Fijian nationals will soon no longer be required to obtain a transit visa for travelling through New Zealand, according to New Zealand Immigration (NZ).

Currently, a Transit Visa Is Still Required for Fijian Nationals Traveling Through New Zealand

Fijians who had yet to apply for the visa successfully or had forgotten to do so could not enter the country.

The visa would remain in place for Fijian nationals for some months. Still, when it was removed, Fijians could transit to New Zealand with a New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority (NZeTA), similar to many other Pacific countries, which took 72 hours to process, cost up to $23 and lasted for two years.

Trade Growth Between New Zealand & Fiji Expected to Grow to $2 Billion by 2023

After a meeting between New Zealand PM Christopher Luxon and his Fijian counterpart Sitiveni Rabuka, two prime ministers have also set a goal of lifting two-way trade to $2 billion by 2030. It currently sits at $1.4 billion.

The transit visa, soon to be scrapped, was one of the final immigration conditions between New Zealand and Fiji following the 2006 coup. The visa was intended to prevent Fijians from seeking asylum in New Zealand.

Meeting the 2030 trade target was doable by New Zealand’s trade representatives in Fiji. Still, it would require significant work from both countries given that trade pre-COVID had stayed consistently at around $600-700m per annum.

Fiji was New Zealand’s 22nd-largest export market and second-fastest growing. Trade between the two nations increased by 34 percent last year, with New Zealand’s exports worth about $830m.