New Zealand Visas??

M

mikemac

Active member
What’s up fam, really want to try and use a work holiday visa to work down at cardrona or treble cone next summer.

I know NZ isn’t accepting visas rn but I was wondering if Americans had any experience doing Southern Hemisphere winter or working down in NZ.

really wanna check the endless winter off the bucket list looking for any and all recs/tips for employment/visas/things to do and see down south.

holler @ me! ?
 
14319741:BradFiAusNzCoCa said:
Yooo!! Hit me up. Experience in australia and NZ on a WHV.

What questions you got??
Click to expand...

Obviously COVID is jamming things up but I’m mostly curious about the visa program…. Do you need to have employment/sponsor lined up or do you need the visa first?
 
Here’s how it goes:

gotta be under 30 and american… that’s about it haha

So you’ll apply online. They manually process where aus does a point system so aus is instantaneous, NZ will take about 2 days or so. Once you get the visa, you have one year to enter and then it is activated. Once it is activated, you have one year on the visa. You can extend this year with visa sponsorship through jobs. It was very common in Queenstown.

You need the visa first. The visa allows you to work. Keep in mind they hire super early there so start applying like dec-feb. Check the websites and even hit the box for “notify me of Job openings”. That way you’ll get a jump on the app process. You can just tell them you will get the visa or haven’t activated it yet.

14319746:mikemac said:
Obviously COVID is jamming things up but I’m mostly curious about the visa program…. Do you need to have employment/sponsor lined up or do you need the visa first?
Click to expand...
 
I did a work holiday visa and worked park crew at turoa for the 2014 season.

Obviously covid is an issue with visas and stuff but otherwise work holiday is pretty easy to get.

If trying to work at a mountain it might be better to lock down a job first so you have an idea where you want to go and live. I met some people at a hostel before I found a spot to live that had moved there on the same visa but struck out finding a job at the mountain and getting a pass and stuff.

Just pay attention to the ages on the visa. The Australian one extended to 30 so I ised it when I was 30 so I had more experience to make it easier to lock down the job I wanted.

Those visas are pretty sweet though and absolutely worth using. Had a friend use his NZ one and get a camper van and road trip and do some bartending etc along the way.

A lot of people don't take advantage of it so if you can make it work get sendy. Also you can find some pretty cheap flights if you shuffle around a bit with dates and airports.

Best of luck! Def look into the covid situation as much as you can. I was supposed to be in Australia this summer and last but was unable to with the restrictions. Not bad because both seasons got shut down for quite a bit.

If you're young enough and could do it another year might be better to wait to make sure it's a good time.

If you like NZ, Australia also has a work holiday visa. I got screwed with mine and had to get a chest xray for tuberculosis but otherwise was dope. Had to drive 4 hours and pay almost 500 for it at some bullshit clinic. You can't just go to an urgent care or some place you have insurance for. Was def sort of a racket but hopefully it's not that common. Stil went and had a blast and will probably go back again when covid chills out .

Make the southern hemisphere youre pl......
 
14320211:theabortionator said:
I did a work holiday visa and worked park crew at turoa for the 2014 season.

Obviously covid is an issue with visas and stuff but otherwise work holiday is pretty easy to get.

If trying to work at a mountain it might be better to lock down a job first so you have an idea where you want to go and live. I met some people at a hostel before I found a spot to live that had moved there on the same visa but struck out finding a job at the mountain and getting a pass and stuff.

Just pay attention to the ages on the visa. The Australian one extended to 30 so I ised it when I was 30 so I had more experience to make it easier to lock down the job I wanted.

Those visas are pretty sweet though and absolutely worth using. Had a friend use his NZ one and get a camper van and road trip and do some bartending etc along the way.

A lot of people don't take advantage of it so if you can make it work get sendy. Also you can find some pretty cheap flights if you shuffle around a bit with dates and airports.

Best of luck! Def look into the covid situation as much as you can. I was supposed to be in Australia this summer and last but was unable to with the restrictions. Not bad because both seasons got shut down for quite a bit.

If you're young enough and could do it another year might be better to wait to make sure it's a good time.

If you like NZ, Australia also has a work holiday visa. I got screwed with mine and had to get a chest xray for tuberculosis but otherwise was dope. Had to drive 4 hours and pay almost 500 for it at some bullshit clinic. You can't just go to an urgent care or some place you have insurance for. Was def sort of a racket but hopefully it's not that common. Stil went and had a blast and will probably go back again when covid chills out .

Make the southern hemisphere youre pl......
Click to expand...

did you have experience grooming and stuff before you got employed at turoa? I work as a ski instructor at cardrona atm but thinking of doing something else due to the pressure of getting nzsia level 2, competing for lessons ect..
 
14320231:Pakanaka said:
did you have experience grooming and stuff before you got employed at turoa? I work as a ski instructor at cardrona atm but thinking of doing something else due to the pressure of getting nzsia level 2, competing for lessons ect..
Click to expand...

Yeah. I did day staff at Turoa but had been doing it for a while in the states at that point. Didn't really know a ton about the visa at that point but i threw out an application to turoa and another spot and got a call and job offer, then applied for the visa and stuff.

I think I only had two full seasons grooming when I went to Australia.

Not sure how everything works in NZ but getting into snowmaking can be a good way into a cat st most mountains. One of my friends at turoa did that as well so it at least happens sometimes there.

Shows that you're a decent worker and you learn a lot about the mtn ops side of the place. Day staff parks is pretty sick too. I did it for a lot of seasons.

I did ski school for a few seasons before I got into parks so I know the vibe. Everyone's different but I preffer park stuff to teaching.

Also if you're trying to get in the cat, talk to the guys at the shop or your boss. Let em know you're trying to get a ride along. No guarentee it will get you a job but it helps to show your face an interest. If people know you they're more likely to hire you. Especially if you seem like you really want it. Not eveyone pics it up and makes it but places are down to throw somebody a shot if it seems like they really want it.

Sometimes it can be pretty easy to snag a grooming job, sometimes it's tough and can take years, but if you want it and stay on it you can make it happen.

Snowmaking def helps though. That season ends early and mtns are pretty good about getting people into other roles. A good way to get in a cat or even park staff if you've been striking out. Same goes for parks. Talk to the guys, your boss park boss and let them know you're trying to get in there.

Best of luck man!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top