A digital nomad is a person who works as a freelancer or as an employee of a company, who has the possibility to develop his or her work activities independent from a physical place of business. This means that, as long as the work activity can be done through the online environment and the employee or the freelancer is not bound to work in a given place due to the activity itself, the person can travel to any place and develop the respective work.
Depending on the nationality of the foreigner and the country (or countries) that are of interest, the person may be required to apply for a visa. The visa that one can select has to be associated with the purpose of stay and for a New Zealand digital nomad visa, foreigners have several options.
Currently, the local immigration authorities do not prescribe a specific digital nomad visa in New Zealand, but certain visas that are already in use can be selected for this specific purpose. If you need information on this subject, this article can provide specific insight in the field; at the same time, our immigration lawyer in New Zealand remains at your service.
If you are interested to apply for a digital nomad visa and you immigrate from USA to New Zealand for this purpose, you can rely on our immigration lawyer for in-depth information on the procedure you must follow.
Our lawyer can present the main options you have in this sense, and can present the full list of documents you must prepare for the application process.
Foreigners can also contact our team for advice on the formalities for residency in New Zealand. If you plan to stay here for an undetermined period of time, then you will want to become a permanent resident.
In order to become a permanent resident, you must be the holder of a visa that grants this right and our team can present the main visa pathways available in this case.
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What is the basic condition to obtain a New Zealand digital nomad visa?
A foreigner is entitled to migrate in New Zealand as a digital nomad in specific situations. From the beginning, it must be noted that work visas are not suitable for this purpose, as they will create work contracts in New Zealand and, therefore, tax obligations in New Zealand.
As a digital nomad, the main purpose of immigration in New Zealand has to be a holiday related one, while the work activities of the person, who can work in his or her own name as a freelancer or as an employee of a company (full-time, part-time contracts) must be related to the country of origin.
In the case in which a person is interested in signing work contracts in New Zealand, other implications will occur, which can be presented by our immigration lawyer. According to the New Zealand Immigration Office, a person is allowed to arrive as a holder of a digital nomad visa only if the purpose of stay here is for holiday or tourism.
This means that the person who will come in this country will spend most of the time travelling or developing any touristic activity, while carrying from time to time various work operations required by the employer or by the business activities developed by the foreigner in his or her home country.
Is the visitor visa suitable for digital nomads in New Zealand?
Yes, one of the most appropriate ways to arrive in New Zealand as a digital nomad is to apply for a visitor visa. The visitor visa is a common visa that can be obtained rather easy, as long as the applicant is able to prove that he or she can comply with the minimum requirements.
From the beginning, we mention that this visa can provide the opportunity to live in New Zealand for a period of up to 9 months, but in order to do this, the applicant has to provide evidence on having sufficient financial funds to live in this country for the period in which the foreigner will stay here.
Since a digital nomad is a person who is employed by someone or who has his or her own business, this means that the person will be able to demonstrate that a constant cashflow will derive from business activities carried in the country of origin, and this is why it will be very simple to apply and to obtain this immigration document.
The visitor visa grants a set of rights, such as: visiting the country, visiting friends who live here or family members, participate in study or training activities for a period of up to 3 months and even to bring close family members. The latter is possible if the applicant will include in his or her application form the family members that he or she wants to bring here – this can be the case of a spouse or partner or children with an age of up to 19 years old.
So, this document can be a suitable way to arrive under a digital nomad visa in New Zealand even for those who have a family and this can be the case of numerous digital nomads. Please mind that the need to apply for the visitor visa is imposed to certain nationalities, while the nationals of certain countries can simply arrive here without completing any visa formalities.
The single immigration procedure that should be completed for those who are exempt from this visa is to apply for the New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority document, which can be obtained online by completing few simple operations. Thus, for certain nationalities, there will not be any requirements to obtain any visa that can be used as digital nomad visa in New Zealand, they will simply have to have the New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority document and the valid passport.
Our immigration lawyer in New Zealand can present the countries which are listed under the visa waiver program, so that you can be sure of the fact that you do not need to conclude any visa formalities (as long as you are a national of one of the states that are included in this list).
Please mind that all foreigners who arrive from visa waiver countries must have the above document, and in the case one has not completed these immigration formalities, one can be denied the right to enter the New Zealand territory. It is important to be aware of the fact that the New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority document has to be completed before arriving in this country.
Besides this, given that this document is an equivalent of the visitor visa, but without actually having to apply for the visitor visa, the foreigner who benefits from the visa exemption may also be required to pay the International Conservation and Tourism Levy. This means that even though the foreigner will not have to go through the basic immigration procedures, which also include the payment of the visa fees, there can appear certain costs even in the case of a visa exemption.
Provided that you do need to comply with the rules on immigration in New Zealand regarding the issuance of the visa, meaning that you have to apply for a visitor visa that can be used as a digital nomad visa in New Zealand, then you will have to complete a form – the Visitor Visa Application Form (INZ 1017).
The document is necessary for those who will apply for the visa offline. The form requires a wide range of personal information on the applicant and the reason for arrival in the country (divided between visiting the country or visiting family and friends, or visiting the country for business purposes).
The applicant is asked to provide information on his or her residence in New Zealand (if applicable) and the residence back home, along with numerous personal data. In the case in which the applicant will include in the visa application form his or her partner or spouse, then the personal details of the said person are required as well.
In the case the applicant has a family with children, the children will be included in the next section of the application form, which is the Section D – Dependent Children’s Personal Details. Our immigration lawyer in New Zealand can further advise on how to prepare the application form and what other documents you may be required to submit along with this paper.
The basic rules on immigration in New Zealand stipulate that a person is allowed to work remotely as a foreigner as long as a local citizen or permanent resident is not deprived of a job opening that appeared in New Zealand. This implies that the holder of a digital nomad visa in New Zealand can’t apply for work activities here or can’t be contacted by local employers for establishing a work activity.
However, foreigners are allowed to work in New Zealand, but this can be done only through appropriate visas. For remote work as a foreigner, one can easily apply for the Work Holiday Visa. The main conditions to comply with in order to be accepted are described in the following section.
Below, you can watch a short video on the New Zealand digital nomad visa:
How can foreigners obtain the Work Holiday Visa in New Zealand?
In order to be accepted under the New Zealand digital nomad visa, in relation to the Work Holiday Visa, the foreigner must first meet the age requirements. The advantage of this program is that the person can also develop a work activity in New Zealand for a limited period of time, usually not more than half a year, as the primary purpose of the visa is traveling. Below, you can find few characteristics of this visa type:
- the minimum age of a foreign applicant must be of at least 18 years old;
- the maximum age is of 30 years old, and for the nationals of few countries, the age can increase to maximum 35;
- one can immigrate to New Zealand under this visa for a period of 12 months;
- for the nationals of few countries, such as the United Kingdom, applicants are allowed to stay here for up to 23 months;
- participants of the program can enter trainings or study projects with a duration of 6 months;
- they must also be able to present information of having sufficient financial funds to migrate to New Zealand (minimum NZ $4,200 is required).
Please mind that if you want to participate in this program and you want to arrive here as the holder of a New Zealand digital nomad visa, you first have to verify the maximum number of visas that can be issued on a yearly basis for a certain nationality.
We can also help you if you need to obtain a digital nomad visa in Dubai or in other country/ region, through our partner lawyers.
While for the nationals of certain countries, such as Ireland, there is an unlimited number of visas, for nationals of other countries, such as Luxembourg, the visa is capped at 50 documents per year. For more information on the New Zealand digital nomad visa, and other visa pathways, we invite you to contact our lawyer.
