Working Holiday Visa Holders Can No Longer Run a Business
From 20 April 2026, everyone holding a New Zealand Working Holiday Visa must work under an employment agreement or a contract for services. They cannot sole trade, cannot own or operate a business, and cannot employ other people. Existing holders keep their old conditions until their visa expires.
Quick Facts
| Effective | 20 April 2026 — in force |
| The rule | All work must be under an employment agreement or a contract for services |
| Not permitted | Sole trading · owning or operating a business · employing other people |
| Existing holders | Grandfathered — the old conditions apply until the visa expires |
| Visa cost | NZ$770 — NZ$215 application fee + NZ$455 immigration levy + NZ$100 IVL |
| Three-month extension visa | NZ$800 |
| Number of schemes | 45, covering working holiday and work exchange arrangements |
| How places are allocated | First come, first served on every capped scheme, opening at 10:00 New Zealand time |
| What did not change | Age limits, caps, funds requirements, the once-in-a-lifetime rule |
What changed
A Working Holiday Visa has always come with an open work right — you may work for almost any employer, in almost any job. What was less clearly bounded was the structure you worked under. Some holders were operating as sole traders, running small businesses, or in a few cases employing staff.
From 20 April 2026 the structure is fixed. Work must be under one of two arrangements:
- An employment agreement — you are an employee.
- A contract for services — you are a contractor engaged to deliver work for a client.
And three things are explicitly out:
- No sole trading.
- No owning or operating a business.
- No employing other people.
The line between "contractor under a contract for services" and "sole trader running a business" is narrower than it looks, and it is the line this change turns on. A contract for services is an engagement to do specified work for a client. Registering as a self-employed operator, trading under a business name, advertising for your own customers or taking on staff is a business. The first is permitted; the second is not.
See working holiday visa self-employment rules.
Who is affected, and who is not
Affected: anyone granted a Working Holiday Visa on or after 20 April 2026.
Not affected, for now: existing holders. The change is grandfathered, so a visa granted before 20 April 2026 keeps the conditions it was granted with until it expires. As with all New Zealand visas, the conditions on your own visa govern you — not the current version of the rule.
That distinction produces an odd year. Two people doing similar work in the same town can lawfully be operating under different rules, purely because of when their visas were granted. Check the conditions on your own visa rather than assuming. See working holiday visa conditions and restrictions.
Why it matters more than it sounds
The category most affected is the growing group of people who work remotely or on a freelance basis while travelling — designers, developers, photographers, tradespeople picking up their own jobs.
The change does not stop that work. It stops one structure for doing it. Work engaged by a client under a contract for services remains permitted. Setting up as your own business is not.
Tax treatment is a separate matter from immigration status and is governed by Inland Revenue rules, not by Immigration New Zealand. Working under a permitted immigration structure does not by itself resolve your tax position — see IRD numbers and tax for new migrants.
What has not changed
Almost everything else, and this is where headlines mislead:
- Open work rights remain. You may still work for essentially any employer in New Zealand. The change is about structure, not about who you can work for.
- The 45 schemes are unchanged, and every capped scheme is still first come, first served, opening at 10:00 New Zealand time on a published date. Places are not allocated by random selection on any of them. See capped and uncapped working holiday schemes.
- No cap changed between 2024, 2025 and 2026. Opening dates shift by about a week each year, but the quotas have not moved. See working holiday visa opening dates.
- Age limits are unchanged — 18 to 30 for most schemes, 18 to 35 for nine of them.
- The once-in-a-lifetime rule is unchanged. You may hold a New Zealand working holiday visa once, ever, and an unused one still counts.
- Funds requirements are unchanged.
- Fees are unchanged at NZ$770. There has been no general fee or levy increase in 2025 or 2026 — Immigration New Zealand's fee page still describes its rates as current "as of 1 October 2024". See working holiday visa cost.
- The United Kingdom scheme is still capped at 15,000 places, for ages 18 to 35, with 12, 23 or 36-month options. It is not uncapped, whatever you may have read.
The three-month extension visa
The Working Holiday Extension Work Visa is unaffected by the April 2026 change and still costs NZ$800. It requires three months of qualifying seasonal work in horticulture or viticulture — planting, maintaining, harvesting or packing. Nursery work and food processing do not count towards those three months.
Not every scheme offers it. Detail is at how to extend a working holiday visa and seasonal work for the working holiday extension.
What to do differently now
- Read the conditions on your own visa. They are the rule that applies to you, not the version of the rule current today.
- If you are granted a visa on or after 20 April 2026 and intend to freelance, the arrangement must be a contract for services with a client — not a business you own and operate.
- Do not take on staff. Employing other people is out under the new conditions.
- If you already run something, a grandfathered visa protects you only until it expires. There is no automatic continuation into a new visa.
- If your situation is genuinely borderline — a part-owned venture, an overseas company you direct, an existing New Zealand entity — that is a question for a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer, not for a website. See how to find a licensed immigration adviser.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I be self-employed on a New Zealand working holiday visa?
For visas granted on or after 20 April 2026, work must be under an employment agreement or a contract for services. Sole trading, owning or operating a business, and employing others are not permitted. Existing holders keep the conditions they were granted with until their visa expires.
Can I start a business on a working holiday visa in New Zealand?
Not under the conditions in force from 20 April 2026. Owning or operating a business is excluded.
Does the new rule apply to my current visa?
Only if your visa was granted on or after 20 April 2026. Earlier grants are grandfathered until they expire.
Can I still work for any employer?
Yes. The open work right is unchanged. What changed is the structure the work must be done under.
Can I do freelance or contract work?
Work under a contract for services is permitted. Operating as a sole trader or running your own business is not. The difference is whether you are engaged by a client to deliver specified work, or trading on your own account.
How much does a New Zealand working holiday visa cost?
NZ$770 — an NZ$215 application fee, an NZ$455 immigration levy and the NZ$100 International Visitor Levy. The three-month extension visa costs NZ$800.
How are places allocated on capped schemes?
First come, first served. Applications open at 10:00 New Zealand time on a published date and stay open until the places are filled. Places are not allocated by random selection on any working holiday scheme.
Can I move from a working holiday visa to a work visa?
Working holiday visas do not automatically convert. A different visa is a separate application with its own requirements — see the working holiday visa, explained.
This page is general information, not immigration advice. New Zealand regulates immigration advice under the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007, and we do not assess anyone's individual circumstances. For advice about your own case, use a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer, and check the licence on the Immigration Advisers Authority register.
