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The route most people from France take, the mistake to avoid, and the facts that change because you are applying from France, each read from the official page it links.
French citizens young enough to qualify can start with New Zealand's working holiday visa, and France's own list of its Programme Vacances-Travail (PVT) agreements shows that, unlike most of them, the one with New Zealand sets no yearly limit on places. The France Working Holiday Visa needs no job offer and allows temporary jobs, but not a permanent one. Settling through work means finding an employer that Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has accredited to hire migrants: its job offer supports the Accredited Employer Work Visa, a work visa tied to that employer, and the Skilled Migrant Category, New Zealand's residence visa for skilled workers, also requires such a job, along with English.
Check your qualification before job hunting, since the Skilled Migrant Category gives points for one gained abroad once NZQA, New Zealand's qualifications authority, has assessed it, or if INZ lists it as exempt. INZ's list for France names only universities, and only their licence, master and doctorat when the diploma states the national grade (grade de licence, de master or de docteur); its notes exclude the licence professionnelle, maîtrise, mastère spécialisé and MBA, which, like any diploma from an institution it does not name, need NZQA's International Qualification Assessment. Then approach accredited employers, and leave the bulletin n° 3, France's criminal record extract, until you are close to applying, because INZ wants police certificates to be recent.
The mistake to avoid is sending French documents without translation. The bulletin n° 3 is issued only in French, and INZ needs a certified English translation of every police and medical certificate, even one that records no convictions, and of every document in a residence application, while NZQA needs English translations of diplomas and transcripts. INZ refuses translations made by you, a relative or your immigration adviser, so use a sworn translator (traducteur assermenté) or a reputable translation business, and allow time for it while the certificate is still recent.
The Skilled Migrant Category sets no settlement-funds figure: it checks a skilled job offer and a points test instead.
A qualification from France is assessed for New Zealand by one of these organisations: New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA), International Qualification Assessment.
A bulletin n° 3 (an extract of your criminal record) from the Casier judiciaire national, France's criminal records office, requested online and sent by email or post. If you were born in New Caledonia or Wallis and Futuna, apply to the court there instead.
New Zealand runs a working holiday scheme for citizens of France aged 18 to 30, for a stay of up to 12 months.
Tests New Zealand accepts with centres in France include IELTS General Training, IELTS Academic, PTE Academic, TOEFL iBT, OET and Cambridge English.
In the 2023 census, 38% of people born in France who live in New Zealand lived in the Auckland region, more than in any other region.
Compared with other people born overseas, those born in France are most concentrated in the Otago region, among the regions where at least 5% of them live.
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