India and New Zealand's new trade deal has opened new opportunities for Indian workers. It provides a quota of 5,000 temporary employment visas and 1,000 Working Holiday Visas each year.
Here's all you need to know about these visa categories.
Working Holiday Visa: What is it and who can apply?
If you are aged 18 to 30 (or up to 35 in a select few countries) and a citizen of a country with a working holiday agreement with New Zealand, you can apply for a Working Holiday Visa, according to the New Zealand Immigration website.
In most cases, you can work for up to 12 months on this visa, but you cannot take a permanent job. Your primary purpose must be to holiday; work should remain secondary.
Advantages of having a Working Holiday Visa
There are certain advantages to having this visa. You can:
- Stay longer than with a standard visitor visa
- Start work straight away
- Leave and re-enter New Zealand freely as many times as you like while the visa is valid.
Employment conditions vary depending on where you are from. Check the details for your country’s Working Holiday Visa scheme.
Working Holiday Visa is also a temporary work visa
New Zealand offers various temporary work visas, including the Working Holiday Visa for younger travellers.
Other key temporary work visas
Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV): The main pathway. Requires a job offer from an accredited employer (minimum 30 hours/week).
Specific Purpose/Event Work Visa: For short-term projects, professional sports and entertainment, typically valid for the duration of the event.
Green List/Straight to Residence: Certain skilled roles allow these temporary work visas that quickly transition to permanent residence
All you need to know about India-New Zealand FTA
India and New Zealand signed a free trade agreement (FTA) on Monday, 27 April, lowering tariffs on key fruit imports such as kiwifruit and apples, expanding opportunities for Indian exports and easing visa access as the nations deepen economic ties.
Concluded in December after about nine months of talks, the India-New Zealand FTA is one of the South Asian nation's fastest trade deals and will cut or remove tariffs on 95% of New Zealand's exports to India, including on seafood, iron, steel and scrap aluminium.
"The benefits of this FTA are widespread," New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said in a statement, adding that it would open the doors of opportunity to 1.4 billion consumers in the Indian market.
"New Zealand has also committed to invest $20 billion," Indian Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said after signing the pact with his counterpart, Todd McClay, in the presence of business leaders from both countries.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also hailed the signing of the FTA, saying that the agreement will benefit Indian farmers, youth, women, MSME's, artisans, startups, students and innovators. The FTA, Modi added, will “open new avenues for growth, create opportunities and deepen our synergy across sectors.”
The agreement is part of India's push to diversify exports amid global trade tensions, such as uncertainty over US tariffs and the Middle East conflict.
