ARTICLE
21 August 2024

Government Application Fees To Increase On October 1, 2024

Effective October 1, 2024, Immigration New Zealand will increase several immigration application government fees. The list of all services and the corresponding fee increase can be found here.
New Zealand Immigration

At a Glance

  • Effective October 1, 2024, Immigration New Zealand will increase several immigration application government fees, including those for the most used temporary work visas.
  • The government will continue subsidizing the fees for applicants from neighboring Pacific countries.
  • Where possible, applicants should try to submit visa applications before October 1, 2024, to benefit from the lower government fees.

The situation

Effective October 1, 2024, Immigration New Zealand will increase several immigration application government fees. The list of all services and the corresponding fee increase can be found here.

A closer look

Effective October 1, 2024, Immigration New Zealand will increase several immigration application fees. Below are the most common types of applications and their corresponding fee increases:

Application Type Fee from October 1, 2024 (NZD) Previous Fee (NZD)
Specific Purpose Work Visa $1,355 $735
Accredited Employer Work Visa $1,540 $750
Employer Accreditation (Standard/Upgrade from Standard to High Volume) $775 / $505 $740 / $480
Employer Accreditation (High Volume) $1,280 $1,220
Employer Accreditation (Triangular Employment) $3,870 $4,060
Work Visa – Partner $1,630 $860
Job Check $735 $610
Skilled Residence $6,450 $4,290
Permanent Resident Visa $315 $240
Visitor Visa $341 $211
Variation of conditions on a Temporary Entry visa $325 $210
Student Visa $750 $375


The government will continue subsidizing fees for applicants from neighboring Pacific countries.

Impact

Where possible, applicants should try to submit visa applications before October 1, 2024, to benefit from the lower fees.

Background

Immigration New Zealand last adjusted the filing fees on July 31, 2022.

The Immigration Minister has stated that the intention of the increase was to establish a more sustainable immigration system by transferring more of the financial responsibility of application costs from taxpayers to visa applicants.

Notably, New Zealand's visa charges remain competitive with those in Australia and the United Kingdom, ensuring that the country continues to be an appealing destination for workers, tourists, and students.

Looking ahead

Future plans in New Zealand's immigration environment include:

  • Plans to streamline the process for Variation of Condition/Job Change applications in instances of company takeovers, redundancies, and other similar situations as part of the Accredited Employer Work Visa.
  • Stats NZ, New Zealand's official national data agency, has proposed developing a new platform for Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations Codes based on an existing jobs database project in the tertiary education sector. The platform is aimed to better reflect New Zealand labor market conditions. Stats NZ will likely hold public consultations on creating the content and organizing the system.

We will report on related developments.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

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