One can immigrate to New Zealand from Japan following basic immigration rules. The duration of the stay is the main factor in establishing the immigration procedures that have to be followed. The legislation on immigration in New Zealand distinguishes between short-term stays, of maximum 90 days in a period of 180 days, and stays of more than 90 days.
In the case of persons who move to New Zealand from Japan for short-term stays, one is not required to apply for a visa, as Japan is on the list of visa waiver countries (containing more than 60 nations). However, for long-term stays, visas are required, and here, our immigration lawyer in New Zealand can provide legal advice and legal representation.
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Although Japanese passport holders do not have to apply for a visa for short stays, there are some basic procedures that they should follow prior to their arrival.
An obligation in this sense is to apply for the New Zealand electronic Travel Authority (NZeTA), which does not represent a visa document. This is necessary if the Japanese national is in transit in New Zealand or if he or she has arrived here for tourism purposes.
The document can be obtained online very easily, by following a few steps; this regulation became mandatory for the nationals of visa waiver states starting with 1st of October 2019. For example, the same rules and rights apply to foreign nationals who immigrate to USA from New Zealand, as they are also included in the visa waiver list (along with other countries such as Canada, Singapore, Romania, etc.).
The procedures to apply for the NZeTA are the same for all foreigners, as long as they arrive from one of the countries that are included in the visa waiver program. In all cases, the application formalities have to be initiated before arriving in New Zealand.
Persons who apply for a visa to immigrate to New Zealand from Japan must address the New Zealand officials working in Japan. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Japanese citizens can address to the office currently open in Tokyo.
This can be done through the New Zealand Visa Application Centre. In order to start the immigration procedure, the New Zealand Office will require a large set of documents that has to be prepared by the applicant. Persons who need legal advice on this can request more details from our immigration lawyer in New Zealand.
The documents will vary based on the visa required – thus, Japanese nationals arriving here for business purposes will have to provide documents regarding their business activities. Those who want to work here must show evidence of their qualification for a specific job offer. Family reunification is also a visa pathway available for those who want to immigrate to New Zealand from Japan.
The working holiday program is addressed to young persons from certain countries who can arrive here for travel, work, study and training purposes. The law on immigration in New Zealand provides a working holiday program for Japan as well.
Currently, those who want to immigrate to New Zealand from Japan can apply for this program. The applications can only be done online. With regards to the Japan working holiday visa program, persons interested should know that the following are the basic requirements:
Compared to other visa processing procedures, the duration of this visa processing is generally of only 2 weeks. This applies for most of the visa applications (for 80% of them). For most nationalities, the work holiday program has the same characteristics regarding the age, residency in New Zealand, financial requirements.
But there are certain exemptions from this rule, such as it the case of British nationals, because they have 2 options for this visa program – to choose for a program of 12 months or a program of 23 months (the latter option is not available for most nationalities).
Please mind that the law on immigration to New Zealand stipulates that individuals who are eligible to apply for this visa program can’t include in their application any close family member, as it can be the case of other visas.
In certain cases, individuals who move to New Zealand from Japan can have the possibility of extending their visa. This right is granted to those who have taken seasonal work in horticulture or viticulture industries and whose work contracts lasted for at least 3 months.
In such cases, the Work Holiday visa can be extended for a period of 3 months, which means that the foreigner can relocate to New Zealand from Japan for a period of maximum 15 months.
Some of the individuals who immigrate to New Zealand from Japan arrive here for investment purposes. Those interested in this matter must go through specific immigration procedures, through which they will obtain proper investment visas.
At the moment, the New Zealand law provides for the Active Investor Plus visa, addressed to foreign businessmen who dispose of a large capital ($5 million or $10 million, depending on the investment pathway selected) and who have relevant experience. The program offers 2 basic investment categories, the Growth and the Balanced categories, each of them allowing various types of investments.
The program is an advantageous one, as foreign businessmen are not required to have their permanent residency in New Zealand (instead, based on the investment pathway selected, they need to stay here at least 21 days/105 days during the entirety of the investment program). The Growth category requires an investment of 3 years while the Balanced category has a 5 year investment period.
Unlike the visa program we have presented above (the Work Holiday visa), the investment visa allows foreigners who relocate to New Zealand from Japan to arrive here with their close family members, who can be added on the application as secondary immigrants.
Under the local law, close family members refer to spouses or partners, and children under the age of 24. Thus, these family members do not have to start separate visa formalities so that they can immigrate to New Zealand.
We also mention that the program is not capped to a certain number of visas issued per year, therefore, local authorities will accept as many visa applications as long as they meet the eligibility criteria.
For advice on the visa options Japanese nationals have, we invite you to contact our immigration lawyer in New Zealand.