International Staff
Practical guidance for academics, researchers and professional staff recruited from outside Papua New Guinea — what to arrange before you fly, what happens in your first weeks at UPNG, and who to ask when something is not working.
Welcome to UPNG
The University of Papua New Guinea has been an international university since it opened. Staff from Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific, Asia, Africa, Europe and North America teach and research here alongside Papua New Guinean colleagues, and much of the University's research is done in partnership with institutions overseas.
Coming to work in Port Moresby is a genuine adjustment. The academic work is familiar; the administrative and practical setting is not. Housing, banking, health cover, schooling and transport all need to be arranged deliberately rather than assumed, and the work permit and visa process runs on its own timetable. Staff who plan for that arrive far less rattled than those who do not.
This page collects what an incoming international appointee needs in roughly the order they need it. Read it alongside Living in Port Moresby, which covers the city itself — suburbs, shopping, health, safety and getting around — in far more detail than is repeated here.
The Essentials at a Glance
- Work permit + employment visa
- Both are required, in that order, and both must be in place before you travel. A visitor visa cannot be converted after arrival.
- The University, through Human Resources
- UPNG is your sponsoring employer for the work permit and the visa application. You cannot lodge the work permit yourself.
- Allow 3–6 months
- From signed contract to visa in passport. Police clearances and document authentication are usually the slowest steps.
- English
- English is the language of instruction and administration. Tok Pisin is the everyday lingua franca outside the lecture theatre.
- Two semesters, February to November
- Most appointments start in January or February. Aim to arrive at least two weeks before teaching begins.
- Paid in PNG Kina (PGK)
- The kina is not freely traded outside PNG. Arrangements for remitting part of your salary abroad should be discussed with HR and your bank.
- Deducted at source under salary & wages tax
- You will need a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) from the Internal Revenue Commission. HR guides new staff through registration.
- Often provided or subsidised
- Whether housing is provided, and at what standard, depends on your contract. Confirm it in writing before you accept.
- Private insurance strongly advised
- Your policy should include aeromedical evacuation, not just treatment — complex cases are evacuated to Australia or Singapore.
- Dependants apply as part of your visa
- Spouse and children are added to your application. A dependant's visa does not by itself carry the right to work.
- Waigani (main) and Taurama (health sciences)
- Waigani is the main campus in the government quarter; Taurama sits beside Port Moresby General Hospital.
- UTC+10, no daylight saving
- The same clock as Brisbane and Guam all year round.
Your Appointment and Contract
International appointments at UPNG are made on fixed-term contracts, commonly of two or three years, renewable by agreement. The contract is the document that governs everything else — salary point, housing, leave, travel, gratuity and repatriation — so read it carefully and query anything ambiguous before you sign rather than after you arrive.
Points worth confirming in writing with Human Resources:
- Salary and salary point — the kina amount, the pay cycle, and whether any part of it can be remitted overseas;
- Housing — whether accommodation is provided, subsidised or left to you, and if provided, where, what standard, and whether it is furnished;
- Relocation and repatriation — airfares for you and dependants at the start and end of contract, and any shipping or excess-baggage allowance;
- Leave — recreation leave, and whether the contract carries leave fares to your home country;
- Gratuity or end-of-contract payment, if your contract includes one;
- Medical cover — what the University provides and what you must insure privately;
- Dependants — who is covered by the above, and any education allowance for school-age children;
- Duties — teaching load, School or division, research expectations and who you report to.
Academic appointments are made through the relevant School and confirmed by the University's appointing authority; professional and technical appointments are made through the relevant division. Either way, Human Resources is the office that issues the contract and drives the work permit, and it should be your single point of contact until you arrive.
Work Permit and Visa: Step by Step
Papua New Guinea requires two separate approvals for foreign employees — a work permit issued by the Department of Labour & Industrial Relations, and an employment visa issued by the PNG Immigration & Citizenship Authority. The permit comes first; the visa cannot be granted without it. The University lodges the permit as your sponsoring employer, but the paperwork it needs comes from you, so the timetable is only as fast as your slowest document.
-
1
Accept the offer and return your signed contract
Nothing can be lodged until the appointment is formal. Return the signed contract promptly and keep a scanned copy — you will be asked for it repeatedly.
You Immediately -
2
Assemble your personal documents
Typically: passport bio page with at least 12 months' validity and blank pages; passport photographs; full CV; certified copies of degree certificates and transcripts; professional registration where relevant; a recent police clearance or character certificate from every country you have lived in recently; a medical certificate; and marriage and birth certificates for any dependants. Some documents may need notarisation or apostille — ask HR which, for your country, before you pay for anything.
You 2–8 weeks -
3
The University lodges the work permit application
Human Resources submits the application to the Department of Labour & Industrial Relations with the University's supporting documents — the position description, evidence of the appointment and the employer undertakings. You cannot lodge this yourself.
Human Resources 4–8 weeks to decide -
4
Work permit granted
The permit is tied to this employer and this position. Check every detail on it — name spelling, passport number, position title, validity dates — and report any error to HR at once, because it will be copied onto the visa.
Department of Labour — -
5
Apply for the employment visa
With the permit in hand, apply to the PNG Immigration & Citizenship Authority — online or through the PNG mission accredited to your country, depending on where you are. Dependants are included in the same application. HR will supply the sponsorship and employment letters the application requires.
You, supported by HR 2–6 weeks -
6
Book travel only once the visa is issued
Do not book non-refundable flights against an expected approval date. Once the visa is in the passport, send HR your itinerary so airport pick-up and first-night accommodation can be arranged.
You — -
7
Enter PNG and complete arrival formalities
Carry your passport, visa, work permit, contract and academic certificates in your hand luggage, not in checked bags. Keep the arrival card and any stamps — HR will need copies for your personnel file.
You On arrival -
8
Track renewal well before expiry
Permits and visas expire on their own schedule, not on your contract's. Diarise a reminder six months out and start renewal through HR then. Working or remaining on an expired permit or visa carries penalties and can jeopardise future applications.
You and HR 6 months before expiry
Immigration Points People Get Wrong
The same handful of misunderstandings account for most of the delays and the genuinely serious problems.
A visitor or business visa cannot be converted
Arriving on a visitor visa to 'start while the paperwork catches up' is not an option. You must not begin work, paid or unpaid, until your work permit and employment visa are in force.
Your permit is tied to UPNG and to your position
It does not entitle you to work elsewhere, and a substantive change of role may require a variation. Clear any external consultancy or paid outside work with HR first.
A dependant's visa is not a work visa
An accompanying spouse who wants to work needs their own work permit and visa, sponsored by their own employer. Plan for the possibility that this takes months, or does not come through.
Police clearances take longer than you think
Some jurisdictions take six to ten weeks, and clearances have a limited validity — one that expires mid-process has to be redone. Start these on the day you accept the offer.
Check every detail on every document
A middle name that appears on your passport but not your degree certificate, or a transposed passport number, will stop an application. Consistency across documents matters more than you would expect.
Keep certified copies of everything, in two places
Carry a physical set and keep a scanned set in cloud storage you can reach from Port Moresby. Replacing an original from abroad is slow and expensive.
Tell HR immediately if your circumstances change
A new passport, a marriage, a new child, a change of address — all of these affect your immigration record and need to be recorded before renewal, not during it.
Before You Fly
The things that are far easier to arrange at home than from Port Moresby.
Sort medical and dental work now
Specialist and dental care is available in Port Moresby but choice is limited. Complete outstanding treatment, get a dental check, and collect copies of your medical records.
See a travel health clinic
Discuss malaria prophylaxis, routine immunisations, hepatitis A and B, typhoid and tetanus. A yellow fever certificate may be required if you are arriving from an endemic country. Allow several weeks for course schedules.
Bring a supply of regular medication
Specific brands are not always stocked locally. Bring enough for your first months with a copy of the prescription and the generic name, and check that anything controlled is permitted for import.
Take out medical and evacuation insurance
Confirm what the University provides, then insure the gap privately. The policy must cover aeromedical evacuation and repatriation. Carry the policy number and 24-hour assistance line on paper as well as on your phone.
Get an international driving permit and your licence history
An overseas licence must be converted through the Road Traffic Authority once you settle. A letter from your home licensing authority confirming your driving history makes that easier and can reduce your insurance premium.
Tell your bank and keep a home account open
You will need somewhere for savings and for standing commitments at home. Notify your bank you are moving so cards are not blocked, and set up online access that does not depend on a phone number you are about to change.
Get tax advice in your home country
Residency for tax purposes, treatment of PNG income and any double-taxation arrangements are individual matters. Speak to an adviser at home — the University cannot give you personal tax advice.
Decide early what ships and what stays
Sea freight to Port Moresby takes roughly six to ten weeks from Australia and longer from Europe or North America. Anything you need in your first two months must travel with you.
Unlock your phone and buy a power adaptor
PNG runs 240V/50Hz on Australian-style Type I plugs. An unlocked handset takes a local SIM on day one; a surge protector protects your laptop from the outages.
Pack for the tropics and for the office
Lightweight, modest clothing for 24–32 °C and high humidity, plus smart dress for teaching, meetings and graduations. Add a good torch, a power bank, insect repellent, sunscreen and a reusable water bottle.
Your First Two Weeks at UPNG
The administrative sequence that unlocks everything else. Doing these in order saves repeat trips — your staff ID is needed for campus systems, and your bank account needs an employment letter that HR issues once you are on the payroll.
-
1
Report to Human Resources
Bring your passport, visa, work permit, signed contract, academic certificates and bank details. HR completes your personnel file, places you on the payroll and issues the employment letters you will need elsewhere.
Human Resources Day 1 -
2
Collect your staff ID card
Your ID gets you through the campus gates, into the Michael Somare Library and onto campus transport. Carry it on campus at all times.
Human Resources Week 1 -
3
Buy and register a local SIM
Take your passport — SIM registration is required by law and an unregistered SIM is cut off. A local number is needed for banking, deliveries and almost every form you will fill in.
You Week 1 -
4
Open a kina bank account
Take your passport, visa, work permit, the HR employment letter and a residential address. Salary is paid in kina into a PNG account — the account has to exist before your first pay run.
You Week 1 -
5
Register for tax and superannuation
HR will guide you through obtaining a Taxpayer Identification Number from the Internal Revenue Commission, and through any superannuation arrangements that apply to your contract.
Human Resources Weeks 1–2 -
6
Get your IT accounts and email
ICT Services sets up your University email, network login, Wi-Fi access and access to the learning management system. Ask about VPN and remote access at the same time.
ICT Services Week 1 -
7
Meet your School or division
Your Executive Dean or head of division will settle your office, teaching allocation, timetable and supervision load, and introduce you to the administrative staff who actually make things happen.
Your School / division Week 1 -
8
Attend orientation and the security briefing
Covers University policies, campus geography, emergency procedures and current security advice for Port Moresby. Go even if you have lived in the region before — the briefing reflects what is current, not what was true last year.
University Weeks 1–2 -
9
Register with your high commission or embassy
Most missions have an online registration for citizens resident in PNG. It is how they reach you in an emergency. Save the after-hours consular number.
You Week 2 -
10
Confirm housing, transport and emergency contacts
Settle where you are living and exactly how you get to and from campus, including after evening classes. Save University security, your insurer, your mission and St John Ambulance (111) in your phone and on paper.
You Week 2
Housing and Settling In
Housing is the single largest practical issue for international staff, and the answer depends on your contract. Some appointments come with University accommodation on or near the Waigani campus; others carry a housing allowance and leave you to rent privately. Establish which applies to you in writing before you accept, because the two lead to very different budgets and very different arrival plans.
University housing puts you inside campus security and within walking distance of your School — a genuine advantage in a city where the commute is the main daily risk and frustration. Stock is limited and allocation is handled through Human Resources and the Property or Estates division, so register your interest early rather than on arrival.
Renting privately almost always means a compound — a gated group of houses or apartments with 24-hour guards, controlled entry and its own water and power backup. Korobosea, Touaguba Hill, Boroko, Gordons, Hohola, Waigani and the Ela Beach and Harbour City apartment buildings are the usual choices. Rents for secure accommodation are high by regional standards; leases run six to twelve months and are often arranged by the employer.
Before signing anything, check the security arrangement and whether guards are on site overnight; water storage and a backup generator, because both supply interruptions and outages happen; security screens, lighting and the condition of gates and locks; exactly what is included — furniture, appliances, electricity, water, internet, garden and guard fees; and the commute to campus at peak hour, not at midday.
While you look, most staff stay in a serviced apartment or hotel — Airways, the Stanley, Holiday Inn, Lamana and Ela Beach Apartments all do longer stays. Confirm with HR who pays for this period and for how long.
Living in Port Moresby covers suburbs, shopping, utilities, transport and safety in much more detail.
Bringing Your Family
Spouses and dependent children are included in your visa application, and their documentation — marriage certificate, birth certificates, passports with adequate validity — should be gathered at the same time as yours. Whether the University meets their airfares, housing and any education allowance depends on your contract, so confirm it explicitly rather than assuming.
An accompanying spouse cannot simply take a job. A dependant's visa does not carry the right to work; a spouse who wants paid employment needs their own work permit and employment visa, sponsored by their own employer, on the same slow timetable described above. Couples who plan for one income for the first year cope better than those who count on two.
Schooling. Port Moresby has several international schools following Australian and international curricula, alongside the national school system. Places at the international schools are limited and the intake is competitive, so apply as soon as your appointment is confirmed — well before you know your address. Fees are substantial; check whether your contract includes an education allowance and what it actually covers. Ask your School's existing international staff which schools their children attend; that is the most reliable current information available.
Health cover for dependants must be arranged explicitly — family members are not automatically covered by whatever the University provides you. Make sure the policy includes aeromedical evacuation for every person named on it.
Settling in. Accompanying partners often find the first months the hardest, particularly if they are not working. The expatriate and church communities, the sporting clubs and the volunteer organisations in Port Moresby are active and welcoming, and University colleagues are the fastest route into them.
Working at UPNG
What differs from a university in Australia, Europe or North America — not better or worse, but worth knowing before your first week rather than after it.
Relationships come before process
Things move through people who know and trust you. Introduce yourself in person, greet colleagues properly, and invest early in the administrative staff of your School — they are the ones who can actually unblock things.
Teach for the students you have
Many students are the first in their family at university, arrive from provincial schools with uneven preparation, and are studying in their second or third language. Clear structure, explicit expectations and accessible materials matter more here than anywhere you have taught before.
Do not assume reliable connectivity
Bandwidth is limited and expensive, and power interruptions happen. Design courses that work offline, keep local copies of teaching material, and do not build assessment around large downloads.
Expect resource constraints, and plan around them
Laboratory consumables, journal subscriptions, printing and field transport are all rationed. Budget and order early — procurement takes time and much of it is imported.
Learn some Tok Pisin
Teaching is in English, but a few phrases change how colleagues, students and the wider community receive you. People are almost always delighted to teach you.
Dress and behave conservatively at work
PNG is socially conservative and strongly Christian. Neat, modest dress on campus and in offices is expected, and it signals respect.
Research needs local partners and local permission
Fieldwork requires ethics approval, and often provincial and community consent as well. Work through PNG colleagues from the design stage, not as an afterthought — and make sure authorship and data arrangements are agreed in writing early.
Stay out of land and clan matters
Land, compensation and clan disputes are sensitive and complicated. Listen, do not take sides, and refer anything touching University land or community relations to the appropriate University office.
Patience is a professional skill here
Administrative processes take longer than you are used to, and pushing harder rarely speeds them up. Start earlier, follow up in person, and keep a written record of what was agreed and with whom.
Take your leave, and get out of the city
Staff who use their breaks — the Highlands, Madang, Milne Bay, New Ireland, or simply Varirata and Sogeri for a weekend — last their contracts in far better shape than those who do not.
Health, Safety and Wellbeing
The short version of the advice given in full on the Living in Port Moresby page. Read it there too — it goes considerably deeper.
Insure for evacuation, not just treatment
Serious or complex cases are routinely evacuated to Australia or Singapore. Confirm your policy covers aeromedical evacuation and repatriation for every family member, and carry the assistance number with you.
Know where you would go in an emergency
Port Moresby General Hospital is the main public referral hospital and UPNG's teaching hospital; Pacific International Hospital and Paradise Private Hospital are the main private options. Private facilities charge on the spot — carry insurance details and a means of payment.
Take mosquito-borne disease seriously
Malaria and dengue are both present. Use repellent at dawn and dusk, sleep under a net or in screened rooms, and clear standing water around your house.
Do not walk after dark
The single most important safety rule, and it applies to short distances too. Darkness falls around 6pm year-round. Arrange transport before the evening ends rather than at the end of it.
Keep a low profile in public
Phones, laptops, cameras, jewellery and cash out of sight. Use ATMs inside malls or bank foyers in daylight. Drive with doors locked and windows up, especially in stopped traffic.
If something happens, do not resist
Property can be replaced. Hand it over, get away, then report to police and to University security.
Watch for the six-month dip
The novelty wears off and the frustrations accumulate at roughly the same time. It is normal, it passes, and talking to colleagues who have been through it helps more than waiting it out alone.
Ask for help early
Human Resources, your Executive Dean, University counselling and your own high commission all exist for this. Raising a problem while it is small is always easier than after it has grown.
Renewing, Resigning and Leaving
The end of a contract needs as much lead time as the beginning. Start six months out, whichever way you are going.
Decide on renewal early
Your School and HR need to begin the renewal of both contract and work permit well before expiry. Leaving it late can mean a gap in which you cannot lawfully work.
Give notice in the form your contract requires
Notice periods and the manner of giving notice are set out in your contract. Do it in writing to HR and your Executive Dean, and keep a copy.
Your visa is tied to your employment
It ceases to be valid when the employment ends, for you and for your dependants. If you intend to stay on in PNG in any capacity, that needs a separate application arranged in advance.
Complete the clearance process
Library, ICT, laboratory, keys, ID card, University housing and any advances all have to be cleared before final entitlements are released. Start it weeks out, not on your last day.
Settle tax and superannuation
Ask HR and the IRC what is required to close out your PNG tax position, and arrange any superannuation withdrawal or transfer before you leave the country.
Book shipping before you book flights
Sea freight takes weeks and needs to be arranged around your final working day. Confirm what repatriation and shipping your contract covers.
Hand over your teaching and supervision properly
Course materials, assessment records, research data and postgraduate supervision all need a named successor. Your students should not be the ones who discover you have left.
Keep the relationship
Many former UPNG staff continue as external examiners, co-authors, adjuncts and partners in funded projects. Tell your School you are interested — those links are how a lot of the University's research gets done.
Who to Contact
Human Resources is the right first call for anything to do with your appointment, your permit or your pay. For everything else, these are the offices international staff deal with most.
Human Resources Division
Your primary contact from offer to departure — contracts, work permits and visa sponsorship, payroll and tax registration, ID cards, housing allocation, leave and end-of-contract clearance.
- Waigani Campus
Your School or Division
Office, teaching allocation, timetable, research support and day-to-day academic matters. Your Executive Dean or head of division is your line manager.
- Waigani and Taurama campuses
ICT Services
University email and network accounts, Wi-Fi, learning management system access, remote access and equipment support.
- Waigani Campus
Research Office
Ethics approval, research permits, grant administration and international research partnerships. Contact before fieldwork is planned, not after.
- Waigani Campus
University Security
Campus access, incident reporting and current security advice for Waigani and Taurama. Collect the current post numbers when you receive your ID card.
- Waigani and Taurama campuses
General Enquiries
If you are not sure which office you need, start here — see the Contact page for the University's current switchboard and enquiry details.
- Waigani Campus
Immigration rules, tax thresholds, allowances and service providers in Papua New Guinea change, and individual entitlements depend on your contract and on your nationality. This page is general orientation only and is not a statement of your terms of employment. Your signed contract, the University's staff policies and the current requirements of the PNG Immigration & Citizenship Authority prevail wherever they differ from anything written here. Confirm the details with Human Resources before you act on them.