NZ to offer ‘digital nomad’ visas as next step to grow economy
Monday, 27 January 2025
The Government is trying to entice so-called digital nomads to live and work in New Zealand by allowing them to work remotely on a visitor’s visa.
The initiative is being promoted as the next step in the Government’s bid to find ways to boost economic growth.
Details of the scheme were announced by Finance Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston at Wellington airport on Monday afternoon.
“Making the country more attractive to ‘digital nomads’ – people who work remotely while travelling – will boost New Zealand’s attractiveness as a destination,” Willis said, in a statement.
Under the changes, which take effect immediately, all people entering New Zealand on visitor visas -- which includes tourists, people visiting family, and partners and guardians on longer-term visas -- will be able to work remotely for a foreign employer.
Willis said nomads would be able to stay in New Zealand for up to nine months by extending their visitor visas after they arrived.
This work in New Zealand would be untaxed if in New Zealand for less than 90 days. There may be “tax implications” for visitors staying longer, however what implications were not immediately spelled out by the Government.
People coming to New Zealand for work, such as sales people and performers, must still obtain the relevant work visa.
“This is a brand-new market of tourist New Zealand can tap into. We want people to see our country as the ideal place to visit and work while they do it,” Stanford said.
“The change will enable many visitors to extend their stays which will lead to more money being spent in the country.”
Some estimates suggest that, globally, there may already be 40 million such nomads already taking advantage of their opportunity to work from anywhere in the world with an internet connection.
Top destinations include Portugal, Spain, Thailand and Colombia.
The Economist quoted a forecast last year that there could a billion such digital nomads by 2035.
The National Party signalled during its 2023 election campaign that it wanted New Zealand to join the growing list of dozens of countries competing to host them.
At the time, it envisaged starting small by offering a new kind of visa to 250 digital nomads that would allow them to live and work in New Zealand for foreign employers for up to a year.
But Stanford said the alternative approach the Government had taken “killed two birds with one stone” by also clarifying that regular tourists on were able to work for their employer while on holiday here.
Stanford said in March last year — when the country was in the midst a huge surge in immigration — that nomad visas were not an immediate priority then.
A sharp drop-off in net immigration and the announcement in “a state of the nation” address by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon that economic growth its top priority, appears to have changed that.
Stats NZ estimated last week estimated annual net migration in the year to the end of November at 30,600, down from 133,300 in the previous 12 month period.
Many countries that offer tailored visas for digital nomads offer them the surety of being able to stay for a year or more when they arrive and lower tax rates than those paid by regular residents.
But Willis said she believed the arrangements the Government was offering would stack up.
“This is the most beautiful country in the world. You bet we're competitive.”
Supporters argue that rolling out the welcome mat to digital nomads is a win-win.
Proponents argue that so long as they are not taking locals’ jobs, countries would appear to have little to lose and at least something to gain by offering them a base from which to work, even with low or no income tax.
However, the OECD has voiced some reservations that as the number of digital nomads and the competition to host them grows, there is some risk of undermining global revenues from income tax.