The Government has reviewed the prices of its immigration fees and levies for the majority of their visa applications.

This is to ensure that enough money is collected to pay for the cost of providing services and managing risks related to immigration, and that the charges accurately reflect the costs of each type of application. Immigration costs have increased as more people come to New Zealand and the risks associated with immigration become more complex.

Fees for some classes of visa will increase, while others will decrease.

Summary of changes:

In addition, the current online discounts for certain visa applications will be removed (this will impact on some visitor, work and student applications) and there will be an increase to the employer accreditation fee.

How will the money be spent?

The increases are needed to cover the following increased costs (over five years):

• $119.774 million to meet the increasing cost of visa processing services
• $39.576 million to enhance border security and strengthen the regulation of immigration advisers.

Increases are also required to make up for a shortfall accumulated over the past few years where not enough funding was collected to cover Immigration New Zealand costs. The current deficit is expected to be paid off over the next three years.

When will the changes come into effect?

The new fee and levy rates will come into effect on 5 November 2018.

Source: Immigration New Zealand