New Zealand
Citizenship guide · NZ
Citizenship by descent is available; naturalisation requires 5 years; dual citizenship is permitted.
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Eligibility is often wider than people expect a free check takes under a minute.
Who can visit New Zealand?
61 of 199 passports can enter New Zealand visa-free, visa on arrival, by ETA, or with an e-visa.
Visa-free 1
ETA 60
- Andorra
- Argentina
- Austria
- Bahrain
- Belgium
- Brazil
- Brunei
- Bulgaria
- Canada
- Chile
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czechia
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hong Kong
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Kuwait
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Macau
- Malaysia
- Malta
- Mauritius
- Mexico
- Monaco
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Oman
- Poland
- Portugal
- Qatar
- Romania
- San Marino
- Saudi Arabia
- Seychelles
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- South Korea
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Taiwan
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Uruguay
- Vatican City
137 passports require a visa to visit New Zealand.
Am I eligible for New Zealand citizenship?
Tap the option closest to your situation for an instant steer.
Why New Zealand?
The New Zealand passport offers visa-free, visa-on-arrival, ETA, or e-visa access to 184 destinations, ranking it #23 globally.
5 yrs presence; no citizenship test; fee NZD $470.
Citizenship by descent
New Zealand applies jus sanguinis citizenship can be acquired by descent from a citizen parent.
Naturalisation
Naturalisation typically requires 5 years of residence.
New Zealand does not require a formal language test for naturalisation.
Dual citizenship
New Zealand generally permits dual citizenship.
Fees & timeline
The application fee is around €260 (approximate).
Tax considerations
- Top personal income tax rate: 39%
- Corporate income tax rate: 28%
- Standard VAT/GST rate: 15%
- Taxation basis: worldwide (residents are generally taxed on worldwide income)
Compiled from the Citizenship Hub law dataset (approximate). Verify with official government sources before relying on this information.
Documents checklist
The documents you'll typically need for each citizenship route in New Zealand. Tick items off as you gather them your progress is saved on this device.
Citizenship by descent
Proving your lineage to a citizen parent or ancestor.
Naturalisation
The standard route via continuous lawful residence.
Country data
Overview, citizenship routes, economy, freedom, and tax at a glance.
Overview
- Capital
- Wellington
- Region
- Oceania
- Area
- 270,467 km²
- Population
- 4,917,000
- Demonym
- New Zealander
- Languages
- English, Māori, New Zealand Sign Language
- Currency
- New Zealand dollar ($)
Citizenship routes
- Citizenship by descent
- Yes
- Descent depth
- Parents only
- Naturalisation period
- 5 years
- Language test
- Not required
- Dual citizenship
- Allowed
- Official application fee
- €260
Economics & development
- GDP per capita
- $49,591 2025
- Total GDP
- $206.9B 2019
- Inflation
- 2.8% 2025
- Life expectancy
- 82.0 years 2024
- GDP growth
- 0.5% 2025
- Human Development Index
- 0.939 #16
- Income group
- High income: OECD
- Development status
- Developed region: nonG7
Freedom & quality of life
- Corruption Perceptions Index
- 83 / 100 2024 · #3
- Freedom in the World
- 99 / 100 Free · 2024
- Human Rights Index
- 0.95 / 1 2025 · #9
- Liberal Democracy Index
- 0.79 / 1 2025 · #14
- Life satisfaction
- 7.00 / 10 2025 · #11
Tax considerations
- Personal income tax
- 39% top rate
- Corporate tax
- 28%
- VAT / GST
- 15%
- Tax basis
- Worldwide
Relocation & living
- Internet penetration
- 93.5% 2024
- Driving side
- Left-hand
- Healthcare system
- Universal public
- Climate
- Temperate oceanic
- Time zone
- Pacific/Auckland
Where the New Zealand passport can travel
Each dot is a destination colours show what you need to enter.
- Visa-free
- Visa on arrival
- ETA
- e-Visa
- Visa required
Europe
43 visa-free · 1 ETA · 1 requiredAmericas
29 visa-free · 1 on arrival · 4 ETA · 1 e-visaAsia
23 visa-free · 15 on arrival · 1 ETA · 8 e-visa · 4 requiredAfrica
13 visa-free · 14 on arrival · 2 ETA · 17 e-visa · 8 requiredOceania
5 visa-free · 6 on arrival · 1 ETA · 1 required- Visa-free
- Visa on arrival
- ETA
- e-Visa
- Visa required
- No admission
Alternative paths to New Zealand citizenship
Beyond standard naturalisation, these routes may apply to you.
Residency → naturalisation
Most applicants naturalise through 5 years of lawful residence. An advisor can confirm your fastest route.
More citizenship guides
Australia
Citizenship by descent is available; naturalisation requires 4 years; dual citizenship is permitted.
- Capital
- Canberra
- By descent
- Yes
- Naturalisation
- 4 yrs
- Dual citizenship
- Allowed
Vanuatu
Citizenship by descent is available; naturalisation requires 10 years; dual citizenship is generally not permitted; citizenship by investment is available.
- Capital
- Port Vila
- By descent
- Yes
- Naturalisation
- 10 yrs
- Dual citizenship
- Restricted
Nauru
Citizenship by descent is available; naturalisation requires 5 years; dual citizenship is generally not permitted; citizenship by investment is available.
- Capital
- Yaren
- By descent
- Yes
- Naturalisation
- 5 yrs
- Dual citizenship
- Restricted
Solomon Islands
Citizenship by descent is available; naturalisation requires 5 years; dual citizenship is generally not permitted.
- Capital
- Honiara
- By descent
- Yes
- Naturalisation
- 5 yrs
- Dual citizenship
- Restricted
Latest New Zealand immigration news
Recent headlines on New Zealand immigration and citizenship, auto-fetched from Google News.
No recent headlines yet. Check back soon, or follow the official sources below.
New Zealand immigration & citizenship sources
Official government portals and reference pages for New Zealand citizenship and immigration rules.
Law
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Overview of citizenship-by-descent, naturalisation and dual-citizenship rules.
Government
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Official government source for immigration and citizenship.
Jobs
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International job board with local listings.
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International job board with local listings.
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Leading local job board.
Housing
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Property listings and rentals.
Healthcare
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Public health system portal.
Banking
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Central bank / banking information.
Education
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Study and education information.
General data sources & licenses
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Visa-requirement matrix and passport mobility scores.
Visa data derived from passportindex.org, via imorte/passport-index-data (MIT License).
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Country metadata: names, capitals, regions, flags, currencies, languages, calling codes, borders, tld, lat/lng, UN/independence status.
Country metadata from mledoze/countries (MIT License).
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Country polygon geometry plus population, GDP (total), income group, economy, and continent classifications.
Made with Natural Earth (public domain) naturalearthdata.com.
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Raster basemap tiles for the interactive visa-access maps.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0).
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GDP per capita (current US$) and inflation (CPI annual %).
GDP per capita and inflation from the World Bank (CC BY 4.0) data.worldbank.org.
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Human Development Index (HDI) values and ranks.
Human Development Index from the UNDP Human Development Report (CC BY 3.0 IGO).
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Intermediate distribution of the Corruption Perceptions Index, V-Dem Human Rights Index, and V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index.
Indices sourced via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0).
Our World in Data states that third-party datasets remain subject to the original publisher’s license see the individual sources below.
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Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) scores.
Corruption Perceptions Index 2024, Transparency International (CC BY-ND 4.0).
Restrictions: No derivatives
CPI scores are reproduced as factual data points, unmodified.
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Human Rights Index and Liberal Democracy Index.
Human Rights Index and Liberal Democracy Index from V-Dem (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
Restrictions: Non-commercial · Share-alike
⚠ Non-commercial license: confirm commercial use is permitted before monetising the site.
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Freedom in the World scores and status.
Freedom in the World 2024, © Freedom House (used with attribution for informational purposes).
Review Freedom House republication terms before commercial use.
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Reference for personal income and corporate tax rates.
Tax rates cross-checked against the Tax Foundation.
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Reference for personal income tax, corporate tax, and VAT/GST rates.
Tax rates cross-checked against the OECD Tax Database.
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Reference for personal income tax, corporate tax, and indirect tax rates.
Tax rates cross-checked against KPMG Tax Rates Online.
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Reference for citizenship-law rules (descent, naturalisation, dual citizenship, fees).
Citizenship-law facts compiled from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Law facts are human-curated approximations; always verify with official government sources.
Citizenship Hub is an independent resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any of the organisations above. Informational only not legal, immigration, tax, investment, or travel advice. Requirements, scores, fees, and tax rates change frequently; always verify with the relevant official government source before acting.