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Immigration New Zealand has released its updated estimate of the number of people currently in New Zealand who have overstayed their visa.
The latest estimate shows that as of July 1, 2025, there were around 20,980 people in New Zealand who had overstayed their visa.
This is the first estimate produced using INZ’s newly adopted methodology, which has significantly enhanced the accuracy of the estimate since the previous one was carried out in 2017. That estimate put the number of people who have overstayed their visas at approximately 14,000, but direct comparisons between the two estimates cannot be made because of the different methodologies used.
Immigration Compliance and Investigations general manager Steve Watson says the estimate shows that the number of people who overstay their visa is a very small proportion of temporary migrants who come to New Zealand and there are clear plans to reduce these.
“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,” Steve 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 estimate will be refreshed annually using updated methodology and will be used alongside other systems and tools to improve efforts to address overstaying and enhance policy advice.
The estimate will be released by INZ annually on its website as part of its broader efforts to improve transparency and public confidence in the immigration system.
