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General information from published sources, not immigration advice. For advice about your own situation, see a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer. Why we can say that.
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How long does a New Zealand visa take?

Immigration New Zealand publishes a processing time on most visa pages, almost always in the form “80% within” a number of weeks or months. Here they are side by side, 13 of them, each linked to the page it came from. The quickest published time here is 2 weeks for the United Kingdom Working Holiday Visa.

Checked against immigration.govt.nz on 2026-09-15

Work visas
VisaINZ publishesSource
Accredited Employer Work Visa80% within 7 weeksimmigration.govt.nz
Specific Purpose Work Visa80% within 3 weeksimmigration.govt.nz
Post-Study Work Visa80% within 4 weeksimmigration.govt.nz
United Kingdom Working Holiday Visa80% within 2 weeksimmigration.govt.nz
Residence visas
VisaINZ publishesSource
Straight to Residence Visa80% within 3 monthsimmigration.govt.nz
Partner and family visas
VisaINZ publishesSource
Partner of a New Zealander Resident Visa80% within 7 monthsimmigration.govt.nz
Partner of a New Zealander Work Visa80% within 8 weeksimmigration.govt.nz
Partner of a Worker Work Visa80% within 6 weeksimmigration.govt.nz
Dependent Child Resident Visa80% within 7 monthsimmigration.govt.nz
Parent Boost Visitor VisaExpected to be around 4 monthsimmigration.govt.nz
Student visas
VisaINZ publishesSource
Fee Paying Student Visa80% within 8 weeksimmigration.govt.nz
Visitor visas and the NZeTA
VisaINZ publishesSource
Visitor Visa80% within 2 weeksimmigration.govt.nz
New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority (NZeTA)Allow 72 hoursimmigration.govt.nz

The working

Every figure above is the exact wording of the “Processing time” box on that visa’s INZ page, read on 2026-09-15. Nothing has been averaged, rounded or converted.

How this tool works

This is a lookup, not a prediction. Each row is the Processing timebox on that visa’s own page at immigration.govt.nz, copied on 2026-09-15 together with the qualifier INZ puts above it.

Read the qualifier carefully. “80% within 7 weeks” means eight applications in ten were decided inside seven weeks — it says nothing about the other two, and nothing at all about any one application. INZ updates these figures as its queues move.

Where a visa has no row below, INZ does not publish a processing time on that visa’s page. We would rather show a gap than fill it.

Questions

How long does a New Zealand visa take to process?

It depends on the visa. Immigration New Zealand's published times on the 13 visas in the table below range from two weeks to seven months, and each is expressed as a percentage decided within a period rather than a deadline. The table gives the current published figure for each, checked on 2026-09-15.

Does '80% within 7 weeks' mean mine will take seven weeks?

No. It means that of the applications INZ decided in the measured period, 80% were decided within seven weeks. Yours could be faster or considerably slower, and a request for more information restarts much of the clock.

Why is a processing time missing for some visas?

Because Immigration New Zealand does not publish one on that visa's page. Rather than estimate, we leave the row out and link you to the page so you can see for yourself.

Can you tell me why my application is taking so long?

No. Anything about your particular application is an immigration matter, and under the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007 only a licensed immigration adviser, a New Zealand lawyer or INZ itself can deal with it. INZ publishes a way to check your application's progress on its own site.

Sources

Read on 2026-09-15. Immigration rules change: if this page and the source disagree, the source is right.