There is good news if you want to work in New Zealand. The country has relaxed its visa rules. It wants "digital nomads" to live in the country for up to nine months. A digital nomad is someone who can work anywhere because their job is online. New Zealand's new visa lets visitors work remotely for a foreign employer for up to nine months. However, people staying for nine months may have to pay tax. New Zealand's economic growth minister hopes the new visa will help the economy. She said: "We want…wealthy and super-talented people coming [through] the arrival gates."
New Zealand's economy has suffered in recent years. The Covid pandemic hurt the tourism industry. Another thing that hurt the economy is many young people leaving New Zealand. Record numbers of people in their twenties are going overseas. New Zealand's immigration minister hoped the visitors with the new visa will spend more money. This will help the economy. She said the visitors would "spend more because they're here for longer. And the thing that we're really hoping for, is that they fall in love with the place".
Try the same news story at these levels:
Digital Nomads - Level 0, Digital Nomads - Level 1 or Digital Nomads - Level 3
Sources- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/28/new-zealand-relaxes-visa-rules-to-lure-digital-nomads-and-influencers
- https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/new-zealand-loosens-visitor-visa-rules-welcome-digital-nomads-2025-01-27/
- https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/540177/visas-for-digital-nomads-a-positive-step-commentators-say-but-there-are-potential-complications
Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice activities, drag and drop activities, sentence jumbles, which word activities, text reconstructions, spelling, gap fills and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)