Pacific visitors to pay less as NZ cuts visa fees

Pacific travellers will soon pay less to visit New Zealand as the Government moves to make travel from the region easier and more affordable

From 1 June, the total cost of applying for a visitor visa for Pacific nationals will drop from $216 to $161.

Foreign Affairs Minister Vaovasamania Winston Peters says the change, announced on Thursday, is part of efforts to strengthen New Zealand’s relationship with the Pacific.

“This is a practical update to visitor visa settings that reduces cost, supports easier travel and helps strengthen the relationships that matter most,” Peters said in a press release.

Immigration Minister Erica Stanford says the move builds on recent changes aimed at making travel easier for Pacific visitors.

This also includes the extension of Pacific visitor visas to 24 months with multiple entries and a visa-free trial for Pacific travellers arriving from Australia.

Immigration Minister Erica Stanford (left) and Foreing Affairs Minister Vaovasamanaia Winston Peters (right). Photo/Supplied

“Together, these changes make it easier and cheaper for Pacific visitors to come to New Zealand, while ensuring the system remains clear, predictable and secure,” Stanford said in a press release.

“The Government will review the impacts in a year’s time, before deciding what happens next.”

But not everyone is convinced. The Green Party says the Government should go further and introduce visa-free travel for Pacific visitors.

Visitor visa fees for Pacific nationals will drop from $216 to $161 from 1 June but only temporarily. Photo/Supplied

Green Party MP Teanau Tuiono says the fee reduction largely reverses an earlier price increase.

“What we see from this announcement today is largely a reversal of their own decision in October 2024 when they hiked the total cost from $171 to $216 as part of a broader push to shift costs onto applicants,” Teanau told PMN News.

“So announcing this as a generous new initiative is actually misleading when the price only got that high because of their own fee increases from two years ago.”

Tuiono says Pacific communities should not have to wait for a year to know whether travel will remain affordable.

He also pointed to a petition with nearly 50,000 signatures calling for visa-waiver access for Pacific visitors, which was presented to Parliament last month.

“While we see thousands of visitors from the UK, Germany, Israel and around 57 other nations that can visit New Zealand without a visa, Pacific Islanders are still forced to push out hundreds of dollars for visas just to see their families, just to see their families.”

Listen to Teanau Tuiono's recent interview on Pacific Mornings below.

The fee reduction applies to visitors from American Sāmoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Sāmoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

The change follows earlier immigration updates affecting Pacific travellers. From July 2025, visitor visas for Pacific Oslands Forum shifted to a default two-year, multi-entry visa, allowing travellers to visit Aotearoa.

A separate 12-month trial introduced in November 2025 allows Pacific passport holders travelling from Australia with a valid Australian visa to enter New Zealand visa-free using a New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority (NZeTA) for visits of up to three months.

Further details on eligibility and implementation of how the new fee will be applied are expected in the coming weeks.