Nikki Noboats, Digital Nomads, Totally Noclue

Or, How can I pull a fast one without the punters noticing?!

Jan 31, 2025

As far as major government announcements go, a Three Ministers Event is Big. It can signify a major policy development or something has gone Very Well, or an absolute Clusterf**k. When Three Ministers assemble it’s like a super-powered team-up of Wonder Woman, Scarlet Witch, and ElastiGirl (apologies for mixing my DC, Marvel, Pixar-Incredibles Universes).

So it was on Monday, 27 January. Ministers Nicola Willis, Erica Stanford, and Louise Upston fronted for a media stand-up announcing the creation of a new Digital Nomads Visa:

Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis has unveiled changes to visitor visas, allowing remote work for foreign companies while in New Zealand.
The so-called 'digital nomads' include visitors such as IT specialists, as long as they are not receiving any income from New Zealand sources. It would also extend to influencers, provided they were being paid by overseas companies.
These changes would apply to all visitor visas, including tourists and people visiting family, and take effect immediately.
Visitor visas can be extended for up to nine months*, although the ministers warned that working in New Zealand for more than 90 days could require them to declare themselves as a New Zealand tax resident.

[*my emphasis]

Immigration Minister Erica Stanford informed us:

“This visa will be our visitor visa. You will be able to work on a visitor visa. It's simple, it's straightforward, it'll be the same cost as it's always been - there will be no extra cost.”

But she also admitted:

“My officials said to me, look the one downside to this is that you will not be able to specifically track how many people are coming in to work like we can’t now. We don’t know how many people are coming in to work and having a regular holiday as well.”

The only thing is… it didn’t gel. None of it.

It wouldn’t be a new visa - the existing Visitor Visa would already cover these people. They couldn’t track who; how many; or what they were doing. (Explanation, Aotearoa New Zealand is not quite a totalitarian Police State where everyone is under close surveillance. Though some might beg to differ that we are casually moving down that road.)

A perusal of ImmigrationNZ’s website revealed this about the Visitor Visa:

The above screenshot was taken using the Wayback Machine, and is dated 23 January - four days prior to Ms Willis’s theatrical announcement with her colleagues.

The current page at ImmigrationNZ (as at 9.20PM, 29 January), is the same except for this banner along the top:

A link on the banner takes you to another page, detailing the so-called limitations/criteria of the “Remote Work/Visitors Visa”:

Remote work is an activity you do for gain or reward for a company, employer or client that is not in New Zealand. Gain or reward includes work done for payment, or for a benefit that can be valued in terms of money, for example accommodation, food, or services.
If you are self-employed or a digital nomad you can work remotely for clients outside New Zealand.
All visitor visas applied for on or after 27 January 2025 allow you to work remotely in New Zealand. There is no limit to the amount of remote work you can do while you have your visitor visa.
Remote work includes:
* answering emails and phone calls
* coding and testing
* writing reports
* attending meetings or giving presentations to colleagues outside New Zealand
* creating content as a social media influencer – as long as you are not promoting an activity, event or product for gain or reward from a New Zealand business or person in New Zealand.
Remote work does not include any work you do:
* that is for a New Zealand employer
* with a New Zealand business or person in New Zealand in exchange for goods or services, for example free accommodation in exchange for a review
* that requires you to be in New Zealand.
If you want to work for or with a New Zealand-based employer, you must apply for a visa that will allow you to work in New Zealand.

But otherwise - that’s it. Whether a bog-standard Visitors Visa or the so-called “Remote Work/Digital Nomad” Visa, both have the same important criteria regarding length of stay touted by Minister Willis:

Length of stay
Up to either
6 or 9 months

ImmigrationNZ have never been able to police “Digital Nomads” and foreign “influencers” entering Aotearoa New Zealand. On the rare occasion that it has come to their attention, the person has come and gone and out-of-reach of authorities.

In short, the Three Ministers lining up to make this announcement looked spectacular - but it was a total non-event. Influencers have already toured this country. People can check their emails; can do coding, testing, write reports, etc, whilst sitting at a cafe or on a lounger on Ninety Mile Beach, and no one would be the wiser.

A visitor can be frantically ‘creating content as a social media influencer’, and short of closing our borders to every visitor, cannot be policed.

It’s happened in the past; it’s probably happening right now; and will continue to happen because there is very little, if any, (most likely none at all) practical surveillance of visitors’ activities. It’s one of those victimless ‘crimes’ that makes little to no difference or impact on our daily lives.

Indeed, some overseas travel websites already understand that our Visitor Visas allow “digital nomadic” experiences in Aotearoa New Zealand:

“New Zealand Visitor Visa: it’s the most common visa used by digital nomads as it’s pretty easy to obtain and it allows a stay for up to 9 months.”

Remember that Minister Stanford stated that “This visa will be our visitor visa. You will be able to work on a visitor visa. It's simple, it's straightforward, it'll be the same cost as it's always been - there will be no extra cost.”

Of course “there will be no extra cost”. Whether working digitally or doing purely ‘touristy’ things - the difference cannot be policed. The end-use of a Visitor Visa cannot be monitored - not unless we hire 420,714 New Zealanders to keep an eye on that number of visitors (in 2023) and look over their shoulders to ensure that they’re not logging on to their work email.

As Labour’s Finance spokesperson, Barbara Edmonds, put it politely on Bluesky:

“Yes it’s tinkering to clarify that under the visitor visa rules you can work here 🙄 ”

Minister Willis’ over-hyping extended to coining a phrase often used in the realm of housing speculation (usually by critics of untaxed capital gains) to talk-up her visa announcement:

“We simply won’t get rich selling to ourselves. We want more wealth and super-talented people coming in the arrival gates.”

The over-hyping was even more pronounced on the Beehive website’s media-statement, again featuring Ministers Willis, Stanford, Upston:

You’d think they had just announced that New Zealand scientists had found the cure for cancer.

Did it really require three ministers standing before the nation’s media at Wellington Airport, to announce what was basically ‘tinkering’?

Sadly, no one in the mainstream media picked up on the fact that they have been ‘taken for a ride’ by this government. Not one single media outlet, journalist, commentator, economist, et al, has looked behind the airport stand-up announcement and press releases.

We can understand Mike Hosking cheer-leading for this government: he is a self-avowed National Party supporter.

No one seems to realise that this was nothing more than minor tinkering at best, to belatedly formalise what was already happening. (And regardless, could not be prevented.)

In short, this was a public relations coup for this government at a time when the economy is stagnating and vital infra-structure such as the proposed new ferries were abruptly scuttled. Our Landlord PM and his cronies needed some “good news” and so their very adept public relations spin-doctors devised one. National’s media team earned their pay this week.

As for our much-vaunted free press; the Fourth Estate watchmen who supposedly scrutinise those in power - not so much.

Speaking to a Parliamentary Select Committee, and reported on RNZ’s ‘Checkpoint’, Minister Erica Stanford was delighted at the positive publicity she and her government had received on this issue:

“It was great yesterday, and the day before, to see the digital nomad headlines for New Zealand, on the BBC and New York Times and that is absolutely phenomenal.”

And also Stuff, NZME, RNZ, Newsroom, etc, no doubt. The Nats were basking in the warm, golden sunlight of positive headlines.

The punchline of this bad joke? They didn’t do a single damn thing of substance to earn it.

To re-cap:

“My officials said to me, look the one downside to this is that you will not be able to specifically track how many people are coming in to work like we can’t now. We don’t know how many people are coming in to work and having a regular holiday as well.” - Minister Erica Stanford, 27 January 2025

Postscript

A non-event ‘tinkering’ of a visa is hyped to outrageous heights and an uncritical media swallow the government propaganda hook, line and sinker.

Meanwhile, critical economic and political decisions are made by this government - with no fanfare whatsoever.

The Peoples’ Exhibit 1: