The Medical Treatment Visitor Visa for New Zealand
Medical treatment is excluded from New Zealand's visa waiver arrangements. A traveller from a visa waiver country cannot come for treatment on an NZeTA alone — INZ operates a separate Medical Treatment Visitor Visa for that purpose, and a companion visa for people escorting a patient.
Quick Facts
| Item | Detail (as at August 2026) |
|---|---|
| What it covers | Travel to New Zealand for medical treatment |
| Visa waiver | Does not cover medical treatment — a separate visa is needed |
| NZeTA | Not available to people coming for medical treatment |
| Fee line | Reconciles to the visitor visa line: NZD $300 + NZD $41 immigration levy + NZD $100 IVL where payable |
| Related product | Escort of Medical Patients Visitor Visa |
| Duration and detailed eligibility | Not published here — see the note below |
| Health cost threshold | INZ may decline where likely health service costs exceed NZD $81,000 |
| Leads to residence | No |
What we can tell you, and what we will not
Most of this site's pages set out a product's full settings. This one does not, deliberately.
We verified three things about the Medical Treatment Visitor Visa on 20 August 2026: that it exists as one of INZ's 40 visitor-class products, that medical treatment is expressly excluded from visa waiver travel, and that its fee reconciles to the standard visitor visa fee line.
We did not verify its duration, its specific evidence requirements, or its detailed eligibility criteria. Rather than infer them from the general visitor framework and present the result as fact, we are telling you they are not established here and pointing you at INZ's product page for them.
That is a less satisfying page than a confident one. It is also the honest one, and on a topic where a traveller may be organising treatment around the answer, a confident guess would be worse than useless.
Why the visa waiver does not cover treatment
New Zealand's 60 visa waiver countries and territories give their citizens a straightforward route in: request an NZeTA, pay the levy, arrive, stay under 3 months — 6 months for UK citizens — with a ceiling of 6 months in any rolling 12-month period.
Medical treatment sits outside that arrangement. It is expressly excluded.
INZ also lists people coming for medical treatment among those who cannot use an NZeTA at all, alongside people needing financial sponsorship and people with character or security issues. So the usual visa-waiver logic — "my passport is on the list, I request an NZeTA, I fly" — does not apply.
The reason is not hard to see. Publicly funded healthcare in New Zealand is generally not available to visitors, and treatment travel raises questions about who pays, what happens if the treatment does not go to plan, and how long the person will actually be in the country. Those are questions a visa assessment can ask and an automated travel authority cannot.
The two products
INZ operates both of these as separate visitor-class products:
| Product | Who it is for |
|---|---|
| Medical Treatment Visitor Visa | The patient |
| Escort of Medical Patients Visitor Visa | A person accompanying the patient |
The second is genuinely under-documented anywhere outside INZ's own site, and it is worth knowing it exists — a patient travelling for treatment often cannot travel alone, and the accompanying person's status is a real question rather than an afterthought.
Both appear in the full list of New Zealand visitor visas.
What it costs
INZ's fee schedule has one visitor visa line, and this product prices off it.
| Component | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Application fee | NZD $300 | Bands A and C. Band B, the Pacific fee band, is NZD $120 |
| Immigration levy | NZD $41 | Charged once per application |
| International Visitor Levy | NZD $100 | Where payable — confirm with INZ's fee finder |
| Indicative total | NZD $441 |
One caution on the levy. Certain visa categories are exempt from the International Visitor Levy, and INZ's fee schedule marks the visitor visa line with an asterisk meaning "check the fee finder for whether the levy applies to this specific case". Diplomatic, military, medical and humanitarian visa holders appear on the published exemption list, which suggests medical cases may be treated differently — but we could not confirm how that applies to this specific product. Use INZ's fee finder before you pay.
There has been no general New Zealand visa fee or levy increase in 2025 or 2026; INZ's fee page still reads "as of 1 October 2024".
The health cost threshold that applies across the system
One health rule is verified, applies broadly, and is directly relevant here.
INZ may decline an application where a medical assessor considers that the likely cost of health services would exceed NZD $81,000. The assessment runs over five years, or over the predicted course of the condition. The threshold rose from NZD $41,000 on 4 September 2022.
This is part of the Acceptable Standard of Health framework, which applies across New Zealand visa categories rather than being specific to medical travel. See acceptable standard of health explained and medical waivers for NZ visa applications.
How that threshold interacts with an application whose entire purpose is to receive treatment in New Zealand is exactly the kind of question that needs professional handling. We are not going to model it.
Where to go for the actual criteria
Two places, in this order.
INZ's product page at immigration.govt.nz/visas/medical-treatment-visitor-visa/ is the primary source for duration, evidence and eligibility. It is also where any change will appear first.
A licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer is the right next step if the application is real rather than exploratory. New Zealand regulates immigration advice under the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007. Publishing general information — which is what this page does — is expressly exempt. Advising on a particular person's circumstances is not, and doing it without a licence carries penalties of up to NZD $100,000 and seven years' imprisonment, whether or not the adviser is paid.
Medical treatment cases are close to the top of the list of situations where the general information on a website stops being enough. There is usually a treating clinician, a New Zealand provider, a funding arrangement and a health assessment all interacting, and none of that is generic. Start with how to find a licensed immigration adviser, and check any adviser's licence before engaging them.
Questions worth putting to INZ or an adviser
Since the detailed settings are not established here, these are the questions that determine the shape of an application and that a primary source can answer:
- How long is the visa granted for, and is it tied to a treatment plan or a fixed period?
- What evidence of the treatment arrangement is required — a New Zealand provider's confirmation, a treating clinician's report, an admission date?
- How must the cost of treatment be evidenced, and does the funding have to be in place before the application?
- Does the International Visitor Levy apply to this specific category? INZ's fee schedule marks the visitor line as needing to be checked in the fee finder.
- How is the NZD $81,000 health cost threshold applied where the treatment itself is the purpose of the visit?
- What is the position of an accompanying family member who is not the formal escort?
- What happens if the treatment period extends beyond the visa?
None of those have generic answers, which is precisely why this page does not attempt them.
The general visitor framework this sits inside
While the product's own settings are not established here, the framework it sits within is well documented and worth knowing.
- Visitors cannot work for a New Zealand employer. Remote work for an employer or client based outside New Zealand has been permitted since 27 January 2025.
- Study is capped at 3 months in any 12-month period, short courses only.
- Funds on ordinary visitor visas are assessed at NZD $1,000 per person per month, or NZD $400 if accommodation is prepaid.
- Visitors pay their own healthcare costs. Publicly funded healthcare is generally not available — see healthcare eligibility for migrants.
- Health and character requirements apply to every applicant.
Visitor visa conditions explained covers these in full.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I come to New Zealand for medical treatment on a visa waiver?
No. Medical treatment is expressly excluded from New Zealand's visa waiver arrangements, and INZ lists people coming for medical treatment among those who cannot use an NZeTA. Citizens of the 60 visa waiver countries need a visa for treatment travel like everyone else — INZ operates a Medical Treatment Visitor Visa for the purpose.
How much does the Medical Treatment Visitor Visa cost?
It prices off INZ's standard visitor visa fee line: a NZD $300 application fee plus a NZD $41 immigration levy, with the NZD $100 International Visitor Levy where payable, giving an indicative NZD $441. Levy applicability to this specific product could not be confirmed on the pages we checked on 20 August 2026, so check INZ's fee finder before paying.
How long does the Medical Treatment Visitor Visa last?
We are not publishing a duration. INZ's detailed settings for this product were not verified in our research, and inferring a figure from the general visitor visa rules and presenting it as fact would be exactly the kind of guess this site exists to avoid. Check INZ's product page for the current position.
Is there a visa for someone accompanying a patient?
Yes. INZ operates a separate Escort of Medical Patients Visitor Visa alongside the Medical Treatment Visitor Visa. It is one of the least-documented products in the New Zealand system outside INZ's own pages, and its detailed settings are not published here for the same reason.
Will a serious medical condition stop a visa being granted?
It can. Across New Zealand visa categories, INZ may decline where a medical assessor considers the likely cost of health services would exceed NZD $81,000, assessed over five years or the predicted course of the condition. That is a general rule, not a prediction about any individual case, and how it applies to an application whose purpose is treatment is a question for a licensed adviser rather than a website.
Do visitors get free healthcare in New Zealand?
Generally no. Publicly funded healthcare is not available to most visitors, and applicants on longer visitor products are required to agree to pay their own healthcare costs. Emergency care is a separate matter, but it is not free to a visitor either. Anyone travelling for treatment should have the funding arrangement settled before they apply.
Where can I get the official rules for this visa?
INZ's own product page, at immigration.govt.nz/visas/medical-treatment-visitor-visa/. That is the primary source for duration, evidence and eligibility, and it is where changes appear first. For a real application, a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer is the appropriate next step — a website cannot lawfully advise on your circumstances, and this is a category where circumstances are everything.
