The latest estimate shows that as of 1 July 2025, there were around 20,980 people in New Zealand who had overstayed their visa.
Ultimately employers need to ensure they are not employing anyone from group, lest they be in breach of their compliance obligations.
The data which was released on the Immigration New Zealand website, makes for interesting reading, with a breakdown by nationality, age, visa type and more.
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Steve Watson, General Manager of Immigration Compliance and Investigations, says:
“Each year, New Zealand processes around one million visa applications and 1.6 million New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority requests and sees approximately 3.6 million arrivals from non-New Zealand citizens each year,” Mr Watson says. “While the vast majority of people comply with their visa conditions and leave before the expiry of their visa, unfortunately some people do not leave and consequently remain in New Zealand unlawfully.”
The latest estimate of 20,980 overstayers as at July 1, 2025 is up from the previous statistics provided by Immigration New Zealand of 14,000 back in 2017. They do note the latest number was derived using a different methodology which they believe to more accurately reflect the actual number of people in New Zealand who have remained after their visa expiry date.
Some of the interesting breakdowns of the overstayers include:
The article published on the Immigration New Zealand's website included a breakdown of the top 10 nationalities who have currently overstayed their visas, ranked in order:
| Rank | Nationality | Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tonga | 2,599 |
| 2 | China | 2,577 |
| 3 | United States of America | 2,213 |
| 4 | Samoa | 1,697 |
| 5 | India | 1,582 |
| 6 | Great Britain | 1,256 |
| 7 | Philippines | 938 |
| 8 | Malaysia | 753 |
| 9 | Canada | 510 |
| 10 | Germany | 498 |
| 11 | Other | 6,356 |
| Total | 20,979* |
The top 10 nationalities of people who had overstayed their visas as at 1 July 2025 account for 69.7% of the total estimate.
Table 2: Number of people who have arrived in New Zealand on a temporary visa between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2025 who have overstayed their visa
| Nationality | Total temporary visa arrivals between 1/7/2023 and 30/6/2025 | Individuals who arrived between 1/7/2023 and 30/6/2025 and were recorded as having overstayed their visas as of 1/7/2025 | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tonga | 24,425 | 472 | 1.93% |
| Samoa | 23,075 | 382 | 1.66% |
| Malaysia | 64,865 | 220 | 0.34% |
| Fiji | 53,061 | 163 | 0.31% |
| India | 222,436 | 428 | 0.19% |
| Canada | 115,727 | 219 | 0.19% |
| Great Britain | 314,773 | 504 | 0.16% |
| United States of America | 656,684 | 894 | 0.14% |
| Germany | 142,802 | 184 | 0.13% |
| China | 472,041 | 369 | 0.08% |
| Other | 1,313,716 | 2,018 | 0.15% |
| Total | 3,403,605 | 5,853 | 0.17% |
Note: This is a snapshot of the last 2 years of is not directly comparable to the total number of people who have overstayed their visa.
Table 3: A breakdown of the main visa categories and subcategories held at the most recent arrival for those identified as overstaying their visa
| Visa held at most recent arrival | Estimate |
|---|---|
| Visitor | 15,472 |
| General Visitor Visa | 5,623 |
| Visa Waiver | 8,018 |
| Other Visitor | 1,831 |
| Work | 2,219 |
| Skilled Work | 390 |
| Working Holiday | 347 |
| Recognised Seasonal Employer | 134 |
| Other Work | 1,348 |
| Student | 1,031 |
| Fee Paying Student | 838 |
Table 4: Number of people who have overstayed their visa, by age
| Age group | Estimate |
|---|---|
| 0-19 years | 1,733 |
| 20-64 years | 16,164 |
| 65-99 years | 3,082 |
| Total | 20,979 |
Table 5: Deportation numbers
Breakdown of those deported in each of the last 5 financial years
| Financial year (1 July - 30 June) | Deportation | Self-deportation | Voluntary departure | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020/2021 | 260 | 178 | 273 | 711 |
| 2021/2022 | 158 | 163 | 227 | 548 |
| 2022/2023 | 225 | 250 | 247 | 722 |
| 2023/2024 | 288 | 262 | 357 | 907 |
| 2024/2025 | 440 | 376 | 443 | 1259 |
CONCLUSION:
Employers need to be aware that there are not an insignificant number of illegal non-citizens currently residing in New Zealand. These people generally have jobs that allow them to financially remain in the country. This is a major reason New Zealand Immigration enforce adherence by employers to Migration Laws, that mean employers need to be checking and monitoring employee work rights. Cut off the financial means and these overstayers generally won't be able to remain in the country.
And this is where vSure helps New Zealand employers, by making work rights compliance easy! Request A Demo today!