Nelson City Council uses Whakatū as the city's name in te reo Māori, the Māori language. Its Tohu Whenua videos, stories from kaumātua (Māori elders) about place names and landmarks in the Whakatū region, were made in 2021 for Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, Māori Language Week, and one of them is titled "Whakatū (Nelson)".

There is no Nelson visa. Visas come from Immigration New Zealand (INZ), the government agency that decides applications, and they are national: living here takes a New Zealand visa suited to your plans, plus work or study in the city. On the skilled work routes, you need the job offer before you apply.

Working in Nelson

In making the case for a new library development, Nelson City Council names tourism, seafood and horticulture (growing fruit, vegetables and other crops) as the city's economic strengths. On the same page, the council says their long dominance has kept Nelson in a low-wage economic cycle, and that it wants to grow a knowledge economy, meaning more work based on skills, research and ideas. INZ's seasonal work calendar, in its guide to short-term work on a working holiday, lists Nelson/Marlborough for fisheries and seafood processing all year round, and for berry picking and packing and hop harvesting from February to April.

For a job to support the Skilled Migrant Category or the Accredited Employer Work Visa, the employer must be accredited, meaning INZ has approved it to hire workers from overseas. INZ's accredited employer list is a single search box: type the business's company or trading name, or its 13-digit New Zealand Business Number (NZBN). It will not list Nelson businesses by area, so look the employer up once you have an offer in hand.

Studying in Nelson

• Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT): a polytechnic, which is a public institute offering practical training for work. Its Nelson campus is a five-minute walk from the city centre. NMIT's International Maritime Institute of New Zealand provides training for the fishing, maritime transport and maritime tourism industries, and NMIT also teaches aquaculture, the farming of fish, shellfish and seaweed, as well as marine conservation in Nelson, with purpose-built labs on campus.
• University of Canterbury: its Nelson Campus, at 145 Collingwood Street, offers a three-year degree in primary teaching, and its students can use NMIT's facilities.

Which visa lets you live in Nelson?

• Skilled Migrant Category (SMC). A resident visa for staying here indefinitely, open to people with an accredited employer's job or job offer; your partner and dependent children aged 24 or younger can be included (partner and children guide). Its points-based pathway needs 6 points; our SMC calculator adds them up.
• Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV). Needs an accredited employer's job offer, but INZ's AEWV page rules out jobs planting, tending, harvesting or packing crops in horticulture or viticulture (grape growing), as foreign crew on fishing vessels, or in self-employment, which need another visa (AEWV guide).
• Seasonal work. The Recognised Seasonal Employer Limited Visa covers short-term horticulture and viticulture work, normally for people from eligible Pacific nations with a job offer from a Recognised Seasonal Employer.
• Working holiday visas. For young citizens of countries that have a working holiday agreement; after 3 months of horticulture or viticulture work, you can apply for a Working Holiday Extension Work Visa to stay another 3 months (working holiday guide).
• Green List. INZ's Green List names jobs New Zealand needs people for; meeting a listed role's requirements may let you apply for residence at once or after 2 years of work here (Green List guide).

Housing and getting around

Search a Nelson suburb in Tenancy Services' market rent tool; every amount it lists is a weekly rent.

eBus is Nelson and Tasman's emission-free public transport service, with routes from Motueka to Atawhai, and the council's page links to its timetables, fares and live tracking.

You will not find a separate regional council here. Nelson City Council is a unitary authority: a city council that also carries all the duties of a regional council, such as river and flood control, civil defence and regional land transport. Most New Zealand property owners pay rates (local property taxes) to two councils, but Nelson property owners pay one combined rate.

Free help after you arrive

Nelson City Council's community services page points to organisations that advise on health, family, welfare, legal, budgeting and housing matters, such as Citizens Advice Bureau and Nelson Bays Community Law. Its te reo Māori pronunciation guide explains the meanings and pronunciation of Nelson's street and suburb names.

For settling in anywhere in New Zealand, INZ's page on setting up your life in New Zealand suggests finding permanent accommodation, work, schools for your children and a doctor first.