Living and Working in New Zealand

New Zealand belongs to no regional free-movement area apart from its longstanding arrangement with Australia, and it runs its own visa policy through Immigration New Zealand, so the rule at the border depends on your passport. Three cases cover most travellers. Australian citizens and permanent residents can normally live, work or study in New Zealand without applying for a visa before arriving: a resident visa is granted on arrival, subject to character requirements, and Australian permanent residents (unlike citizens) need an NZeTA for the journey itself. Citizens of the 60 visa waiver countries and territories, among them the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Brazil, Chile and Mexico, plus all European Union member states (a few subject to passport conditions), can visit without a visitor visa but must request a New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority (NZeTA) before travelling, allowing 72 hours for processing; the NZeTA costs from NZD 17, most visitors pay the NZD 100 International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL) with the same request, and the NZeTA itself is valid two years, covering visits of up to 3 months each (6 months for UK citizens) within a ceiling of 6 months in any 12-month period. Citizens of every other country, India, China, South Africa and the Philippines among them, apply for a visitor visa before travelling. In every case a visit does not permit employment: working is a separate authorisation whatever your nationality.

Immigration New Zealand names the main work routes. The Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) is the principal employer-sponsored route: the employer must hold accreditation and an approved job check for the role, the job must offer at least 30 hours a week, and the applicant needs either two years of relevant experience or a qualification at level 4 or higher on the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework (NZQCF); the visa runs up to five years depending on the role and can lead to residence. Working holiday visas are New Zealand's own schemes with partner countries across Europe, Asia, the Americas and the Pacific, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, the United States, Japan, Malaysia, Chile and France among them: applicants are normally aged 18 to 30 (18 to 35 for a select few partners), most schemes run 12 months, and Immigration New Zealand allows up to 23 months for Canadians and up to 36 months for UK citizens. The skilled and investor residence routes are set out below.

Residence runs mainly through the Skilled Migrant Category, a points-based route rewarding qualifications, experience and pay, and through the Green List, which opens faster residence routes for occupations New Zealand designates as priorities, in health, engineering, digital and construction among other fields. Holders of the Accredited Employer Work Visa can move toward residence through these routes when their occupation and conditions qualify.

These schemes, their points scales and their occupation lists are adjusted regularly, and the settings in force at the time of the project are the ones that matter: Immigration New Zealand publishes them. Any application strategy is a matter for a qualified professional and the competent authorities.

New Zealand offers residence by investment through the Active Investor Plus visa, structured into two categories published by Immigration New Zealand. The Growth category starts at NZD 5 million invested over 36 months, with at least 21 days spent in New Zealand as a resident visa holder during that period. The Balanced category starts at NZD 10 million over 60 months, with at least 105 days of presence. The two differ in the assets they accept, growth-oriented investments on one side, a broader portfolio on the other.

These thresholds and conditions are revised periodically, and the regime in force at the time of application is the one that counts: Immigration New Zealand publishes the current settings. This route, distinct from the work visas, involves specific conditions, and any personal decision is a matter for a qualified professional.

New Zealand taxes residents on their worldwide income and non-residents on their New Zealand-source income. Inland Revenue applies two residence tests: presence of more than 183 days in any 12-month period, or a permanent place of abode in New Zealand; a resident who leaves generally ceases to be one after more than 325 days away in a 12-month period, provided no permanent place of abode remains. One rule matters especially to new arrivals: a new tax resident, or a returning one who was non-resident throughout the previous 10 years, can qualify for a temporary tax exemption on most types of foreign-source income (overseas interest, dividends, foreign investment fund income, rent) for about four years after becoming resident; overseas employment and personal-services income is not covered, and the exemption is available once only. Income tax is progressive across five bands in force since 1 April 2025: 10.5% up to NZD 15,600, 17.5% to 53,500, 30% to 78,100, 33% to 180,000 and 39% above NZD 180,000. New Zealand levies no general capital gains tax, a notable feature of its system, and charges GST, its tax on goods and services, at 15% on most goods and services including imports.

New Zealand's treaty network runs to 41 double taxation agreements in force with its main trading and investment partners, among them Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Ireland, India, China, Japan, Singapore, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and France. Not every country is covered, so the instrument that matters is the one, if any, between New Zealand and your own country of tax residence. Separately, New Zealand has social security agreements with Australia, Canada, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Jersey and Guernsey, Malta, the Netherlands, South Korea and the United Kingdom, plus a special portability arrangement with Pacific countries; each agreement governs access to certain benefits or pensions when moving between the countries covered. Scales and settings are revised by legislation from year to year; for any personal situation and for up-to-date figures, a qualified professional is the reference point.

For most newcomers the budget question turns less on a comparison with any single country than on housing, the line item that varies most: housing costs in the main centres, Auckland and Wellington in particular, weigh heaviest, so the choice of city and neighbourhood moves the total more than any other decision. Distance also shows in the price of imported goods and in transport. Rather than fixed amounts, it is more reliable to reason in real purchasing power from your income, your city and your housing choice; for any costing, primary sources beat online aggregators whose data can be dated: Stats NZ, the official statistics office, publishes the consumers price index.