Look inside
The plan for New Zealand, from the inside
These are all 36 steps of the New Zealand journey, exactly as they appear in your personal plan — with the lead time and the costs next to them. Not a brochure: this is the file that feeds the platform. Pick another country below if you're heading elsewhere.
For which country?
Every country has its own steps, its own order and its own clocks. Switch as often as you like.
- Steps
- 36
- Phases
- 5
- Official sources
- 81
- Only for your situation
- 9
Phase 1
6 steps
Orientation
New Zealand doesn't rank you and doesn't put you in a lottery: it sets a threshold and tells you straight away whether you're over it. But almost every door starts with an employer, and that makes the order here different from the other visa corridors.
- 1.1
Understand the four doors
- Lead time
- reading step
- Costs
- none
4 official sources
- 1.2
The four years in which your foreign income stays untaxed
- Lead time
- an evening of calculating, and one decision you take only once
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 1.3
Test yourself against the hard limits
- Lead time
- an afternoon
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 1.4
Get a picture of what it's going to cost
- Lead time
- 1-2 hours with the calculator
- Costs
- none
- 1.5
Take the decision together
- Lead time
- no fixed time; take your time for it
- Costs
- none
- 1.6
Choose your target date
- Lead time
- one moment, and it may shift later
- Costs
- none
Phase 2
7 steps
Job and visa
Without an accredited employer your application doesn't exist. Everything you collect here also has a use-by date — and the points rules change on 24 August 2026 — in eight days.
- 2.1
Find a job with an accredited employer
- Lead time
- count on months, not weeks
- Costs
- none — the employer pays the accreditation
2 official sources
- 2.2
See whether your occupation is on the Green List
- Lead time
- an hour, but do it before you start applying
- Costs
- none
3 official sources
- 2.3
Pass your language test
- Lead time
- booking and sitting, a few weeks
- Costs
- IELTS in the Netherlands about € 283 per sitting
2 official sources
- 2.4
Have your occupation registered if that's needed
- Lead time
- varies strongly, count on months
- Costs
- differs per professional body
2 official sources
- 2.5
Medical examination and police certificates
- Lead time
- 3-6 weeks
- Costs
- examination, chest X-ray and VOG per person
2 official sources
- 2.6
Lodge your EOI: the answer comes straight away
- Lead time
- filling it in takes an evening; the answer comes immediately
- Costs
- none — lodging an EOI is free
2 official sources
- 2.7
Lodge your application within four months
- Lead time
- lodging takes weeks, the assessment months
- Costs
- from NZ$ 6,450 per application
2 official sources
Phase 3
11 steps
Closing the Netherlands
New Zealand is a treaty country for your AOW but not for your healthcare. And two things differ here from every European destination: your AOW stays taxed in the Netherlands, and for your protective assessment you have to provide security.
- 3.1
Arrange your healthcare: there is no treaty route
- Lead time
- researching and taking out, 1-3 weeks
- Costs
- private cover as long as you have no right to public healthcare
3 official sources
- 3.2
AOW and pension: what comes along, and who taxes
- Lead time
- an afternoon of research; voluntary insurance possible up to 1 year after departure
- Costs
- voluntary AOW continuation 17.9% of your income (min € 569, max € 5,693 in 2026)
5 official sources
- 3.3
Know what you lose for tax, and provide security
- Lead time
- one good conversation with a tax adviser, plus arranging
- Costs
- advisory hours; with a bank guarantee also bank charges
4 official sources
- 3.4
Stop allowances and child benefit
- Lead time
- an hour
- Costs
- none
3 official sources
- 3.5
Deregister with the municipality
- Lead time
- 15 minutes at the counter
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 3.6
Get your documents ready, with apostille
- Lead time
- 1-2 weeks
- Costs
- apostille € 27 per document
3 official sources
- 3.7
Arrange DigiD and your vote
- Lead time
- an evening, plus an appointment
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 3.8
Partner comes along without a job of their own
- Lead time
- an evening together, then a few things to arrange
- Costs
- none — the consequences are in the article
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 3.9
Living partly in the Netherlands: the eight-month rule
- Lead time
- one decision, before you commit to anything else
- Costs
- none
4 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 3.10
The house in the Netherlands: sell, rent out or keep
- Lead time
- one conversation with the mortgage lender and one with a tax adviser
- Costs
- advisory hours; when renting out possibly an interest surcharge from the bank
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 3.11
Children staying in the Netherlands: DUO, healthcare and the house
- Lead time
- an evening, and after that one report a year
- Costs
- none
1 official source
Only if this applies to you
Phase 4
5 steps
Move
Two things decide this phase, and both are harder than people expect: the strictest biosecurity in the world, and the fact that New Zealand drives on the left.
- 4.1
Clean your household contents — literally
- Lead time
- count on days of work, spread over weeks
- Costs
- none, except your own time
3 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 4.2
Book your container and know the exemption
- Lead time
- six to nine weeks' sailing, plus packing and clearing
- Costs
- container costs plus a goods levy per shipment
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 4.3
Your car stays here, and that's not a choice
- Lead time
- selling takes weeks; the export notification a day
- Costs
- RDW export notification € 12; no BPM refund
3 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 4.4
Arrange your pet: start six months in advance
- Lead time
- at least six months' preparation
- Costs
- vaccinations, titre test, permit, flight and ten days' quarantine
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 4.5
Travel day and the border
- Lead time
- the day itself, plus 24 hours before
- Costs
- none for the arrival declaration
2 official sources
Phase 5
7 steps
Arrival in New Zealand
Your life here starts with two numbers and one ban: a bank account, an IRD number, and the fact that for now you may not buy a house.
- 5.1
Open a bank account, preferably already from the Netherlands
- Lead time
- 1-3 weeks; some banks open remotely
- Costs
- usually no opening costs
1 official source
- 5.2
Apply for your IRD number
- Lead time
- 8-10 working days, or up to 20 days by email
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 5.3
Enrol with a GP, and know what ACC covers
- Lead time
- 1-3 weeks
- Costs
- enrolment free; consultation at a discount for the enrolled
2 official sources
- 5.4
Exchange your driving licence
- Lead time
- one visit to an AA or VTNZ branch
- Costs
- exchange fee at the counter
2 official sources
- 5.5
Rent first — and know that you may not buy a house yet
- Lead time
- finding a home takes weeks to months
- Costs
- bond of at most four weeks' rent, plus rent in advance
3 official sources
- 5.6
Enrol the children at school
- Lead time
- 1-3 weeks
- Costs
- state education is free for domestic students; voluntary contributions though
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 5.7
Get your New Zealand tax affairs on track
- Lead time
- an afternoon, and after that annually
- Costs
- none; KiwiSaver costs a percentage of your wage
3 official sources
9 of these steps aren't always there. They appear only when your answers call them up — a pet, a car, children staying behind. That's the difference between a plan and a checklist in which you have to work out yourself what applies.
Look inside
This is what one step of your plan looks like
Not a brochure but the real thing: this is one of the steps of the New Zealand journey, exactly as it appears in your personal step-by-step plan — with the deadlines, the counters and the sources.
Step 1.2 of your plan
The four years in which your foreign income stays untaxed
- Lead time
- an evening of calculating, and one decision you take only once
- Costs
- none
- Validity
- 48 months from the end of the month in which you become a tax resident
This is the find of this corridor, and it's in almost no Dutch guide. Whoever becomes a tax resident of New Zealand for the first time — and wasn't one in the ten years before — automatically gets a temporary exemption of about four years on almost all their foreign income. Interest, dividends, rent from your Dutch home, income from foreign investment funds: untaxed in New Zealand, for forty-eight months. You don't have to apply for anything; you get it if you meet the conditions.
Two things you need to know already, because they change your planning. Wages and income from personal services you earn abroad are not covered — it's about capital, not about work. And you can only get the exemption once in your life.
The sting is in the trade-off. If you apply for Working for Families — the New Zealand child scheme, including Best Start — the exemption ends, also if your partner applies for it. For a family with children and little foreign capital that's an easy choice; for whoever rents out a Dutch home or has a portfolio, it can make a difference of thousands of euros a year. Work it out before you apply for anything, not after.
Put the date on which the window closes in your diary straight away. After that the ordinary rules apply, including the FIF regime on foreign shares above NZ$ 50,000 purchase value — see step 5.7.
This is step 1.2 of 36. The other 35 are ready for you — each with the same sources, the same counters and a planning that watches your dates.
And what you don't see here
This page shows the content. What a page can't show is the work the platform does for you afterwards:
- The clocks that start running the moment you begin, and a nudge at the moment something is asked of you — not earlier.
- Your documents in one place, with their expiry dates watched, so nothing lapses while you wait for something else.
- The ticking off, together with your partner on the same journey.
- The steps that drop out or appear based on your answers, so your plan holds only what really applies to you.
Ready to start on New Zealand?
All 36 steps, set to your situation and with the deadlines watched. € 399 once, no subscription.
The departure guide
Five mails, and you see your whole journey
Not ready to start yet? Then we'll send you the departure guide for New Zealand: five mails in a week and a half, with the order, the pitfalls and the real costs. After that one question about where your plans stand, and beyond that only a short update when something in New Zealand really changes — at most one a month, no newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
Ready to begin?
Thirty-six journeys are fully ready — Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Canada, Panama, United States, Suriname, China, Dubai, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Turkey, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand: your step-by-step plan, your documents and your costs in one place, with the timing watched. Pay once, and it's yours.