You have several visa options if you’re over the age of 50. Check out the following categories to determine which visa is right for you:

Visitors

Dependent on your country of citizenship, your Visitor’s Visa will be issued upon arrival in New Zealand for three months (or six months if you’re from the UK). With this visa, however, you cannot work.

To determine if you are from a visa-waiver country, check out the current list. If you are not eligible for Visa-waiver visits, you must apply for a Visitor Visa before your travel.  

Work and Residence

• Essential Skills Work Policy – If you have a job offer from a New Zealand employer, this temporary work policy is great for someone of any age 
• Work to Residence – This visa category allows you to stay in New Zealand for up to 30 months and eventually apply for residence 
• Skilled Migrant Category –The Skilled Migrant Category is based on points for skills, qualifications, experience and a number of other factors, including age – you must be 55 years old or younger to meet the age requirement.

Students

• Student Visa – Whether you want to take a short course or study full-time you may be interested in a Student Visa. While there are no age restrictions on this visa policy, you must qualify for a course of study before applying. 

Family Visas

• Parent Policy – If you are the parent(s) of a New Zealand citizen or resident, who has been a New Zealand resident for at least three years, you may be eligible to join them in New Zealand under our Parent Category.
• Partnership Visas – Regardless of age, you may qualify for a Student Visa, Temporary Work Visa or Residence as a partner of someone in New Zealand who’s studying or working or is a New Zealand citizen or resident 
• Refugee Family Support Category – If you have a refugee family member who’s already living in New Zealand, they may qualify to sponsor you. Every year, 300 sponsored people, of all ages, settle in New Zealand 
• In addition, please see the Temporary Retirement Category and Parent Retirement Category details below.

Business Visas

Other visa categories that you may qualify for require a certain level of business investment. These include:

• Starting a business
  • Long Term Business Visa – No matter what your age, you may qualify for a Long Term Business Visa. There’s no minimum investment requirement for this visa
  • After running your New Zealand business for at least two years, you may qualify for an Entrepreneur or Entrepreneur Plus Visa.
• Investing at least NZ$750,000
  • Temporary Retirement Category – If you’re aged 66 years or over, you may want to consider this visa policy. The Temporary Retirement Category is a two year renewable visa and requires a NZ$750,000 investment. The visa is renewable as long as you continue to meet all the criteria, including investment funds, income and health insurance.
• Investing at least NZ$1 million
  • Parent Retirement Category – Designed for people of any age with children who are New Zealand residents or citizens, this visa grants you permanent residence. There is an investment requirement of NZ$1 million over four years.
• Investing at least NZ$1.5 million
  • Investor (Investor 2 Category) – If you’re aged 65 years or younger, this visa policy is great if you want to live in New Zealand. Granting you permanent residence, this visa requires an investment of NZ$1.5 million in New Zealand over a four year period.
• Investing at least NZ$10 million
  • Investor Plus (Investor 1 Category) – A faster track to residence, there’s a minimum investment requirement of NZ$10 million for three years. There’s no age requirement for the Investor Plus Visa.