DFA: Pinoys can stay in NZ for work, leisure

MANILA, Philippines - Filipinos aged between 18 and 30 years can have the opportunity to stay for one year in New Zealand for leisure or temporary work, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

Young New Zealanders will also have the same opportunity under the Working Holiday Scheme (WHS) visa, which would be open for application starting tomorrow.

WHS participants may enroll in training or study for a maximum period of three months or work for one year with a limit of three months per employer.

They will have to leave the country at the end of the temporary 12-month entry visa.  

A quota of 100 WHS visas per year will be issued to successful Filipino and New Zealand applicants.

The arrangement on the WHS, the first of its kind for the Philippines and one of 34 arrangements with other countries for New Zealand, was signed between Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully. President Aquino and Prime Minister John Key in Wellington witnessed the signing on Oct. 23, 2012.

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 the communities and engage more closely with the local people in each other’s country.