Resident Visa vs Permanent Resident Visa in New Zealand
New Zealand grants residence in two stages. A Resident Visa comes first and lets you live, work and study here indefinitely, but its travel conditions normally expire after two years. A Permanent Resident Visa is a separate later application, available once you have met commitment requirements — usually two years — and it gives unrestricted travel for life.
Quick Facts
| Resident Visa | Permanent Resident Visa | |
|---|---|---|
| Right to live in New Zealand | Indefinite | Indefinite |
| Right to work and study | Unrestricted | Unrestricted |
| Travel conditions | Normally valid 2 years from first arrival | None — unrestricted re-entry |
| How you get it | Granted on a residence category application (Skilled Migrant, Green List, partner, parent, investor, Pacific, humanitarian) | Separate application once commitment requirements are met, normally after 2 consecutive years |
| Fee | Varies by category — e.g. NZD $6,450 for skilled residence ($2,880 + $3,570 levy) | NZD $315 Band A / $260 Band B / $315 Band C, no immigration levy |
| Applied for through | Immigration Online | Enhanced Immigration Online |
| Expires? | The visa does not; the travel conditions do | No |
Fees from Fees Guide INZ 1028, May 2026 edition, checked 20 August 2026. No general fee or levy increase took effect in 2025 or 2026.
Why New Zealand has two products
Most countries grant "permanent residence" once. New Zealand grants residence, then permanence, and treats them as two separate visas.
The reasoning is straightforward: the first grant gives you the right to live here, and the second recognises that you actually did. INZ calls the test for the second grant the commitment requirements. In the ordinary case that means two consecutive years spent as a resident.
Both products are residence class visas. Both let you live, work and study in New Zealand without any employer or course restriction. The difference is not about rights inside the country. It is entirely about travel.
What travel conditions are, and why they end residents' holidays badly
A Resident Visa carries travel conditions: a period during which you may leave New Zealand and re-enter on that same visa. They are normally valid for two years from your first arrival as a resident.
The residence does not expire. The travel conditions do. That distinction is what strands people.
Here is the shape of the problem. A person is granted residence, arrives, settles, works. Two years and one month later they fly out for a family funeral. At the airport on the way back, they find that their travel conditions have expired. Their right to live in New Zealand is intact; their right to arrive in New Zealand on that visa is not.
Two remedies exist, and both take time you may not have:
- Apply to vary the travel conditions on the resident visa — NZD $320 Band A / $260 Band B / $320 Band C.
- Apply for a second or subsequent resident visa — NZD $275 Band A / $250 Band B / $275 Band C.
The clean answer is to apply for the Permanent Resident Visa before you need it. See variation of travel conditions.
The Permanent Resident Visa in detail
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| What it is | A residence class visa with no travel conditions |
| Who can apply | Resident Visa holders who have met the commitment requirements, normally after 2 consecutive years |
| Fee | NZD $315 Band A (in New Zealand) / $260 Band B (offshore Pacific) / $315 Band C (offshore rest of world) |
| Immigration levy | None. Unusual — most residence products carry a levy of $1,400 to $15,400 |
| IVL | Not payable |
| Applied for through | Enhanced Immigration Online |
| Travel rights | Unrestricted, indefinitely |
The absence of an immigration levy is worth noticing. The levy funds settlement support, and INZ does not charge it twice — you paid it when you were granted residence. At $315, the Permanent Resident Visa is one of the cheapest applications in the entire New Zealand system, and considerably cheaper than repeatedly varying travel conditions.
We do not publish a processing time for it. A figure of roughly a week and a half circulates online, but it comes from secondary sources and INZ's own processing tool states plainly that it does not have all visa processing times. Check the current estimate on INZ before planning travel around it.
Step 1: Get a Resident Visa
You reach residence through one of the residence categories — the Skilled Migrant Category, a Green List route, partnership with a New Zealander, a parent category, an investor category, the Pacific categories, or a humanitarian category. Each has its own criteria and its own fee. See pathways to New Zealand residence.
Step 2: Live here and meet the commitment requirements
The standard route is two consecutive years holding your Resident Visa. INZ publishes commitment requirements that can also be met in other ways — for example by demonstrating a tax residence, business, investment or family base in New Zealand — but the two-year route is the one most people use. Confirm the precise requirement that applies to you on INZ's Permanent Resident Visa page before you apply.
Step 3: Apply for the Permanent Resident Visa
The application goes through Enhanced Immigration Online. The fee is NZD $315 in Band A with no levy. Once granted, your travel rights are unrestricted and you never have to think about travel conditions again.
Step 4: Consider citizenship separately
Permanent residence is not citizenship. Citizenship is administered by the Department of Internal Affairs under different legislation, has its own residence requirement, and gives you a New Zealand passport and the right to vote in general elections. Permanent residence does not. See from residence to New Zealand citizenship.
The comparison people actually want
| Question | Resident Visa | Permanent Resident Visa | Citizenship |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live in New Zealand indefinitely | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Work in any job | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Study any course | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Re-enter after any absence | No — only while travel conditions are valid | Yes | Yes |
| New Zealand passport | No | No | Yes |
| Vote in general elections | Residents may enrol and vote if they meet the residence rules; check with the Electoral Commission | Same | Yes |
| Can be lost | Travel conditions lapse; residence can be revoked in defined circumstances | Can be revoked in defined circumstances | Very difficult to lose |
Terminology that trips people up
"PR" is ambiguous in New Zealand. In Australia, Canada and the UK, "PR" means one thing. In New Zealand it could mean either of two visas. When an employer, a bank or a school asks whether you have "PR", they usually mean residence in the general sense — a Resident Visa is normally enough. When an airline or a border officer asks, the distinction matters, because they are asking about travel rights.
"Permanent residency" is not a status you accrue by living here. It is an application you make, with a fee, that INZ decides.
A Second or Subsequent Resident Visa is not a Permanent Resident Visa. It is a fresh resident visa with fresh travel conditions, for someone whose travel conditions have expired and who does not yet qualify for permanence. See second or subsequent resident visa.
How this compares with other countries
This is the section most other sites skip, and it is where most of the confusion originates.
| Country | Model |
|---|---|
| New Zealand | Two-stage. Resident Visa with time-limited travel conditions, then Permanent Resident Visa with unrestricted travel |
| Australia | Permanent visas carry a travel facility, typically five years, renewed via a separate resident return visa. The right to remain does not lapse |
| Canada | Permanent resident status with a PR card, and a physical-presence obligation over a rolling period |
| United Kingdom | Indefinite leave to remain, which can lapse after a long continuous absence |
New Zealand's version looks similar from a distance and behaves differently in practice: the travel conditions expire on a fixed date rather than being tested against how much time you have spent in the country, and the fix is a separate application rather than a renewal. If you are comparing systems, New Zealand vs Australia for migrants and residence vs permanent residence go further.
Note also that New Zealand has no numbered visa subclasses. If you have been reading about a numbered permanent visa, that is the Australian system.
The costs, side by side
| Application | Band A (in NZ) | Band B (offshore Pacific) | Band C (offshore rest of world) | Immigration levy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skilled Migrant Category resident visa | $2,880 | $1,860 | $2,880 | $3,570 |
| Permanent Resident Visa | $315 | $260 | $315 | None |
| Second or subsequent resident visa | $275 | $250 | $275 | None |
| Variation of travel conditions on a resident visa | $320 | $260 | $320 | None |
Fee bands are set by where you are and what passport you use, not by what you are applying for. Band A applies if you are in New Zealand when you apply, Band B to offshore citizens of specified Pacific countries, and Band C to the offshore rest of the world. Dual citizens pay the band for the passport used in the application. See fees, levies and fee bands.
A small but useful detail: citizens of Austria, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Japan and Turkey benefit from bilateral fee-waiver agreements covering the Permanent Resident Visa, both onshore and offshore. Those waivers never cover the IVL or a visa label transfer.
What can go wrong
- Letting travel conditions lapse while overseas. The most common and most expensive mistake. Check your eVisa for the expiry date on your travel conditions, not just the visa.
- Assuming residence renews itself. It does not. Nothing happens automatically at the two-year mark; the Permanent Resident Visa is an application you have to make.
- Assuming permanent residence is permanent in all circumstances. Residence class visas can be revoked, and residents can become liable for deportation in defined situations. See can you lose New Zealand permanent residence.
- Confusing it with citizenship. Permanent residence gives you no New Zealand passport.
A note on advice
This page states what the published rules require. It does not assess whether any particular person meets them, and it is not a recommendation to apply for anything. Immigration advice is regulated in New Zealand under the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007, and giving tailored advice without a licence carries penalties of up to $100,000 and seven years' imprisonment, whether or not money changes hands. If your travel conditions have expired or your residence is in question, that is a situation for a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer. Check any adviser on the Immigration Advisers Authority register at https://app.mbieregisters.govt.nz/iaa/ui/start/searchForAnOccupationalRegistration.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a resident visa and a permanent resident visa in New Zealand?
Both allow you to live, work and study in New Zealand indefinitely. A Resident Visa carries travel conditions that normally expire two years after your first arrival, so your ability to re-enter New Zealand on it is time-limited. A Permanent Resident Visa has no travel conditions at all.
How long does it take to get permanent residency in New Zealand?
Normally two consecutive years as the holder of a Resident Visa, after which you may apply for the Permanent Resident Visa. The two-year clock starts once you hold residence, not when you first arrive in New Zealand on a temporary visa.
How much does a New Zealand Permanent Resident Visa cost?
NZD $315 in Band A (applying from inside New Zealand), $260 in Band B (offshore citizens of specified Pacific countries) and $315 in Band C (offshore rest of world). No immigration levy applies and there is no IVL.
Does New Zealand residency expire?
Your right to live in New Zealand does not expire. The travel conditions attached to a Resident Visa do — normally after two years. If they expire while you are outside New Zealand, you cannot re-enter on that visa until you vary the conditions or obtain a further resident visa.
Do I have to apply for the Permanent Resident Visa, or is it automatic?
You have to apply. Nothing is granted automatically at the two-year mark. Applications are made through Enhanced Immigration Online.
Is a permanent resident visa the same as citizenship?
No. Citizenship is granted by the Department of Internal Affairs under separate law, gives you a New Zealand passport and full voting rights, and has its own residence requirement. Permanent residence gives none of those things.
What happens if my travel conditions expire while I am overseas?
You cannot travel to New Zealand on that visa. The available routes are a variation of travel conditions or a second or subsequent resident visa, both of which are applications with fees and processing times. This is a situation where licensed advice is worth getting quickly.
