New Zealand Announces Investor and Entrepreneur Visa Fees Breakdown in Details

Recently released, New Zealand announces Investor and Entrepreneur Visa fees for 2024. The government has decided to pose substantial increases in visa application fees, 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 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).

What is The Fee Structure of New Zealand For Investors and Entrepreneurs?

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, Band B fees apply to citizens of Pacific countries, while Band C fees apply to citizens from the rest of the world.

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

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.

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 government announced the changes on Friday, August 9, and the visas may see increased demand before the revised fees take effect on October 1. Applicants who submit their files before the deadline can still qualify under the current visa-free structure.

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.