New Zealand issues increasing number of visas

Published:  27 Apr at 4 PM
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New Zealand is becoming more and more popular with expats from all over the world, with the most recent data showing a rise in the number of work, visitor and student visas issued.

Visitor arrivals to the country hit a record high for March, a rise of 15 per cent on the same month last year and eight per cent greater than in 2013, according to the statistics. The Cricket World Cup coupled with an earlier Easter were the main reasons for such a large increase, noted the manager of New Zealand Statistics, Vina Cullum.

The yearly net gain of migrants also reached a record high, with 56,300 arrivals in the March 2015 year, in comparison to 31,900 12 months earlier and 2,500 two years ago. The statistics revealed that migrant arrivals increased 16 per cent compared to the March 2014 year, with departures dropping by 13 per cent at the same time.

Meanwhile, the net loss of people to Australia was at just 2,300 in the March 2015 year – the smallest it has been since 1992.

The largest net gains of migrants in the 12-month period came from India (12,100), whil China (7,700) was second, the UK (4,900) third and the Philippines (4,000) fourth. Roughly 75 per cent of Indian migrants and 50 per cent of Chinese travelled to New Zealand on student visas.
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