New Zealand Visa Fee Changes: The Dated History
The last general New Zealand visa fee and levy increase took effect on 1 October 2024. It added an average of NZ$81 per application, a rise of about 43%, and nearly tripled the International Visitor Levy. There has been no general fee or levy increase in 2025 or 2026. INZ's own fees page still describes its rates as current as of 1 October 2024.
Quick Facts
| Last general increase | 1 October 2024 |
| Average size of that increase | +NZ$81 per application, about 43% |
| International Visitor Levy at that date | Rose from NZ$35 to NZ$100 |
| Increase in 2025 | None |
| Increase in 2026 | None |
| Controlling document today | Fees Guide INZ 1028, May 2026 edition |
| What did change in 2026 | Third-party VAC service fees (1 January) and a temporary Pacific visitor concession (1 June) |
| Legislation to watch | Amendment Bill passed 21 November 2025 enabling a broader levy payer base |
| Verified | 20 August 2026 |
The short answer for anyone budgeting
If you are reading a fee figure published before October 2024, it is wrong. If you are reading a fee figure published after October 2024, it is almost certainly still right.
That is unusual and worth saying plainly, because the standard assumption with government charges is that anything more than a year old has drifted. New Zealand's visa fees have not moved since 1 October 2024, and INZ's fees page still carries the wording "as of 1 October 2024". Nothing in 2025 or 2026 replaced it.
Current figures are in the complete New Zealand visa fee list.
1 October 2024 — the last general increase
This was a system-wide repricing rather than a tweak to one or two products.
| What changed | Detail |
|---|---|
| Scope | Application fees and levies across the visa system |
| Average impact | +NZ$81 per application |
| Average percentage | About 43% |
| International Visitor Levy | Nearly tripled |
| Effective | 1 October 2024 |
A 43% average increase is large by any standard, and it is the reason so much older third-party content is now badly out of date. A guide written in mid-2024 and never revised will understate almost every figure on the site by roughly a third.
The levy that changed most
The International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy went from NZ$35 to NZ$100 on that date. That charge is levied per person included in an application rather than per application, so on a family of four it moved from a $140 line to a $400 line in a single step.
The older figure is the single most-republished dead number in New Zealand immigration content. Sites that have not been revised since 2024 still print it, and answer engines still repeat it back. The current amount is NZ$100, and it is never refunded — see the International Visitor Levy explained.
2025 — no fee change
No fee or levy increase took effect in 2025. What did happen in 2025 was policy change, and a great deal of it: the median wage stopped being a pay rule for the Accredited Employer Work Visa in March, Parent Boost opened in September, ten trades occupations joined Green List Tier 2 in August, and the Entrepreneur Work Visa closed in August. None of those altered the price schedule.
2026 — still no general fee change, but three things moved
The absence of a fee increase does not mean nothing happened. Three dated changes in 2026 affect what applicants pay, and none of them is an INZ application fee rise.
1 January 2026 — Visa Application Centre service fees rose
Visa Application Centre service fees increased across 26 countries, including India, the Philippines, Fiji, Samoa, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, Vietnam and Nepal.
These are third-party service charges, not INZ fees. A VAC is a commercial contractor that collects biometrics and handles documents. Its service fee is separate from, and additional to, the application fee, immigration levy and IVL that INZ charges. An increase there changes your total outlay but changes nothing in the Fees Guide.
This distinction is almost never explained clearly, and it is one reason people conclude that "New Zealand visa fees went up in 2026" when the government charge did not move.
May 2026 — the Fees Guide was reissued
The controlling fee document, Fees Guide INZ 1028, was reissued in a May 2026 edition. The rates in it match the October 2024 schedule. A reissue is not a repricing, and no accompanying fee-increase announcement was published.
1 June 2026 — a Pacific visitor fee reduction, downwards
The offshore Pacific fee band visitor visa fell from NZ$216 to NZ$161. This applies to offshore applicants who are citizens of thirteen Pacific nations, runs for twelve months, and is therefore due to expire around 31 May 2027. It excludes Parent Boost and Group Visitor Visas.
It is the only dated fee movement in 2026, and it is a cut rather than a rise. See the Pacific visitor visa fee reduction and New Zealand visa fee bands.
What might change next
One piece of legislation is worth watching without over-reading.
The Immigration (Fiscal Sustainability and System Integrity) Amendment Bill passed its third reading on 21 November 2025. Among other things it enables a broader immigration levy payer base — that is, the ability to charge the levy to categories that do not currently pay it. The announcement stated explicitly that there was no implementation planned at that time.
Two cautions apply. The Act's commencement dates were not published in the release, so nothing about the levy base should be treated as being in force today. And enabling a broader payer base is not the same as raising the rate. See the Immigration Fiscal Sustainability Bill.
Beyond that, no fee review or increase has been announced for 2026 or 2027.
What moves even when fees do not
Immigration costs are not only fees. Several money figures in the system are re-indexed on their own cycles, and they have kept moving through the two years in which no fee changed. Confusing the two is another reason people believe fees rose when they did not.
| Figure | Cycle | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Immigration median wage | Annual, month not fixed | NZ$35.00 an hour from 9 March 2026 |
| New Zealand minimum wage | 1 April each year | The floor under work visa pay rules |
| Parent Resident Visa sponsor income threshold | February | Sponsor-side, not a fee |
| Pacific Access Category and Samoan Quota minimum income | 1 June | Applies to the ballot categories |
| Fishing Crew Work Visa minimum rate | October | Occupation-specific |
| Parent Boost financial thresholds | Updated 30 April 2026 | Parent income and funds routes |
| Visa Application Centre service fees | Ad hoc | Rose 1 January 2026 in 26 countries |
The median wage in particular carries a warning of its own: its update month drifts. It has landed in February, February, August and March across four consecutive updates, so nobody should plan around an annual date. See the immigration median wage history.
Parent Boost is the clearest recent example of a threshold moving while the fee stayed still. The visa fee has been from NZ$3,100 since it opened, but the parent income and funds thresholds were updated on 30 April 2026 — to NZ$33,663.24 a year for a single applicant and NZ$170,000 in funds. The earlier figures from the June 2025 announcement are still widely republished. See funds requirements for New Zealand visas.
Figures that are now wrong and still circulating
These are the specific numbers that appear most often in outdated guides, adviser blogs and AI-generated answers. Every one of them is superseded.
| Widely republished figure | The current position |
|---|---|
| International Visitor Levy of NZ$35 | NZ$100 since 1 October 2024 |
| Visitor visa of NZ$211 | NZ$441 — $300 fee + $41 levy + $100 IVL |
| Accredited Employer Work Visa of NZ$750 | NZ$1,540 — $480 fee + $1,060 levy |
| Parent Boost at NZ$3,000 with funds of $160,000 / $250,000 | From NZ$3,100, with the current thresholds on INZ's Parent Boost page |
| Essential Skills Work Visa "from NZ$1,355" | That visa closed on 4 July 2022 and was replaced by the AEWV |
The pattern is consistent: the wrong figures are all pre-October-2024. If a page quotes any of them, treat everything else on it as unverified too.
How to tell whether a fee page is current
Three checks take under a minute.
Look for a date. A fee page with no published or last-reviewed date cannot be assessed. Most third-party New Zealand immigration pages carry neither.
Check the IVL figure. If it says anything other than NZ$100, the page predates October 2024 and every other number on it is suspect.
Check the AEWV figure. If it says NZ$750, the page predates the same change.
Then confirm the specific fee for your own case on INZ's fee finder, because the published total depends on your fee band and on whether the IVL applies to you.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did New Zealand visa fees last go up?
1 October 2024. That increase averaged an extra NZ$81 per application, about 43%, and applied across the visa system.
Have New Zealand visa fees increased in 2026?
No. There has been no general fee or levy increase in 2025 or 2026. INZ's fees page still reads "as of 1 October 2024". The Fees Guide was reissued in May 2026 at the same rates.
How much is the International Visitor Levy now?
NZ$100 per person, charged on top of the application fee and immigration levy where it applies. It has been NZ$100 since 1 October 2024, and it is never refunded — not even where an application is declined.
Why do different websites quote different New Zealand visa fees?
Because most have not been revised since the October 2024 increase, and because many quote a single number without saying which fee band it belongs to or whether the IVL is included. A visitor visa is $120, $300 or $441 depending on those two variables.
Did New Zealand visa fees change on 1 January 2026?
Visa Application Centre service fees rose in 26 countries on that date. Those are charges by the commercial centre that handles your documents and biometrics, not INZ application fees. No INZ fee changed.
Are New Zealand visa fees going up soon?
No increase has been announced. Legislation passed on 21 November 2025 enables a broader immigration levy payer base, but the announcement stated no implementation was planned at that time and the commencement dates were not published. Nothing about it should be treated as current law.
Did the Pacific visitor visa fee go up or down?
Down. From 1 June 2026 the offshore Pacific fee band visitor visa fell from NZ$216 to NZ$161 for citizens of thirteen Pacific nations. It is a twelve-month concession, expiring around 31 May 2027, and it excludes Parent Boost and Group Visitor Visas.
Where does INZ publish its current fees?
In the Fees Guide INZ 1028, currently the May 2026 edition, and through an interactive fee finder. The individual visa pages show only a "from" price, and that price is generated by a script rather than written into the page.
Primary source: Immigration New Zealand, Fees Guide INZ 1028, May 2026 edition, and INZ's fees and levies news pages. Change dates cross-checked against Beehive releases. All figures verified 20 August 2026.
This page is general information about published fees. It is not immigration advice and does not assess your circumstances.
