The scheme allows twelve months of work and travel for applicants aged 18 to 30, and the places have gone in under a fortnight in each of the last three seasons. The cap is national, not rolling, so an application filed in October is competing against nothing, because there will be nothing left.
Two requirements catch students out. The first is proof of roughly NZ$4,200 in available funds, which must be in the applicant’s own account. The second is onward travel or the funds to buy it, assessed separately. Neither is waived for anyone currently enrolled.