Visa policy of New Zealand
Non–New Zealand citizens wishing to enter the Realm of New Zealand must obtain a visa unless they are Both Australian citizens travelling on a Valid Australian Passport and permanent residents of Australia that present a valid Permanent Visa or Resident Return Visa are deemed to hold resident status in New Zealand upon arrival under the Trans-Tasman travel arrangement.
Visitors travelling for tourist purposes may extend their stay, for periods of 31 days, up to a maximum of 6 months.
Visitors must have sufficient funds for the length of their stay together with a confirmed reservation for accommodation and those not holding return or onward tickets could be refused entry.
Many tourists, people on working holidays, and some students and workers coming to New Zealand must pay an International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL) of NZD $100.
For most Europeans New Zealand was an unappealing prospect, a strange and lonely land reached after 100 days on dangerous seas; its coasts were thought treacherous, its inhabitants bloodthirsty.
Many of New Zealand's early immigrants first spent time in Australia, and most of them were only temporary visitors in search of items to trade.
[citation needed] Among the earliest visitors were sealers, attracted by the promise of high-quality oil, and fur for hats (often sold in China in return for tea).
As with the inflow of the 1840s, there were three main groups – assisted families coming directly from Britain; individuals from across the Tasman Sea looking for a better life; and military settlers.
Unlike the Chinese, most Indians were British subjects and free to enter New Zealand until the very end of the 19th century.
From 1896, despite objections from the British government, New Zealand tried to pass more comprehensive legislation restricting the immigration not just of the Chinese but also of Indians and other Asians.
The 1899 act prohibited the entry of immigrants who were not of British or Irish parentage and who could not fill in an application form 'in any European language' – which in practice meant English.
Under the Undesirable Immigrants Exclusion Act 1919, Germans and Austro-Hungarians were prohibited from entering without a licence issued by the attorney general.
The act also gave power to the attorney general to prohibit the entry of any person not resident in New Zealand – including British subjects – who was disaffected or disloyal, or of such a character that his presence would be injurious to the peace, order and good government' of New Zealand.
In 1973, the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement allowed Australian and New Zealand citizens to enter each other's countries to visit, live, work, or remain indefinitely without having to apply for a permit.
Nevertheless, for the first time, the 1961 act put British and non-British people on the same footing when they sought to enter New Zealand.
After the immigration policy review of 1974, British migrants, like all others, were required to obtain a permit before they left their homelands.
The skills and business stream was originally based on an occupational priority list, but was replaced with a points system in 1991.
It modernised the earlier 1987 legislation, but did not make major changes to the criteria under which immigrants would apply to travel to and stay in New Zealand.
2 Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Russia and the partially recognised republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia each span the conventional boundary between Europe and Asia.
