Ireland is a part of the European Union (EU), and this means that the immigration policies applicable to Irish nationals are the same that are imposed to EU nationals when it comes to immigration to New Zealand.
New Zealand imposes visa requirements for all EU nationals, regardless of the duration of the stay and this means that persons who immigrate to New Zealand from Ireland must conduct the necessary steps to obtain suitable visas. For advice on this, our immigration lawyer in New Zealand remains at your service.
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Visa waiver program for Irish nationals
Ireland and the EU are included in a type of visa waiver program that was established by New Zealand. The visa waiver is applied only to short-term stays. However, it must be noted that the visa waiver does not imply a full exemption on any immigration formalities, as EU nationals must apply for an electronic visa and this implies that persons who move to New Zealand from Ireland must complete the same obligations.
The visa waiver refers to the fact that foreigners from eligible states can migrate to New Zealand without having to apply for a visa following the traditional route, which implies addressing to embassies and consulates. Instead, they can apply for an electronic visa, a document that can be issued following very basic and flexible procedures.
The electronic visa is known as the New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority and it is defined by the following:
- it grants the right to immigrate to New Zealand from Ireland for a period of maximum 90 days at a time;
- the system has been introduced since 2009;
- this system is applicable to Ireland since 2019;
- the application for the electronic visa can be completed online in around 5 minutes;
- the visa will be issued via e-mail, on the e-mail address granted by the applicant and it is recommended to start the application with 72 hours prior to relocate to New Zealand from Ireland although, in general, the application can be processed in 1 working day.
This document can be used when arriving here as a tourist and, considering that it grants the right to stay of up to 90 days, it must be mentioned that this visa can’t be used as a way to obtain residency in New Zealand.
For residency, other pathways have to be explored and we invite you to request more in-depth information on this matter from our immigration lawyer in New Zealand.
How can Irish nationals apply for residence in New Zealand?
According to the law on immigration in New Zealand, a person (who is a foreign national) must initiate residency formalities when the stay is longer than 90 days. Of course, the applicant must be the holder of a visa that can grant the right to stay for more than 90 days at a time.
Most of the New Zealand visas are issued as documents that allow a stay of minimum 90 days, but they offer temporary residency. This can be the case of temporary employment of foreign nationals, participating in training, arriving for business purposes and others.
New Zealand also provides visas that offer multiple advantages, such as work and travel (known as work holiday), programs addressed to young persons (defined by the law as persons with an age of 18 years old to 30/35 years old, depending on the agreements signed between partner countries).
For those who immigrate to New Zealand from Ireland, this program allows residency for up to 12 months and the good news is that the law does not prescribe a threshold of yearly visas (according to the Immigration New Zealand, there is an unlimited number of visas, and the same applies to foreigners who immigrate from USA to New Zealand).
Please know that other visas can prescribe limitations on the age of the applicant (this can be the case of employment visas). Our immigration lawyer in New Zealand can present other visas that can have this particularity.
