That is outrageous! Something has to be done about that greedy RTE in NZ.

In the meantime just come on a visa exemption and get the DTV in a neighboring country.

Obtaining the business visa is relatively straightforward, basically a job offer will do. But the visa itself is only good for 90 days, single entry. The real “fun” starts when extending your stay beyond that with local immigration, then. See requirements of immigration. But usually the employer helps with that. Or did you mean to open your own business?

@Colin ******

Is is 180 days per tax- / calendar year. So, if 179 days in one year are up ... you gotta spend the rest of that year somewhere else if you really were to avoid that. On the other hand, if you time it right, you could also spend almost 360 days without getting tax liable.

@Todd ********

No worries, mate. I guess the start of your comment where you said "no earnings requirement" made me worried some people might overlook the fact that that is one of the possible core requirements. I know, you know.

@Richard ************

Safe travels. 👍

@Ryan ******

in Thailand … where there is a will, there is a way. 😅 But bear in mind … if you go that agent road you might face more trouble down the road if and when you want to obtain a legit long time visa. In the past agents enabled people to obtain volunteer visa / extensions or shady education visa / stamps. But immigration has been cracking down on those.

@Ryan ******

But yes: maybe come the visa exemption way for a few months and then figure out more long term visa on the way. Enjoy your stay.

@Ryan ******

True. Border hopping is cheaper. And the land border limit of max 2 entries per calendar year also seems to have been lifted. Just bear in mind that they won’t let you stay on free visa exemptions indefinitely - especially not when using many of those back-to-back with only short border bounces in between. At some point they might pull you aside and grill you or even give you a denied stamp. But yes: probably fine for 2-3 times, so you might save that money for a METV at the cost of slightly higher risks at the border crossings.

@Radost *************************

The OP said that he did not have the funds / savings required for a DTV, yet. I merely suggested him an alternative visa that he might be able to afford until he has enough savings to demonstrate for the DTV. I didn’t even mention LTR as financial requirements are even much higher there. Unfortunately options are limited for people with under 50.

@Radost *************************

Watch your language, please. Remember that you are commenting in your bars name. A bar I recommended to people during recent Euro 2024.