New Zealand Citizenship Fee Rises Twice in a Year to NZ$641 as Applications Are Forecast to Peak Above 102,000
The cost of becoming a New Zealand citizen has risen twice in a year. The NZ Herald reported on October 20, citing Cabinet material, that citizenship by grant now costs NZ$641 for adults aged 16 and over and NZ$320 for children aged 15 and under. The fees apply to all residents applying for citizenship, including Chinese residents settled in New Zealand.
The fee rose 19 percent on November 21, 2025, and a further 14.4 percent on August 28, 2026. Before November 2025, the adult citizenship by grant fee was NZ$470.20, meaning the charge has risen by more than a third within a year. Citizenship fees and processing are administered by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA).
Cabinet material quoted in the report said a large increase in citizenship by grant applications is expected as holders of the 2021 Resident Visa, which granted residency to more than 212,000 people from the end of 2021 until 2024, become eligible. Historically, around 65 percent of people with a residency visa go on to apply for citizenship, the material said.
Applications are forecast to peak at over 102,000 in 2027/28, compared with around 43,000 in 2025/26. The report also said the cost of new tests for grant citizenship, being rolled out from late 2027, is yet to be confirmed, with further Cabinet decisions needed to set the final fee.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: Paasikivi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (the Beehive, New Zealand Parliament, Wellington)
