“Updating fees is essential to maintain high-quality services and meet rising costs,” said Adrian Jarvis, general manager services and access at DIA.
“New Zealand citizenship fees continue to be among the lowest fees internationally following this change.”
In May, the price of an adult passport jumped from $215 to $247, while a child passport went from $125 to $144.
Last year, the Government hiked the international visitor levy (IVL), which is charged to most visitors to New Zealand, from $35 to $100.
“A $100 IVL would generally make up less than 3% of the total spending for an international visitor while in New Zealand, meaning it is unlikely to have a significant impact on visitor numbers,” then-Tourism Minister Matt Doocey said.
“Increasing the IVL means we can continue to grow international tourism to support economic growth while ensuring international visitors contribute to high-value conservation areas and projects, such as supporting biodiversity in national parks and other highly visited areas and improving visitor experiences on public conservation land.”
Jamie Ensor is a senior political reporter in the NZ Herald press gallery team at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub press gallery office. He was a finalist this year for Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards.