NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Covid 19 coronavirus: Americans visit Immigration NZ website every 30 seconds, tens of thousands consider shift to virus-free NZ

By Lynley Ward and Kim Moodie
NZ Herald·
29 Jul, 2020 05:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has issued a dire warning about the accelerating Covid-19 pandemic - and highlighted New Zealand's success in fighting the virus. Video / AP

More than 250,000 Americans have investigated whether they qualify to move to New Zealand since the coronavirus pandemic took hold this year.

Hundreds of thousands of foreigners from other countries are also inquiring about living here or applying for residency as the deadly pandemic sweeps the globe.

With international death rates steadily climbing, our Pacific island nation is quickly becoming an attractive haven to live.

A Kiwi demographics expert says the spike in interest from United States citizens reflects a failure of the American political and public health system, and disillusionment with the leadership of United States President Donald Trump.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Massey University's Distinguished Professor Paul Spoonley said the pattern was likely to accelerate as the situation deteriorated overseas.

"Middle class, professional America is saying, 'Well, where do we go for our own safety and the safety of our families?'"

The pandemic has so far infected nearly 4.5 million Americans and claimed 151,000 US lives.

New Zealand now has just 23 active case, all in managed isolation, and has recorded 22 deaths.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Vehicles wait in line at a Covid-19 testing site at the Miami Beach Convention Centre during the coronavirus pandemic in Florida. Photo / AP
Vehicles wait in line at a Covid-19 testing site at the Miami Beach Convention Centre during the coronavirus pandemic in Florida. Photo / AP

Last month 112,800 more Americans visited Immigration New Zealand website compared with the same time last year, a 160 per cent spike.

This was the equivalent of one US user clicking on the site every 30 seconds.

And 46,800 British citizens visited the site last month, up from 27,100 a year earlier.

The upward trend is matched by a sudden surge internationally in Google searches last month using key words "move to New Zealand".

Discover more

Warriors

'Devastating': Warriors star banned from entering NZ

29 Jul 05:40 AM
New Zealand|politics

Paula Bennett's parliamentary farewell: 'I went hard and full on'

29 Jul 07:10 AM
Business

Domino's NZ pulls controversial 'Karen' promotion

29 Jul 06:34 AM
Companies

Market close: NZ shares rise as property stocks buoyed on Stride dividend

29 Jul 05:35 AM
NZ_IMMIGRATION
NZ_IMMIGRATION

Immigration NZ figures also reveal that nearly 10,000 residence applications were accepted from across the globe in the past two months alone.

The majority of the successful applicants were from India and South Africa - with 7,085 people who had applications approved.

Despite borders remaining closed to most travellers, Immigration NZ says the volume of visits to its New Zealand Now website started to surge in April. The timing coincides with international reports about how our strict lockdown measures were stamping out coronavirus.

But the major rush came last month as America was hit by a resurgence in cases, with the infection curve rising in 40 out of 50 states.

Across the Atlantic Britain was also fighting an uphill battle against the virus, recording the world's second-highest number of Covid deaths.

Professor Paul Spoonley of Massey University, Auckland. Photo / Doug Sherring
Professor Paul Spoonley of Massey University, Auckland. Photo / Doug Sherring

Spoonley said the number of US citizens looking to emigrate to New Zealand tripled after Trump's election in 2016, with a number of "push and pull factors" motivating Americans.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Push factors are the [US Government's] inability to handle a public health challenge like Covid-19, combined with civil unrest," he said.

"And then the pull factor is that New Zealand is seen as a calm, well-ordered, environmentally attractive country that has dealt with Covid-19 incredibly well."

Spoonley said the spike in New Zealand's appeal won't be limited to the US.

"I absolutely anticipate more interest from places like the UK, Germany and Singapore looking to New Zealand as a migrant destination."

Leading US forensic pathologist Dr Judy Melinek felt so unsafe at her job in San Francisco she moved to New Zealand to take a job in Wellington this month.

Leading the Covid-19 response for a sheriff-coroner office in Oakland, she became increasingly frustrated with the handling of the pandemic - both by state officials and by Trump.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I was frustrated and disappointed by the American response to the pandemic and personally I didn't feel safe at work," she told the Herald this month.

Customers wear masks as they wait to enter the first Starbucks store at Pike Place Market in Seattle. Photo / AP
Customers wear masks as they wait to enter the first Starbucks store at Pike Place Market in Seattle. Photo / AP

She labelled Trump's handling of the pandemic "a disaster," and said the country needed a plan and to communicate it to Americans, in the vein of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

"You guys are the role model ... she and her response to Covid-19 is the reason why we're in New Zealand and why we relocated."

An Immigration NZ spokesperson agreed New Zealand was a "great place to be right now".

"But the borders are still closed. And it's important for context that it doesn't necessarily translate to more visa applications."

While people could still apply, the border remained closed to most barring those granted exceptions, and New Zealand citizens or permanent residents.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

Air NZ flight to New York diverted due to thunderstorms, others cancelled

04 Jul 10:53 PM
Premium
New ZealandUpdated

Flatting wars: The male students' struggle against 'unwritten rule' bias claims

04 Jul 10:00 PM
New Zealand

Massive strike on Ukraine, wet weather, slips continue | NZ Herald News Update: July 5, 2025

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Air NZ flight to New York diverted due to thunderstorms, others cancelled

Air NZ flight to New York diverted due to thunderstorms, others cancelled

04 Jul 10:53 PM

Some travellers have had to spend an unscheduled night in Washington DC.

Premium
Flatting wars: The male students' struggle against 'unwritten rule' bias claims

Flatting wars: The male students' struggle against 'unwritten rule' bias claims

04 Jul 10:00 PM
Massive strike on Ukraine, wet weather, slips continue | NZ Herald News Update: July 5, 2025

Massive strike on Ukraine, wet weather, slips continue | NZ Herald News Update: July 5, 2025

Premium
100,000 homes built in seven years – does Auckland still have a housing crisis?

100,000 homes built in seven years – does Auckland still have a housing crisis?

04 Jul 09:00 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP