The free-trade agreement signed by India and New Zealand on 28 April is being hailed as India’s most mobility-friendly trade pact to date. Under the deal, up to 5,000 Indian professionals a year will be able to obtain a Temporary Employment Entry visa for stays of up to three years in key skill-shortage sectors such as IT, engineering, health care and construction. Students also benefit: Indian nationals enrolled in New Zealand institutions will have clear rights to work 20 hours a week during term and—crucially—extended post-study work visas (three years for STEM bachelor’s and master’s degrees, four years for PhDs).
![India–New Zealand FTA opens 5,000-visa annual pathway for Indian professionals]()
Navigating the fine print of these new visa pathways can be simplified by using services such as VisaHQ, which provides step-by-step guidance, document checking and application tracking for Indian nationals heading abroad. Employers and students can explore tailored support for New Zealand entries—and many other destinations—at https://www.visahq.com/india/
A separate Working Holiday quota of 1,000 places will allow young Indians aged 18-30 to live and work in New Zealand for up to 12 months. For Indian companies, the talent chapter provides a predictable framework for seconding staff on client projects, thanks to transparent processing timelines and a jointly managed skills-shortage list that will be reviewed every six months. The agreement also recognises Ayurvedic practitioners, yoga instructors and Indian cuisine chefs, widening opportunities beyond STEM trades. New Zealand, for its part, gains tariff-free access for dairy and kiwifruit exports over a staged period, but officials stress that talent mobility is the “people-to-people glue” that will make the pact work. Both governments will pilot a digital verification system linking India’s DigiLocker and New Zealand’s RealMe to cut document fraud in visa applications. The FTA still requires ratification by New Zealand’s Parliament and India’s Cabinet, but trade lawyers expect provisional implementation of the mobility provisions as early as August 2026. Corporations planning transfers should monitor the joint committee’s guidance on occupation lists and minimum salary thresholds, which will be published 60 days before launch.
Navigating the fine print of these new visa pathways can be simplified by using services such as VisaHQ, which provides step-by-step guidance, document checking and application tracking for Indian nationals heading abroad. Employers and students can explore tailored support for New Zealand entries—and many other destinations—at https://www.visahq.com/india/
A separate Working Holiday quota of 1,000 places will allow young Indians aged 18-30 to live and work in New Zealand for up to 12 months. For Indian companies, the talent chapter provides a predictable framework for seconding staff on client projects, thanks to transparent processing timelines and a jointly managed skills-shortage list that will be reviewed every six months. The agreement also recognises Ayurvedic practitioners, yoga instructors and Indian cuisine chefs, widening opportunities beyond STEM trades. New Zealand, for its part, gains tariff-free access for dairy and kiwifruit exports over a staged period, but officials stress that talent mobility is the “people-to-people glue” that will make the pact work. Both governments will pilot a digital verification system linking India’s DigiLocker and New Zealand’s RealMe to cut document fraud in visa applications. The FTA still requires ratification by New Zealand’s Parliament and India’s Cabinet, but trade lawyers expect provisional implementation of the mobility provisions as early as August 2026. Corporations planning transfers should monitor the joint committee’s guidance on occupation lists and minimum salary thresholds, which will be published 60 days before launch.
