New Zealand immigration, with the source attached to every number
18 visa pages, 6 calculators and 10 guides, built only from what Immigration New Zealand has published. Every fee, every processing time and every criterion carries the URL it came from and the date we read it. Where INZ publishes nothing, you will find a gap rather than a guess.
- Every figure cited to an immigration.govt.nz page, with the date checked
- Tools that show their working, not a black box
- No advisers listed, ranked or recommended, and no referral fees taken
- Free, with no ads and no sponsored anything
Last checked against immigration.govt.nz on 2026-09-15
Start with the visa
Who it is for, the criteria in INZ’s own words, the published fee, the published processing time and where to apply.
Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV)
For the main temporary work visa for people with a job offer from an accredited New Zealand employer.
Read the published criteria →Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa (SMC)
For the points-based residence pathway for skilled workers with a job at an accredited employer.
Read the published criteria →Partner of a New Zealander Resident Visa
For residence for the partner of a New Zealand citizen or resident.
Read the published criteria →Working Holiday Visa
For a visa to holiday, work and study in New Zealand for young people from countries with a working holiday scheme.
Read the published criteria →Also here: work visas (4) · residence visas (4) · partner and family visas (7) · student visas (1) · visitor visas and the nzeta (2)
Tools that show their working
Arithmetic and lookups on published numbers. Each one prints the steps it took and links to the rule it used. None of them decides anything.
What does a New Zealand visa cost?
Adds up the published INZ fee for every visa in your application, for everybody you are including.
Open the visa fee calculator →How long does a New Zealand visa take?
The processing time INZ publishes for each visa, side by side, with a date and a source.
Open the processing times →Is my job on the New Zealand Green List?
Searches the 215 role names INZ publishes on its Green List filter.
Open the green list search →What does it cost to move to New Zealand?
Your household's published visa fees, plus the moving costs you enter yourself.
Open the cost of moving →How do Skilled Migrant Category points work?
Walks through the published six-point system and shows how the total is reached.
Open the smc points →What English score does a New Zealand visa need?
Compares a test score you already hold against the minimum INZ publishes.
Open the english requirements →The steps, in order
Medical and character requirements, police certificates, how to check an adviser’s licence, and what to do once you land.
The steps in order
INZ's own five steps, what each involves, RealMe, fees and the levies — with the figures INZ publishes and the ones it doesn't.
Read it →Medical and character
The stay lengths that trigger a medical or x-ray, the NZ$81,000 health cost threshold, the statutory character bars, and how waivers actually work.
Read it →Police certificates
The 24-month trigger, the 17-and-over threshold, which countries you need certificates from, and the six-month recency rule.
Read it →Check an adviser's licence
Search the free IAA register, understand full, provisional and limited licences, know who is exempt, and how to report an unlicensed adviser.
Read it →Visa photo requirements
File size, shape, background, glasses, head coverings, the 6-month rule and the editing INZ rejects — from INZ's own photo page.
Read it →Transfer visa to new passport
When you need to, eVisa versus label, the form, what to upload, and what to send if you want a label.
Read it →Partner visas compared
The partnership visas INZ publishes, grouped by who your partner is, with INZ's own fees and processing times.
Read it →Partnership evidence
INZ's definition of partnership, the evidence it lists for living together and a genuine relationship, and what it assesses.
Read it →Interim visa
When INZ gives an Interim Visa, how long it lasts, what it lets you do, and the deadline that decides whether you get one.
Read it →Accredited employer list
Searching INZ's official list by name or NZBN, why an employer can be missing, and how accreditation and the job check fit into an AEWV.
Read it →Relocation and settlement help — after the visa, not about it
Once you have a visa or a decision, the hard part is the paperwork of living here: an IRD number, a bank account, a tenancy and a bond, a school zone, enrolling with a GP, converting your driver licence, shipping, customs, pets, power and internet. That is what we sell, and it is all we sell. It contains no immigration advice, and buying it cannot change any immigration decision.
Common questions
Answered from published sources, with a link to the page each answer came from.
How much does a New Zealand visa cost?
It depends on the visa, and Immigration New Zealand publishes a "from" fee on each visa's own page. As at 2026-09-15 the Accredited Employer Work Visa is from NZD $1540, the Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa from NZD $6450, and a visitor visa considerably less. The visa fee calculator adds the published figures up for everybody in your application.
How long does a New Zealand visa take?
INZ publishes a processing time on most visa pages, expressed as a percentage decided within a period — for example "80% within 7 weeks" for the AEWV. It is not a deadline and it says nothing about any one application. Every published figure is listed side by side on the processing time lookup.
How many points do I need for the Skilled Migrant Category?
Six. INZ scores one skill indicator — occupational registration, qualification or income — and adds New Zealand skilled work experience only where that indicator is short of six. The points indicator walks through the published tables and shows the arithmetic.
Is my job on the Green List?
Immigration New Zealand publishes the role names on its Green List page — 215 of them as at 2026-09-15. The Green List search will tell you whether a role name appears on that list, and send you to the INZ page for the tier and the requirements.
Can NZ Visas tell me which visa to apply for?
No. Under the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007 that is immigration advice, and giving it without a licence is a criminal offence carrying up to 7 years' imprisonment and a $100,000 fine. This site republishes what INZ has published so you can read it yourself, and points you at the licensed adviser register for advice about your own situation.
What do you actually sell, then?
One thing: relocation and settlement help for people who already hold a visa or already have a decision — an IRD number, a bank account, a tenancy, a school zone, a GP, a driver licence, shipping, pets and utilities. The digital relocation pack is $79. It contains no immigration advice, none can be bought here, and it cannot change anybody's chance of getting a visa.
Sources
- Immigration New Zealand — every visa
- Immigration New Zealand
- Immigration Advisers Authority — licensed adviser register
- Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007
Read on 2026-09-15. Immigration rules change: if this page and the source disagree, the source is right.
NZ Visas is an independent publisher and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to Immigration New Zealand, the Immigration Advisers Authority or any New Zealand government agency. Full source list on each page.