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Pathway

New Zealand Pacific Access Resident Visa

New Zealand Residency
Pathway overview

At a glance

The Pacific Access Category gives eligible citizens of Fiji, Kiribati, Tonga, or Tuvalu a chance to apply for New Zealand residence through an annual random draw. The 2026 ballot is closed. Selection is only the first step: the job, income, English, health, and other requirements still apply.

Age and birthplace
Age 18–45 at registration close, with the required birth or parent-birth link
Places
650 in 2026: 250 each for Fiji and Tonga, 75 each for Kiribati and Tuvalu
Job offer required?
Yes, for the residence application; the applicant or included partner needs qualifying work

Summary

This is a Pacific residence ballot for eligible citizens of Fiji, Kiribati, Tonga, and Tuvalu. After ballot selection, the applicant usually needs a qualifying job offer in New Zealand, unless a partner's offer can satisfy the employment requirement.

Selection is permission to apply, not a resident visa. A selected person must still meet the employment, income, English, health, character, location, and family requirements by the invitation deadline.

Applying through the Pacific Access Category
  1. Check eligibility for an open annual ballot Confirm citizenship, age, birth link, location, and every family member to include.
  2. If selected, prepare the residence requirements Secure an eligible job offer and the required income and personal records.
  3. Apply within the invitation deadline Normally eight months; selection does not guarantee approval.

The 2026 ballot is closed. Check the official page for future registration dates.

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Eligibility

To register for the ballot, the person registering as the main applicant must:

If selected and invited, the person must apply from the country of citizenship or while lawfully in New Zealand; Kiribati and Tuvalu citizens may also apply from Fiji. The main applicant or included partner must have a current New Zealand job offer for at least 12 months. At least one job must be full-time, the employment must comply with New Zealand law, and the employer cannot be barred from recruiting migrant workers.

Where dependent children are included, the current combined minimum annual income is NZD 55,404.96. Without dependent children, the job must pay at least the New Zealand minimum wage. Both partners' eligible earnings can be combined where both have acceptable offers.

The applicant must read, write, and speak English and meet health and character requirements. A partner and dependent children must be named in the ballot registration to be included later. The residence application is normally due within 8 months of invitation.

What This Route Allows

If residence is granted, the family members included in the approved application can live, work, and study in New Zealand indefinitely. The initial resident visa normally allows you to leave and return as a resident for 2 years, after which a Permanent Resident Visa may be available.

An unsuccessful person can normally register in a later annual ballot while still meeting the age and other registration rules.

What This Route Is Not

This is not a general Pacific nationality route and it is not first-come, first-served. Citizenship from one eligible country cannot be paired with a parent born in a different eligible country to create eligibility; the birth link must match the country of citizenship.

Planning to enter a future ballot is not the same as being eligible to file for residence. A selected registration can still fail if the applicant cannot secure the job, income, documents, or health and character evidence in time.

Next Steps

  1. For a future ballot, confirm citizenship, age, matching birth link, and permitted registration location.
  2. Include every partner or dependent child who may need residence.
  3. If selected, read the invitation and record the 8-month deadline immediately.
  4. Obtain a job offer that meets the rules and calculate income using the threshold current on the application date.
  5. Prepare passports, birth and relationship records, medicals, police certificates, English evidence, and proof of location.

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