Visa for New Zealanders
Check the visa-free stay for your passport with the consulate before a trial stay. To live there you need a residence route:
- Category F immigration permit (retirees): income from 9,568 EUR a year. Official page
With an EU, EEA or Swiss passport (for example a second Irish passport) you need no visa: you register as a resident instead.
Check your figures in the visa checker
Sources: Migration Department (gov.cy): immigration permits, categories A to F (checked 2026-10-23) · GK Law Firm: retiring to Cyprus (Category F) (checked 2026-10-22) · Kyprianou: Category F immigration permit (checked 2026-10-22)
How your pensions are taxed
No tax treaty between New Zealand and Cyprus: New Zealand can keep taxing New Zealand-sourced income (and you stay tax resident while you keep a permanent place of abode there); Cyprus may tax them as a resident, so the same income can be taxed twice, with relief only if Cyprus gives a foreign tax credit.
- State pensions: taxable in the paying country.
- Private pensions: possibly taxed in both countries, without treaty relief.
Sources: Inland Revenue Tax Policy: New Zealand tax treaties (checked 2026-10-26)
New Zealand: You stay New Zealand tax resident while you keep a permanent place of abode there (a home you go back to), even if you are away more than 325 days; NZ Super paid abroad under general portability is paid gross. Official page
Cyprus's own rules: Progressive rates up to 35%. Foreign pensions can instead be taxed at a flat 5% above €5,000 a year (the threshold was €3,420 until 2025), chosen each year. Non-domiciled residents pay no defence contribution on dividends and interest for 17 years. There is no wealth tax and no inheritance tax.
Before you leave New Zealand
- Check NZ Super before you go (New Zealand): To get NZ Super you must be ordinarily resident in New Zealand when you apply at 65, and meet the residence rule (10 to 20 years since age 20, rising with your birth date). If you plan to leave before 65, check how and when you can apply first. Official page
- Call International Services at least 6 weeks before leaving: NZ Super does not follow you automatically: apply to keep it going by calling Work and Income's International Services at least 6 weeks before you leave. It cannot be paid if you move to the United Kingdom. Official page
More for New Zealanders
- Your pension abroad: the full guide
- Retiring in Cyprus: costs, healthcare, housing and the settling plan
- Can I afford Cyprus?
Rules and figures change and we can make mistakes: confirm with the official source or a licensed advisor before acting.