New Zealand Investor, Entrepreneur Visa Fees to More Than Triple

James Hall
Singapore

New Zealand’s government has announced substantial increases in visa application fees, with particularly steep hikes for investment and entrepreneur pathways.

The new pricing structure, set to take effect on October 1, 2024, intends to set appropriate levels to recover the costs of processing a visa and reflect the benefits received by people using immigration services.

Immigration Minister Erica Stanford announced the new visa fees, which will take effect on October 1. She said the new fees would bring in more than $563 million over four years, or roughly $140 million a year, much more than the $32.2 million forecasted deficit across all three accounts (fees, NZeTA, and immigration levy).  

Stanford has reportedly refused to comment on the considerable gulf between immigration revenues and costs.

She explained that the new fees “reflect the costs associated with visa processing, assessing and managing more high-risk applications, and increased compliance costs as we deal with higher levels of migrant exploitation, managing more asylum claims, and maintaining and upgrading Immigration New Zealand’s ICT systems.”

Fee structure based on location and citizenship

It’s important to note that the fee structure varies depending on where a person submits their application:

• Band A fees apply to applicants who are in New Zealand when making their application.
• For applicants outside New Zealand, the fee depends on their country of citizenship:
  • Band B fees apply to citizens of Pacific countries.
  • Band C fees apply to citizens from the rest of the world.

Entrepreneur visa fees triple in cost

The Entrepreneur Category visas, for both work and residence stages, will see substantial increases. For most applicants (except Pacific region citizens), the Entrepreneur Work Visa will increase from NZD 3,710 to NZD 11,320 with an additional immigration levy of NZD 1,060.

The Entrepreneur Residence Visa will see the same increase to NZD 11,320 but with a higher immigration levy of NZD 3,570.

Investment visa fees increase by 154%

The Active Investor Plus Category visa fees will increase for most applicants from NZD 4,750 to NZD 12,070, with the levy rising from NZD 3,150 to 15,400, a 283% increase. This results in a new total cost of NZD 27,470, considerably higher than the current NZD 7,900.

Other changes

Most other visa fees of other categories will increase. However, the most significant increases are in the Active Investor Plus, Entrepreneur, and Parent Retirement categories.

The Parent Retirement visa fee has increased from NZD 3,710 to NZD 9,430. The full details of the fee increases are available on the government’s website.

A looming deadline

The government announced the changes on Friday, August 9 and, as is frequently the case with known price increases, the visas may see increased demand before the revised fees take effect.

Applicants who submit their files before the deadline of October 1 can still qualify under the current visa-free structure. Prospective applicants, especially those considering entrepreneur or investor visas, should carefully evaluate their plans and timelines in light of these changes.

As veteran immigration advisers who have seen our fair share of changes and their impacts, we expect a surge in inquiries and applications in the coming weeks as individuals and businesses rush to beat the deadline.

It’s important to note that New Zealand requires completed medical and police checks and supporting documentation when applying for a visa. After October 1, applicants must factor these substantially higher costs into their immigration and investment plans for New Zealand.