What's changed

The Free Trade Agreement was signed by Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and New Zealand's Minister for Trade and Investment Todd McClay at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi on April 27, 2026. Negotiations had concluded on 22 December 2025, nine months after the launch. The mobility chapter establishes a new Temporary Employment Entry visa with an annual quota of 5,000 for Indian professionals, permitting stays of up to three years.

The TEE pathway covers professionals across IT, engineering, healthcare, education, and construction sectors, alongside designated occupations including AYUSH practitioners, yoga instructors, Indian chefs, and music teachers. A separate annual quota of 1,000 Working Holiday visas creates a youth-mobility channel between the two countries. The post-study work-rights framework grants STEM Bachelor's and Master's graduates of New Zealand institutions up to three years of post-study work eligibility, and Doctoral graduates up to four years — applicable to all foreign students under the agreement, with India a primary beneficiary.

Who's affected

Indian professionals seeking employer-sponsored mobility to New Zealand gain a new dedicated 5,000-visa channel under the bilateral framework. Sector-specific access for AYUSH and yoga practitioners, Indian chefs, and music teachers operationalises designations long advocated by Indian trade missions. Indian students enrolled at New Zealand universities in STEM fields gain extended post-study work eligibility — three years for Bachelor's and Master's graduates and four years for Doctoral graduates.

The mobility provisions sit within a broader trade framework offering 100% duty-free access for 8,284 Indian export products to the New Zealand market and a New Zealand-side commitment of US$20 billion in investment inflows to India over fifteen years. New Zealand's services-market access offer covers 118 sectors with most-favoured-nation commitments in a further 139 sectors.

When it takes effect

The Free Trade Agreement was signed on April 27, 2026 and concluded on December 22, 2025. Implementation of the mobility provisions — including operational rollout of the Temporary Employment Entry visa quota and the Working Holiday channel — follows ratification and implementing instructions from both governments. As of May 5, 2026, neither government has published the implementation timetable for the visa pathways; Immigration New Zealand has not yet published TEE-visa operational guidance.