from start to finish.
- Up to 6 weeks for the Police Certificate to arrive
- Between 1-4 weeks to book a medical appointment
- Up to 3 weeks for the Immigration Office to process your application
Obtaining Your Police Certificate
To obtain your Police Certificate from the UK, you’ll have to apply via the ACRO Police Records Office website.
For this application, you will need:
- A recent passport-style photograph of the applicant. This needs to be in JPG or PNG format with a maximum file size of 3MB
- Colour copies of the applicant’s passport or travel document. These each need to be in JPG or PNG format with a maximum file size of 3MB
- A valid email address
- The applicant’s address history for the last 10 years
- Details of the applicant’s impending prosecutions and past convictions
- A valid debit or credit card to make payment
(These bullet points are copy and pasted from the ACRO Website itself).
The most annoying aspect for this section was the 10 years of address history! We have both moved around a lot with university and general life stuff… Ben was very smug at this point as he had a spreadsheet with address history dating back to 2013; Jess, as you can probably guess, did not.
Costs
Standard applications: £65 – up to 20 working days to process
Premium applications: £115 – up to two working days to process
By planning slightly, you save quite a bit of money as you won’t need the express/ premium services.
These costs also include one copy of the certificate, with an extra certificate costing £7.20
Timeline
This is quite a lengthy process as it can take up to 6 weeks. From the office to process to the delivery of the certificate itself, it’s best to get this done as soon as possible.
How to Get Your Medical Certificate
Where you have your medical check depends on where in the country you are.
We were in Christchurch when we got ours. We went to an immigration health clinic so they could do everything in one place rather than having to go to separate doctors/radiologists.
Apparently, appointments can be difficult to come by (as told to us by other travelling folk), but we got an appointment within two weeks of calling up which is great. It may be worth bearing this in mind just in case it takes time.
Once you have an appointment booked and paid for, grab your passport (as proof of identification) and head to the clinic.
The three main aspects of the test are as follows and they are to determine whether you are in “good health”:
- A blood test
- A chest x-ray
- A general and mental health chat
We found these tests to be quick and straightforward, and the doctor who saw us was lovely! It is essential to obtain a valid medical certificate to extend your visa. Jess did run into a bit of stress down the line when she said she was on antidepressants (ending 3 years before this application went in) so if you are on any mental health medication be prepared as you may need to book an appointment with your prescribing doctor in NZ or with a psychiatrist in special circumstances.
For the official information, visit the New Zealand Immigration website.
Costs
We paid $516 per person (this prince has increased and will vary between medical practices, so please check on your local website)
Timeline
Depending on how long it takes to get an appointment is key in the timeframe here. We had an appointment within a week, but this will vary with demand and availability of appointments. Be smart and book well ahead of time.
Proof of Finances
Proving your finances is a fun one. When we extended for our second year Working Holiday visa, Ben completely missed the section and Immigration New Zealand rang up and were a little confused that we provided nothing.
Immigration NZ wanted us (and you, of course) to have enough funds to sustain ourselves or have an onward flight booked. Since we didn’t have a flight booked, we had to proof our worth (literally).
In 2023 and 2024, this value was $350 per month we planned to stay, so $4,200 for an extra 12 months. If you are planning on extending for the full balance of 24 months, you’ll need a minimum of $8,400.
To show evidence of our finances, we screenshotted bank accounts and got PDF versions of our bank statements, printed these off and included them in the paperwork that we sent off.
Top Tip: to make sure it gets through, is to provide account numbers (customer numbers etc) with proof that these bank accounts are, in fact, your own. We got queried on this as some of the screenshots that we provided as there was no evidence that they belonged to us.
Sources of finances that we used to prove our financial worth were:
- WestPac Current Account
- WestPac Instant Access Saver
- WestPac Term Deposit
- Stocks and Shares ISAs
- Our UK Bank Account Statements
Costs
There is nothing payable to anyone for this section, just the fact that you need a certain amount of money accessible in case of emergency.
Timeline
It took us around 30 minutes each to gather the informtion and lay it out in a well articulated email to the Immigration Officer.
Get a copy of your passport signed by an official
To avoid sending your passport itself off to Auckland, you are permitted to send a copy providing it is signed by an official.
The list of those who can legally sign and verify it are:
- Justice of the Peace (JP)
- Police Officer
- Notary Public
- Lawyer or Court Official
The first extension of our visas saw us visit a JP, while the second saw us ask a local police officer. It is super easy to do you can either stroll into your local police station with your passport/ a copy of your passport or search your area here.
Make sure you send off the original signed document as the immigration office want to see proof.
Costs
This is free and any police officer trying to charge you is ripping you off! We had a lovely chap who was super helpful.
Timeline
This is very dependent on how quickly you can either got down to the police station or organise a time with a JP. Once you get there, it literally takes five minutes to stamp the piece of paper and sign it.
Questions You May Have
What happens if my visa runs out before a decision is made by Immigration NZ?
The Immigration Office will issue you an interim visa. This happened to us when we extended the first time; we applied later than we should have, and it got to within a week of our visas expiring and interim visas popped into our inboxes. This allowed us to stay in New Zealand under the same parameters as our working holiday visas until Immigration had reached a decision.
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Filling out official forms and doing anything related to visas can be confusing or overwhelming so hopefully this guide helps you navigate extending your UK working holiday visa from New Zealand.
Sometimes the most stressful part is waiting for Immigration New Zealand to get back to you with your new visa or a list of things they need from you to okay it.
As always you can give us a message on instagram or comment on this article with any questions.