Move to New Zealand

Immigration

Entry Requirements

You must have a valid U.S. passport to enter New Zealand, but a visa is not required. You may visit New Zealand for up to three months without a visa if you have a return air ticket or hold a valid onwards ticket to another country. If you wish to stay longer than three months, you should apply for a Visitor visa.

Further information can be found at this Immigration New Zealand website.

Temporary Residence

You can establish temporary residence in New Zealand by obtaining a Visitor visa, which will allow you to stay in the country for up to nine months. You will not be able to work, under the provisions of the Visitor visa. You may also reside in New Zealand on a temporary basis if you obtain a temporary Work Permit. Please see our Work Permit section for more information.

Other temporary residence visas are for students and those on a working holiday.

More information is available at this Immigration New Zealand website.

Permanent Residence

A Permanent Residence visa (PRV) allows you to live, work or study indefinitely in the country. To be eligible, you must:

• Hold a resident visa, or have held one in the last three months
• Hold, or have held, that resident visa for at least two years continuously
• Have met any conditions that your resident visa was subject to under section 49(1) of the Immigration Act
• Meet relevant character requirements
• Have met one of five commitment-to-New Zealand criteria

There are three main routes to a PRV: the Skilled Migrant category, the Residence from Work category and the Entrepreneurs and Investors category.

In order to apply for a visa under the Skilled Migrant category, you must have skills, qualifications and experience that New Zealand needs. To be eligible for residence you must be under 55 years of age, healthy, of good character and speak English.

The New Zealand government uses a point system to determine eligibility. Points are assigned for age, experience, employability and qualifications. You can use the Points Indicator to check whether you meet the requirements and have enough points to apply.

Full details are available at this Immigration New Zealand website.

The Residence from Work category is for those who have been working in New Zealand for two years. After two years, you are eligible for a Residence Class visa under the Residence from Work category. This visa category also requires applicants to meet health, character and English language requirements.

Full details are available at this Immigration New Zealand website.

If you have successfully established a business in New Zealand in which you are self-employed and have lived in the country for two years, you may be eligible for permanent residence under the Entrepreneurs and Investors category.

Depending upon your qualifications, you could apply for permanent residency under the Entrepreneur Plus program or the Entrepreneur program. For both programs, you will need to demonstrate that you have successfully established a business in New Zealand.

Full details are available at this Immigration New Zealand website.

Part of the same broad category as Entrepreneurs, the Investor visa is for investors who want to establish permanent residency in New Zealand. There are two programs under this option, Investor Plus and Investor. Criteria vary, but the major difference is the amount of minimum funds invested. For Investor Plus, a minimum investment of NZ$10 million for three years is required. A four-year investment of NZ$1.5 million is required for the Investor program.

Full details are available at this Immigration New Zealand website.

More information on permanent visa requirements is available at this Immigration New Zealand website.

Work Permits

New Zealand also offers a range of Work Permits that are temporary, but some can lead to permanent residency. The duration of the visa generally depends on the terms of your job offer and labor market conditions.

• Essential Skills. If you have a job offer in an occupation on the Essential Skills in Demand List (ESID) and your qualifications and experience match, you can apply for this visa. Essential Skills work visas are intended to fill temporary skill gaps, so they do not lead directly to permanent residency. However, if you have an Essential Skills work visa based on a skilled job, you may qualify for a permanent residence visa under the Skilled Migrant category. Please see details in our Permanent Residence section.
• Work to Residence: Long Term Skill Shortage. If you have a permanent or long-term job offer in an occupation on the http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/stream/work/worktoresidence/caniworkinnz/ltssloccupationrequirements.htm Long-Term Skill Shortage list and your qualifications and experience match, you can apply for a Work to Residence visa. Please see details in our Permanent Residence section.
• Work to Residence: Accredited Employer. If you have a long-term or permanent job offer from an Immigration New Zealand accredited employer, you can apply for a Work to Residence visa.
• Long Term Business. If you are an experienced businessperson interested in being self-employed in your own business in New Zealand, you may want to consider applying for this business visa. It is a work visa that lets you move to New Zealand and buy or establish your own business. Your pathway to permanent residency in this case would be through the Entrepreneur category. Please see details in our Permanent Residence section.

Retirement

The Temporary Retirement visa is a two-year visa for people who want to spend some of their retirement in New Zealand, provided they invest in the country and indemnify the government against possible health and welfare costs. Temporary retirees will need to invest NZ$750,000 over a two year term of their visa. Temporary retirees will be able to renew their visas as long as they continue to meet criteria including investment funds, income and health insurance.