It is possible to immigrate to New Zealand from Pakistan only by having a suitable visa and a valid passport. For each visa, Pakistani nationals must abide by a set of regulations and they need to prepare a variety of documents. Our immigration lawyer in New Zealand can offer assistance on the main visa application steps and can also prepare the documentation on behalf of our clients.
Our team can help Pakistanis immigrate to New Zealand from Pakistan for short or long-term stays and can assist in visa formalities when arriving here for employment, business, family reunification, etc. Please address our immigration lawyer in New Zealand for advice.
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Obligations for Pakistanis arriving in New Zealand for short stays
The legislation on immigration to New Zealand establishes 2 main categories of obligations for foreigners arriving here, based on the duration of the stay. Thus, the law distinguishes between short-term and long-term stays.
The first defines any stay with a duration of maximum 90 days in a period of 180 days, while the latter refers to stays longer than 90 days. While for the first situation, foreigners must simply apply for a visa, in the 2nd case, further immigration formalities are required, in the sense that visa holders must also apply for residency in New Zealand.
Thus, for short stays, Pakistanis can simply have the adequate visa and enjoy their visit in this country. In most cases, foreigners arrive here with a valid Visitor visa or with an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA), which is a document issued in the place of the Visitor visa for certain foreign nationals, who benefit from a more relaxed immigration system.
The law on immigration in New Zealand does not offer the right to apply for an ETA to Pakistanis nationals, which means that they need to initiate immigration formalities for the Visitor visa.
The difference between the 2 visas is that the Visitor visa grants the right to a longer stay in New Zealand; the document is processed in a longer amount of time and for its issuance, applicants must submit various documents.
Applying for a Visitor visa in New Zealand
Those who need to apply for a Visitor visa must know that this document has the following characteristics, presented below by our immigration lawyer in New Zealand:
- it offers the right to move to New Zealand from Pakistan for a period of 6 months (multiple entry) or 9 months (single entry visa);
- it also provides the right to enroll in education classes that last for a period of maximum 3 months (it does not grant the right to work here);
- there is a visa fee (NZD $211);
- the visa can be processed in a period of around 3 weeks (80% of the applications are processed in this period of time), therefore those who move to New Zealand from Pakistan must calculate the necessary time for the issuance of the document before arriving here.
Other visas for Pakistanis
Individuals who relocate to New Zealand from Pakistan can arrive here for any of the reasons regulated under the current legislation. Thus, they are free to apply for employment visas (skilled and unskilled work), investment visas, retirement visas, study visas, etc.
A large share of the persons who relocate to New Zealand from Pakistan has a high level of education – the 2018 Census revealed that 29.8% of the Pakistanis relocated here held a Bachelor’s Degree and Level 7 qualification, while a share of 22.6% held a master’s degree.
The Pakistani ethnic group is rather small compared to other foreign ethnic groups living here, as it is formed of around 6,000 persons. Pakistanis can also migrate to New Zealand for the purpose of becoming permanent residents and even citizens.
We invite you to address our lawyers if you want to immigrate to New Zealand for this purpose. Our team has offered legal assistance to numerous clients from around the world and we have assisted persons moving from USA to New Zealand, from Europe, Africa or New Zealand’s neighboring countries.
