Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday said that Indian students going to New Zealand for studies will now be eligible for work visas, depending on their course of study, under the provisions of the new Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries.
Those completing a degree course or a bachelor's degree with honours will be eligible for a 3-year work visa, while those graduating in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) or finishing a post-graduate degree would be eligible for a 4-year work visa, said Goyal.
AYUSH, forestry, and other sectors to benefit from new FTA
Goyal also said that cooperation has been agreed in AYUSH, culture, fisheries, audiovisual, tourism, forestry, horticulture and traditional knowledge systems.
The India-New Zealand FTA also outlines the following:
– Around 5,000 professionals — including yoga instructors, chefs, AYUSH practitioners and nurses — will be eligible for professional work visas.
— The agreement also opens up 118 sectors for participation, said Goyal.
— These sectors include tourism, IT, telecom, audio-visual, and other services.
Adding that the India-New Zealand FTA will provide students and professionals with enhanced opportunities for education and employment, Goyal said that the FTA is ‘comprehensive’ and ‘forward looking.’
"This is a free trade agreement with New Zealand which is both comprehensive and forward looking, reflecting the vision of our leaders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to elevate the relations to much higher strategic levels, much more comprehensively, which will not only include trade, education, R&D and innovation, services Sector, tourism, sports," Piyush Goyal said, as per ANI.
India-New Zealand FTA
The Commerce Minister also highlighted that the India-New Zealand FTA is expected to deliver a significant boost to India's exports, with New Zealand offering zero-duty market access on 100% of its tariff lines covering all Indian exports from the date of entry into force.
Labour-intensive industries are set to benefit the most from the agreement. With New Zealand scrapping tariffs that earlier went up to 10%, Indian textile and clothing exporters will now enjoy zero-duty access across 1,057 tariff lines.
India’s textile and apparel exports stood at USD 36.9 billion in 2024–25, with shipments to New Zealand touching $103 million. This figure is expected to rise further, given that New Zealand imports nearly $1.9 billion worth of textiles from around the world each year.
