Moving here
Moving to New Zealand from
The visa rules are the same wherever you are applying from. What differs is which routes people actually use, which documents your country issues, and how long they take.
Choose your country
Where are you applying from?
Each guide covers the routes most used from that country, the documents to start first, and the mistakes that recur. More countries are being added.
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Philippines
Filipino migration to New Zealand runs heavily through employer-sponsored work visas in health, care, construction and trades. The bottleneck is almost never the applicant.
Read the guide -
India
India is one of New Zealand's largest sources of both students and skilled workers. The two routes are assessed very differently, and choosing between them early matters.
Read the guide -
China
Applications from China cover the full range, from students to investors. Document certification and evidence of funds are where most of the delay sits.
Read the guide -
South Africa
South African migration to New Zealand is dominated by skilled trades, healthcare and professional roles, often with the whole family moving together.
Read the guide -
Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan applications come through both study and employer-sponsored work. Evidence of funds and the source of them is where most of the difficulty sits.
Read the guide -
Fiji
Fiji and New Zealand have deep family and labour ties. Those ties make the move common, and they do not change the visa requirements.
Read the guide -
Nepal
Nepali applications come mainly through study and through employer-sponsored work in care, hospitality and construction. Evidence of funds is the most common sticking point.
Read the guide -
United Kingdom
British applicants often assume the shared language and history make this straightforward. The rules are the same as for everyone, and the assumption itself is the main risk.
Read the guide
True everywhere
Four things that apply wherever you are applying from
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The requirement follows where you lived, not your passport
Police certificates are needed from countries you have lived in, which for many people means two or three rather than one. Time in the Gulf, in Australia or at sea routinely adds certificates that nobody planned for.
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Three different bodies assess three different things
Immigration New Zealand decides the visa. NZQA decides whether your qualification is recognised. A professional body decides whether you can practise. They run in parallel and the third is often the longest.
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Your employer’s approvals come before yours
For most work visas the employer must be accredited and the specific role must pass a job check before you can apply at all. Both are checkable before you resign from anything.
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Advice about New Zealand needs a New Zealand licence
That applies wherever the person is sitting. Agents and recruiters are not automatically advisers, and every licence can be checked on the public register in a minute.
Where this comes from
Immigration New Zealand publishes the rules and can change them without notice. These are the pages this one is based on. If something here and something there disagree, Immigration New Zealand is right.
- Police certificates immigration.govt.nz
- How to get a police certificate Issuing authority by country immigration.govt.nz
- Health requirements immigration.govt.nz
- English language requirements immigration.govt.nz
- Recognising an overseas qualification NZQA, not Immigration New Zealand immigration.govt.nz
- How much visa applications cost immigration.govt.nz
- Visa processing times by month immigration.govt.nz
- Protecting yourself from immigration scams immigration.govt.nz
Licensed advice
Need advice on your own situation?
This site explains how the rules work. It cannot tell you what will happen in your case, because that depends on facts only an adviser who has seen your file can weigh up.
In New Zealand it is a criminal offence to give immigration advice without a licence or an exemption. ProVisas holds IAA licence 201301110.