Overstaying a Visa in New Zealand: What Happens Now
Immigration New Zealand's position is direct: "If your visa has expired, you are in New Zealand unlawfully and must leave immediately." Being unlawful means no work, no study, and no publicly funded health services except in limited cases. Two mechanisms exist — leaving voluntarily, or a section 61 request. Reconsideration is closed once a visa expires.
Quick Facts
| Your legal position | Unlawfully in New Zealand from the day your visa expires |
| Work | Not permitted |
| Study | Not permitted |
| Public healthcare | Ineligible for publicly funded health services, with limited exceptions |
| Risk | Potential detention and deportation |
| Helping someone stay unlawfully | A criminal offence under the Immigration Act 2009 |
| Reconsideration of a declined visa | Closed — it requires a valid visa |
| The only route to a visa while unlawful | A section 61 request — free to make; NZ$640 or NZ$1,510 if granted in principle |
| Section 61 after a deportation order | Not possible |
| INZ's stated preference | Voluntary departure before deportation, because deportation negatively affects future visa eligibility |
INZ published information, checked 20 August 2026.
What "unlawful" means, in INZ's own words
INZ publishes it plainly: "If your visa has expired, you are in New Zealand unlawfully and must leave immediately."
There is no grace period published, no automatic extension, and no status that fills the gap between one visa expiring and another being granted. New Zealand does not operate a bridging visa in the sense Australia does — see bridging visa New Zealand for why that term does not translate.
The consequences INZ publishes are:
- You cannot work.
- You cannot study.
- You are ineligible for publicly funded health services, with limited exceptions.
- You face potential detention and deportation.
And one that affects the people around you rather than you:
- Helping someone stay in New Zealand unlawfully is a criminal offence under the Immigration Act 2009.
That last point is worth reading twice, because it changes who can safely help. An employer, a landlord, a friend or a family member acting to keep someone here without status is exposed to a criminal offence — separately from the unlicensed-advice offences under the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007. It is a reason to work with a lawyer, a licensed immigration adviser or a Community Law Centre rather than with informal help.
No judgement, and no pretending
People end up unlawful for a wide range of reasons. An application filed late by a day. An interim visa that ended without the applicant realising. A decline received after the underlying visa had already expired. A relationship that broke down. A job that ended. An employer who said the paperwork was handled and had not handled it. Illness. Bereavement. Bad advice from someone who should not have been giving it.
None of that changes the legal position, and this page does not soften the legal position. What it does is set out, accurately, what exists — because the worst outcomes in this area come from acting on rumour, and the second worst come from doing nothing at all.
Healthcare while unlawful
INZ publishes that people who are unlawfully in New Zealand are ineligible for publicly funded health services, with limited exceptions.
The exceptions exist but are limited, and their scope is set by health policy rather than by immigration policy. If you or a family member needs care, ask the provider directly about eligibility rather than assuming either way. Healthcare eligibility for migrants covers how eligibility is structured for migrants generally.
Work and study while unlawful
Neither is permitted. That is a consequence of the status, not a separate rule.
Working without the right to work is also relevant in the other direction: breaching visa conditions is a published ground for deportation liability, and INZ's own example is "working when you only hold a visitor visa". See what your New Zealand visa conditions allow.
If you have been working without the right to do so because an employer arranged it that way, that is a situation with its own protections — New Zealand has a dedicated visa for migrant workers leaving an exploitative employer. See migrant exploitation and the protection work visa and New Zealand employment rights for migrant workers.
Re-entry bans — what INZ says, and what we will not say
INZ publishes wording about a minimum period of unlawful stay after which a person may be barred from returning:
"If you stay unlawfully for 42 days or longer, you may be banned from returning to New Zealand."
— Immigration New Zealand, checked 20 August 2026
That is the quotation, attributed, with its checked-on date. Read what it actually says: a stated period of unlawful stay creates exposure to a ban. It says "may be banned", not "will be".
This page publishes no ban durations. The tiers that circulate widely online — five years, two years, permanent, scaled by how long the overstay ran and whether the person left voluntarily — could not be verified against a primary source. They may be accurate. We could not confirm them, and inventing a number that determines whether a person can ever return to a country where their family lives is not something a website should do.
If the length of a potential ban matters to a decision you are making, that question needs INZ directly or a lawyer, not a search result.
Voluntary departure versus deportation
INZ states that departing voluntarily before deportation is preferable, because deportation negatively affects future visa eligibility.
That is INZ's published position and it is the clearest signal the agency gives on this topic. Deportation is not simply a removal; it becomes part of the immigration record and affects what is possible afterwards.
It is not the whole picture for everyone. A person with New Zealand-citizen children, a live protection claim, a pending appeal or a serious medical situation is not in the same position as someone whose working holiday ended three weeks ago. Which is why this page describes the mechanisms and stops short of telling anyone which to use.
The two mechanisms that exist
1. Section 61 — the only route to a visa while unlawful
A section 61 request asks INZ to grant a visa in special circumstances while you are unlawfully in New Zealand.
- How: email [email protected] with your personal details, circumstances and supporting documentation.
- Cost: nothing to make the request. If INZ decides in principle to grant, NZ$640 for a temporary entry class visa or NZ$1,510 for a residence class visa (INZ 1028, May 2026).
- Timeframe: none published.
- INZ's warning: "Making a section 61 request does not automatically stop deportation."
- The hard limit: "You cannot be granted a visa under section 61 if a deportation order has already been issued to you."
It is not an appeal and not a reconsideration. Full detail: section 61 requests explained.
2. Departure
Leaving is the other mechanism, and INZ's published preference. Its consequences — including exposure to a re-entry ban after the period INZ names — are set out above.
What is closed
Reconsideration. INZ's reconsideration route requires that you hold a valid visa, including an interim visa. Once your visa has expired, that condition fails and reconsideration is unavailable, regardless of how strong the case for review might be. See reconsideration of a declined temporary visa.
Deportation liability is not the same as deportation
If you are unlawfully in New Zealand, you may be made liable for deportation. Staying beyond the expiry date of a visa is the first ground INZ publishes.
Liability is a status, not an event. What follows it depends on circumstances, and appeal rights are not automatic — INZ publishes that you "may be able to appeal against your deportation liability, depending on your circumstances and the time the liability arose".
One exclusion is absolute and is barely published anywhere: "You cannot appeal if the last visa you held was a limited visa."
That directly affects Recognised Seasonal Employer workers, who hold Limited Visas. See what is a limited visa and the RSE visa explained.
Deportation appeals are heard by the Immigration and Protection Tribunal, and the Deportation Appeal by a Non-Resident carries a fee of NZ$964, which cannot be waived. Non-resident deportation appeals are generally determined within 8 to 10 months.
See deportation liability explained and appealing deportation to the IPT.
Deadlines — confirm your own, from your own documents
This page states no day count for how long a person can be unlawful before their position changes, and none for any appeal or request deadline. The one INZ figure quoted above is quoted verbatim, attributed, and dated, precisely so that it is not mistaken for a general rule about consequences.
What binds you:
- Any date or period written in a notice or letter you have received from INZ.
- The period published for your route by INZ or, where an appeal is involved, by the Immigration and Protection Tribunal at justice.govt.nz/tribunals/immigration/immigration-and-protection/.
If you have a notice with a date on it, that date is real and it is yours. Confirm it directly with INZ, and get advice the same day.
Step 1: Establish the exact date your visa expired
Check your eVisa or your Immigration Online account rather than relying on memory. See how to check your NZ visa application status.
Step 2: Establish whether you have received anything from INZ
A deportation liability notice and a deportation order are different documents at different stages, and the difference determines whether section 61 remains available. If you have received a document and are not certain which it is, that is the first thing to ask a lawyer.
Step 3: Get lawful help immediately
Three groups can lawfully advise:
- Licensed immigration advisers — verify anyone before engaging them on the Immigration Advisers Authority register at app.mbieregisters.govt.nz/iaa/ui/start/searchForAnOccupationalRegistration
- New Zealand lawyers with a current practising certificate, exempt from IAA licensing
- Community Law Centres — employees and volunteers are exempt where a lawyer is on the employing body or supervising the work, and this is often the accessible route for someone with no income
Giving immigration advice without a licence carries up to NZ$100,000 and seven years' imprisonment, and the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007 applies "whether or not for gain or reward". Anyone offering to "fix" your status informally is putting both of you at risk. See unlicensed immigration advice penalties.
Step 4: Deal only with official channels
The section 61 channel is [email protected]. INZ's own website is immigration.govt.nz. New Zealand has no paid fast-track or expedited processing at any price, and an offer to buy one is a reliable scam marker. People without lawful status are targeted precisely because they are unlikely to complain. See immigration scams to avoid and how to spot a fake NZ immigration website.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if my visa expires in New Zealand?
INZ's published position is that you are in New Zealand unlawfully and must leave immediately. You cannot work or study, you are ineligible for publicly funded health services with limited exceptions, and you face potential detention and deportation.
Can I still apply for a visa if I have overstayed in NZ?
The only published mechanism for obtaining a visa while unlawfully in New Zealand is a section 61 request. Ordinary applications and reconsideration both require lawful status. Section 61 cannot produce a visa once a deportation order has been issued.
How long can you overstay in New Zealand?
INZ's position is that you must leave immediately once your visa expires — there is no permitted overstay period. INZ separately publishes that staying unlawfully for a stated minimum period creates exposure to a ban on returning. Confirm your own position with INZ directly.
Will I be banned from New Zealand if I overstay?
INZ publishes that a person who stays unlawfully for 42 days or longer may be banned from returning. That is exposure to a ban, not an automatic one. This site does not publish ban durations, because the tiers commonly quoted online could not be verified against a primary source.
Is it better to leave voluntarily than to be deported?
INZ states that departing voluntarily before deportation is preferable, because deportation negatively affects future visa eligibility. Whether that is the right course in an individual case — particularly where children, a protection claim or a pending appeal are involved — is a question for a lawyer.
Can I work while I am unlawfully in New Zealand?
No. Working is not permitted, and breaching visa conditions is itself a published ground for deportation liability. If you have been working under an employer's arrangement while unlawful, the migrant exploitation protections may be relevant.
Can my employer or family get in trouble for helping me?
INZ publishes that helping someone stay in New Zealand unlawfully is a criminal offence under the Immigration Act 2009. That is one of the reasons to route help through a lawyer, a licensed adviser or a Community Law Centre.
Can I get medical treatment if I have overstayed?
INZ publishes that people unlawfully in New Zealand are ineligible for publicly funded health services, with limited exceptions. Ask the provider directly about eligibility for the specific care required rather than assuming either way.
