New Zealand Immigration at a Crossroads: From Post-COVID Boom to Election Battleground

5 Nov 2026

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New Zealand's immigration settings have undergone a significant transformation since the Covid-19 border closures, shifting from a post-pandemic "labour tap" boom to strict tightening and intense political debate.

As New Zealand approaches the 7 November 2026 General Election, immigration has become one of the country's most debated policy issues. This shift comes as the country transitions away from its historic, post-COVID net migration gain of 133,700 in late 2023. According to Stats NZ data for the year ending August 2026, annual net migration has plummeted to an estimated gain of just 20,500 people[1]. The sharp decline was heavily driven by a "Kiwi exodus," with tens of thousands of New Zealand citizens departing long-term, primarily for better economic opportunities in Australia. However, recent Stats NZ data shows a turning tide with more New Zealand citizens returning home.

Against this backdrop, political parties are advancing competing visions for the future of migration. The question is no longer whether immigration settings should be adjusted, but how open New Zealand should be and what role immigration should play in addressing future economic and demographic challenges.

The Post-COVID Evolution

Following the reopening of New Zealand's borders, immigration policy was initially geared towards addressing severe workforce shortages across a wide range of industries. This resulted in historically high migration numbers, helping businesses fill vacancies but also increasing pressure on housing supply, transport networks, healthcare services, and education infrastructure.

In response, successive reforms have sought to strike a balance between attracting skilled migrants and managing population growth.

Key developments include:

Investor and Business Reform

In September 2022, New Zealand introduced the Active Investor Plus visa, replacing the Investor 1 and 2 resident visas. The Government further revised the programme in April 2025 by introducing the Growth and Balanced investment categories, requiring investments of NZD$5 million over three years and NZD$10 million over five years respectively.

In November 2025, New Zealand introduced the Business Investor Visa replacing the Entrepreneur visa as a separate pathway for experienced businesspeople investing in and actively operating established New Zealand businesses.

Together, the categories distinguish between applicants primarily contributing investment capital and those expected to provide active business ownership, management, and employment outcomes.

Accredited Employer Work Visa Reform

The Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) underwent substantial reform, including:

• Removal of the median wage requirement for most roles
• Introduction of new maximum continuous stay rules for lower-skilled workers
• Increased employer compliance obligations
• English language requirements extended to AEWV skill level 3 roles
• The development and progressive implementation of the National Occupation List (NOL) replacing the Australian New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupation (ANZSCO).

These changes reflected a shift away from broad labour market access towards a more targeted and regulated temporary migration system.

New Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) Residence Pathways

In 2026, the Government introduced two new residence pathways – Skilled Work Experience and Trades and Technician aimed at addressing ongoing shortages in critical sectors while retaining highly skilled workers already contributing to the New Zealand economy.

Furthermore, most SMC applicants only now need to meet 1 SMC wage threshold, rather than one rate for their work experience and a higher rate when they apply for residence.

The reforms were designed to create more predictable routes to residence for selected professionals, technicians, and tradespeople while maintaining tighter controls on lower-skilled migration.

Expansion of niche visa categories

The immigration system also expanded several specialist pathways, including:

• A Digital Nomad Visitor Visa framework for remote workers
• The Parent Boost Visitor Visa, allowing longer-term visits by parents of New Zealand citizens and residents; and
• Increased work rights for international students, permitting eligible students to work up to 25 hours per week during study periods.
• Two new seasonal visas: Global Workforce Seasonal Visa (GWSV) and Peak Seasonal Visa (PSV) introduced in December 2025 making it easier for accredited employers to hire for genuine seasonal roles.
• Most recently, the India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement introduced two new Temporary Employment Entry (TEE) visa categories, allowing up to 5,000 Indian nationals to work in New Zealand.

Collectively, these measures reflect a growing preference for targeted migration categories aligned with specific economic and social objectives.

The 2026 Election Battleground

Immigration has emerged as a significant election issue, with major political parties adopting markedly different positions on migration settings, residence pathways, and long-term settlement.

National Party

National has largely focused on policy continuity and economic growth. It supports maintaining recent Skilled Migrant Category reforms and generally favours a migration system that remains responsive to labour market demands. It resists abolishing permanent residency.

Labour Party

Labour has proposed a more cautious approach to long-term migration settings, including doubling the time required to achieve permanent residency and reviewing the financial requirements for parent visas.

ACT Party

ACT has advocated for stronger mechanisms to ensure immigration settings remain aligned with labour market needs. It demands that skill categories automatically expire annually. Advocates for a five-year welfare stand-down for new residents, a daily infrastructure surcharge for temporary workers, and abolishing permanent resident visas.

New Zealand First Party

New Zealand First is pushing for a radical overhaul, including a public referendum to cap resident visas at 20,000 annually. Proposes doubling the citizenship qualifying period to 10 years and restricting birthright citizenship.

Greens Party

The Greens have generally emphasised migrant rights, family reunification, humanitarian obligations, and protections against migrant exploitation, while opposing rhetoric that portrays migration primarily as a burden on public resources.

Opportunity Party

The Opportunity Party has stated support for an open immigration approach, which includes proposals such as reducing the minimum salary requirement for skilled worker visas, creating specific visas to encourage workers to settle in regions outside Auckland, and requiring investor visa applicants to help fund refugee resettlement.

Global Comparison: How Does New Zealand Compare?

New Zealand is not alone in reassessing its immigration settings. Across the broader CANZUK jurisdictions, governments have moved away from the exceptionally high migration programmes introduced following the pandemic.

New Zealand

New Zealand remains heavily reliant on tightly managed, employer-tied work visas (AEWV) and continues to use immigration as a tool to address skill shortages. However, it faces a unique challenge: many skilled migrants ultimately view New Zealand as a stepping stone to Australia, where wages are often significantly higher.

A distinctive feature of New Zealand's immigration framework is its Permanent Resident Visa. Unlike many comparable jurisdictions, New Zealand grants permanent residents indefinite permission to travel to and from the country once they have demonstrated a commitment to New Zealand and met the relevant eligibility requirements.

Australia[2]

Australia has tightened international student settings, increased English language requirements, and prioritised a highly selective points-based permanent migration programme focused on skilled workers capable of making an immediate economic contribution.

Canada[3]

Canada has undergone one of the most significant policy reversals among developed nations. Following years of exceptionally high migration targets, it has introduced caps on international student numbers, reduced temporary worker programmes, and lowered permanent residence targets for the first time in decades.

United Kingdom[4]

The United Kingdom has steadily increased salary thresholds for Skilled Worker visas and imposed additional restrictions on family accompaniment in certain visa categories, reflecting growing political pressure to reduce net migration.

What Might the Next Five Years Look Like?

Regardless of which parties form the next government, several trends are likely to shape immigration policy through to 2031.

• Future migration settings are increasingly likely to be tied to New Zealand's ability to accommodate population growth. Housing supply, healthcare capacity, school enrolments, and transport infrastructure are expected to become key factors in determining overall migration levels.
• The trend towards more gradual transitions from temporary visas to permanent residence is likely to continue. Policymakers across the political spectrum appear increasingly focused on ensuring migrants demonstrate an ongoing commitment and contribution before gaining access to long-term settlement benefits.
• New Zealand is likely to continue refining its investor and business migration settings as it competes with jurisdictions such as Singapore, Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and parts of Europe for internationally mobile capital, entrepreneurial talent, and high-net-worth individuals.
• Immigration New Zealand is expected to continue strengthening compliance and enforcement activities, particularly in relation to employer accreditation, migrant exploitation, and visa conditions.
• Employers can expect more rigorous monitoring, while migrants may face increasing documentary requirements and verification checks throughout the application process.
• Application fees have increased significantly in recent years and are unlikely to decrease. Further increases, alongside potential levies or cost-recovery measures, are likely as governments seek to fund both immigration processing and compliance activities.

The era of post-pandemic immigration expansion has come to an end.

At the same time, New Zealand continues to recognise the important role that skilled migrants, investors, entrepreneurs, students, and family migrants play in supporting the country's long-term prosperity. The challenge for policymakers will be maintaining New Zealand's competitiveness for talent and capital in an increasingly contested global market, while ensuring migration remains sustainable and aligned with the country's capacity to grow.

For employers, migrants, and advisers alike, success in the years ahead will depend on understanding not only the immigration rules themselves, but also the broader economic, political, and demographic forces shaping them. As the landscape continues to evolve, those who remain informed and adaptable will be best positioned to navigate the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.

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