Chest X-Rays for New Zealand Visa Applications
A chest x-ray is New Zealand's tuberculosis screening step. Whether you need one depends on your visa and your circumstances, not on a single universal rule. Immigration New Zealand publishes the trigger separately for each visa, and maintains its own page listing countries with a low incidence of tuberculosis — which is where you check your own country.
Quick Facts
| Item | Detail (as at August 2026) |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Tuberculosis (TB) screening |
| Universal rule | There is none. The trigger is published per visa |
| Who performs it | An INZ panel physician or an approved radiology provider they direct you to |
| Where the country list lives | INZ's page "Countries with a low incidence of tuberculosis" |
| Cost | Set by the provider, not by INZ, and separate from the visa fee |
| Results | Entered into eMedical and sent to INZ directly |
| Common trigger | Coming from a country without low TB incidence, for a longer stay |
| Evidence age (some visas) | Parent Boost and Working Holiday both require evidence less than 3 months old |
Why New Zealand screens for TB at all
Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that a chest x-ray can detect, including in people with no symptoms. New Zealand has a low incidence of it and screens some incoming applicants to keep it that way.
That is the entire logic of the rule, and it explains its shape: the screening is targeted at people who have spent significant time in places where TB is more common, and at people who will be in New Zealand long enough for it to matter. It is not a judgement about anyone, and a chest x-ray requirement is not a sign that INZ has concerns about your application.
What triggers a chest x-ray — by visa
INZ publishes the trigger on individual visa pages rather than as one central rule, and the triggers genuinely differ. These are the requirements verified as at August 2026:
| Visa | Published chest x-ray trigger |
|---|---|
| Accredited Employer Work Visa | Applicants from high-TB-incidence countries staying more than 6 months |
| Working Holiday | If you spent more than 3 months in the last 5 years in a TB-endemic country · or you are staying longer than 12 months · or you are applying onshore |
| Skilled Migrant Category | Required |
| Parent Boost Visitor Visa | Required, together with a medical examination |
Look at the Working Holiday row for a moment, because it is the most instructive. Three separate and independent triggers, only one of which is about which country you come from. Someone from a low-TB country applying from inside New Zealand still needs one.
The rule we are not going to give you
You will find, widely published, a clean general rule: a stay over six months means a chest x-ray, a stay over twelve months means a full medical examination.
That rule could not be confirmed on the current INZ site, and we are not publishing it. The six-month trigger above is verified for the Accredited Employer Work Visa only. Extending it to every visa is exactly the kind of tidy generalisation that reads well and costs a reader a wasted booking or a missing document.
INZ's own general statement on this is much vaguer, and honest: what you need to provide depends on the visa type, how long you intend to stay, what country you are from, and whether you supplied a medical certificate with an earlier application.
Checking your own country
INZ maintains a page within its health requirements section titled "Countries with a low incidence of tuberculosis". That is the authoritative list, and it is where you check your own country and any country you have spent significant time in.
We do not reproduce that list here. It could not be retrieved during our research, and a partial or out-of-date TB country list is worse than no list at all — it produces confident wrong answers about whether an x-ray is needed. Read it from INZ.
Two related points, because both come up:
- The list is about countries, not nationalities. The Working Holiday trigger asks where you have been, not what passport you hold.
- Time spent in a country counts even if you did not live there. Where a trigger is phrased around time spent, extended travel and work postings are within it.
Step 1: Read the trigger on your own visa's page
Not a general rule, not a summary, and not the requirements for a different visa. Each product publishes its own.
Step 2: Check the relevant countries against INZ's low-TB page
Your country of residence, your countries of citizenship, and any country where you have spent a substantial period recently — the exact question depends on how your visa's trigger is worded.
Step 3: Book with a panel physician
New Zealand does not accept a chest x-ray from any clinic. It is arranged through INZ's panel physician network, and INZ publishes a page listing doctors who can do x-rays and medical examinations. Some panel physicians perform the x-ray on site; others refer you to an approved radiology provider.
Availability varies by country and city. In places with a single panel physician, this step sets your whole timetable.
Step 4: Have the x-ray taken and the results submitted
Results are entered into eMedical, INZ's electronic health-results system, and reach INZ directly. Keep your eMedical and INZ health case reference numbers — INZ publishes a page on finding them, and they are how the result is matched to your application.
Step 5: Watch the evidence-age rules on your visa
Where a visa sets one, it is not generous. Parent Boost requires health evidence to be less than 3 months old when INZ receives it. Working Holiday requires evidence within 15 days of submitting and less than 3 months old. Booking too early is a real problem on those products.
The exemptions people ask about
Two exemptions circulate very widely: that pregnant women and that children under 11 are exempt from chest x-ray requirements.
Neither was verified against a primary source, and we are not publishing them as rules. Both are plausible — they reflect standard radiological practice in many immigration systems — but "plausible" is not the standard this site publishes at.
If you are pregnant, or applying for a young child, raise it with the panel physician and with INZ before the appointment rather than assuming an exemption applies. The panel physician network is the right first call, because they administer INZ's requirements daily.
What the result does and does not decide
A chest x-ray is one piece of health evidence. It feeds into the same assessment as everything else, against the acceptable standard of health — the test under which INZ may decline where a medical assessor considers likely health service costs would exceed NZ$81,000, assessed over five years or over the predicted course of the condition. See the acceptable standard of health.
A finding on an x-ray does not automatically end an application, and a medical waiver process exists for most categories — though not for the Parent Boost Visitor Visa. Whether any of that applies to an individual is a question for a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer, not for a general information page. Licences can be checked on the Immigration Advisers Authority public register at https://app.mbieregisters.govt.nz/iaa/ui/start/searchForAnOccupationalRegistration, reached from www.iaa.govt.nz.
How this fits the rest of the application
Health is one of the eight branches of supporting evidence INZ publishes — see documents you need for a New Zealand visa application. The wider medical process, including panel physicians and eMedical, is on medical examinations for New Zealand visa applications.
Alongside police certificates, health evidence is one of the two items with a lead time you do not control, which is why it belongs at the start of a timetable. See police certificates.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need an x-ray for a New Zealand visa?
It depends on the visa and your circumstances. There is no single rule. The Accredited Employer Work Visa requires one for applicants from high-TB-incidence countries staying more than 6 months; Skilled Migrant Category and Parent Boost require one outright; Working Holiday has three separate triggers.
Which countries need a chest x-ray for a New Zealand visa?
INZ publishes a page called Countries with a low incidence of tuberculosis and that is the list to check. We do not reproduce it, because an out-of-date TB country list produces confident wrong answers.
Is the chest x-ray the same as the TB test?
For New Zealand immigration purposes, the chest x-ray is the tuberculosis screening step. Where INZ requires further investigation after an x-ray, the panel physician will direct it.
Can I use an x-ray I had recently for something else?
No. The x-ray must be arranged through INZ's panel physician network so the result can be entered into eMedical and verified as belonging to you.
How much does a chest x-ray for a New Zealand visa cost?
The panel physician or radiology provider sets the price, and it varies by country. It is separate from the visa application fee and is not refunded if the application is declined.
Are pregnant women or young children exempt?
Those exemptions are widely repeated but were not verified against a primary source, so we do not publish them as rules. Raise it with the panel physician and with INZ before booking.
How long is a chest x-ray valid for?
INZ does not publish a general validity period. Some visas set their own limit on how old health evidence may be — Parent Boost and Working Holiday both require it to be less than 3 months old.
What happens if something shows up on the x-ray?
The panel physician will direct any further investigation, and the results are assessed against the acceptable standard of health. A finding does not automatically mean a decline, and a waiver process exists for most visa categories.
This page explains published rules. It is general information, not immigration advice, and it does not assess any individual's circumstances. Anyone who needs their own situation assessed should speak to a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer.
