If you are dreaming of flying away to Auckland or Wellington to study or to do business and prosper, you might be in for a bit of a hick-up as New Zealand has increased its visa fee across different categories.
Work and Business To Get Dearer
In a recent development, the island nation in the Pacific neighbouring Australia has decided to increase the charges levied on Visa, including the crucial study and entrepreneur visas, which came into effect on October 1.
The ‘Entrepreneur Residence Category’ visa, which currently costs (Band C-Rest of World) NZD 3,710 or Rs 1,94,360, as per current exchange rates, will go up to NZD 11,320 or Rs 5,93,035. This marks a mammoth 205 per cent jump in the Visa fees.
When it comes to fees levied in the ‘Active Investor Plus Category’, the rates have seen a spike here as well.
In this case, the rates that currently stand at NZD 4,630 or Rs 2,42,557 have now been hiked to NZD 12,070 or Rs 6,32,326. Here again, the surge amounts to over 160 per cent.
When we look at the ‘Entrepreneur Work Visa’, the New Zealand government has increased the fee levied by over 200 per cent. Here, the new rates stand at NZD 11,320 or Rs 5,93,035, compared to the previous NZD 3,710 or Rs 1,94,360, as per current exchange rates.
Student Visa Gets Costlier As Well
When we come to the crucial Study Visa for students aspiring to study in the country of the Kiwis, the visa fee has been increased on this front, rising to NZD 485 or Rs 25,408.32 from the current NZD 300 or Rs 15,716, marking a near 60 per cent jump in the visa fee for students.
However, the rates on the ‘Post-study work visa’ have been reduced. New Zealand has reduced the visa fee from the current NZD 490 to the new NZD 320.
3,00,000 Strong Indian Community
As for New Zealand’s current population demographic, about and over 60 per cent of its population has European ancestry, with the rest distributed amongst many other categories, including 17 per cent of Asians and the New Zealand indigenous Maori community.
The net migration rate in the country, that is, the amount of arrivals in New Zealand, compared to the departures in the country, stood at 2.523 per 1000 population in 2023. This marked a 4.76 per cent decline from 2022, when the net migration rate for New Zealand was at 2.649 per 1000 population.
In addition, New Zealand is estimated to have an Indian-Origin population of roughly 300,000 individuals.
