Working Holiday in New Zealand for Chilean Passport Holders in 2026

If you are over thirty and Australia has just told you no, read this page carefully, because New Zealand says yes. Chile is one of nine nationalities New Zealand runs to 35 rather than 30, alongside Argentina, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Slovakia, the UK and Uruguay. Australia's 462, by contrast, is 18 to 30 for every one of its countries with no exceptions, so for a 31-year-old Chilean these two neighbouring destinations are not comparable options at all: one is open and one is closed. The catch is scarcity and timing. There are 940 places, the 2026 round opens on 15 October 2026, and applications run until the places are filled rather than being drawn in a ballot. Santiago to Auckland is also the shortest hop from South America to either country, which makes New Zealand the more practical first stop as well as, for a lot of Chileans, the only one.

New Zealand offers no second year here, but the twelve months can become fifteen. Three months of seasonal horticulture or viticulture work qualifies you for the Working Holiday Extension Work Visa. Chileans arriving after the October opening land close to the summer fruit season in Central Otago and Hawke's Bay, which lines the timing up unusually neatly if the extension is something you want.

From Chile, the usual run is: Santiago → Auckland direct, the shortest route from South America, or via Sydney. It's a long haul with at least one stop, so book early for the November–February peak. A one-way fare usually costs more than half a return, and both airlines and immigration like to see onward funds, so a lot of people book a flexible return or an onward leg rather than a bare one-way.

Sort three things early: a local bank account for your pay, a tax number (a TFN in Australia, an IRD number in New Zealand — without one you're taxed at the top rate), and a cheap way to move money from home. Most of us used a Wise account to hold our home currency, get paid locally, and dodge the ugly exchange rates the high-street banks quietly charge. New Zealand has no superannuation reclaim for working holidaymakers, but if you've overpaid tax you can claim a refund at the end of the tax year — worth doing before you fly home.

Chileans are one of the larger Latin American groups in New Zealand relative to the size of the cohort, and Spanish-language groups covering Auckland, Wellington and the Otago fruit season are where the seasonal-work leads actually circulate.