New Zealand loosens visitor visas to court remote workers
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The visa change follows a difficult economic period for New Zealand, whose economy sank into recession in the third quarter of 2024.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Amelia Nierenberg
LONDON – New Zealand relaxed its visa requirements for remote workers on Jan 27, as the country looked to spur economic growth by courting “digital nomads”, the skilled professionals who can work from anywhere in the world that has an internet connection.
With the new policy, a New Zealand visitor visa, which allows foreigners to remain for up to nine months, now also permits them to work for overseas employers during that time, which had been forbidden. The visitor visa still does not allow people to work for New Zealand employers, so “they won’t be competing for Kiwi jobs”, said Finance Minister Nicola Willis.
“The visa will open the doors to a whole new category of visitors,” she told reporters. “The government’s ambition is that new visa rules will put New Zealand boldly on the map as a welcoming haven for the world’s talent,” she added.
The visa change follows a difficult economic period for New Zealand, whose economy sank into recession in the third quarter of 2024.
Ms Willis presented the new visa rules as a strategy to shift New Zealand “onto a faster growth track”, and said that advertising campaigns will specifically target skilled tech workers from the United States and East Asia. The government hopes to draw the interest not only of those workers, but also of their companies.
“We want more of the world’s wealthy and super-talented people,” she said.
The number of people working remotely full time – either within their own countries or internationally – boomed during the coronavirus pandemic and has continued to rise since then. Digital nomads tend to have higher incomes, which translate into spending on stores, restaurants and lodging.
Despite its remoteness – more than 9,600km from the mainland United States and more than 1,609km from Australia – New Zealand, a country of just 5.2 million people, is a popular travel destination.
About 200,000 people work in the tourism industry in New Zealand, and in the year ending in March 2024, international visitors spent about US$6.3 billion (S$8.5 billion) in the country.
“The new visa will also enable more visitors to New Zealand to extend their stays,” Ms Willis said, adding that “those longer stays mean more income for local businesses”. NYTIMES