Moving to Qatar from New Zealand: documents, tax, student loan and KiwiSaver

Current travel advice

SafeTravel’s advice for Qatar, last updated on 28 September 2026, is to exercise increased caution, with higher advice levels in some areas. It says strikes between the United States and Iran have continued, the situation remains volatile, and US linked locations remain a target. Military activity could resume at any time, causing travel disruption and airspace closures, and its advice levels could change at short notice.

New Zealand has no embassy in Qatar. The New Zealand Embassy in Abu Dhabi covers Qatar.

• Register your travel on SafeTravel so you get advice quickly if things change.
• In Qatar, alerts are sent to your phone in English and Arabic. Follow any instruction to shelter. If there is no designated shelter, go inside, ideally to a basement or an inside room away from windows, and stay there until the all clear or for at least an hour after the last attack or intercept.
• Keep bottled water, a torch and batteries, and enough of any medicines you take.
• Ask your insurer whether your policy covers disruption from the conflict in the Middle East. SafeTravel recommends comprehensive travel insurance that includes medical evacuation by air.
• The New Zealand Embassy in Abu Dhabi is on +971 2 496 3333. Notarial services there are by appointment only. For emergency services in Qatar, dial 999.

Your passport

• Your passport should be valid for more than six months when you travel.
• Qatar does not accept passports showing X in the sex field, for entry or transit. Your passport must show F or M.
• Emergency travel documents are not accepted for entering or leaving Qatar.

Authenticate your documents before you fly

Qatar is not in the Apostille Convention. New Zealand lists it as a category A authentication country. The Department of Internal Affairs Authentication Unit authenticates your document, and then the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade verifies it. In Qatar, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs finishes the process.

• A category A authentication costs NZ$65 for the first document and NZ$31 for each extra one.
• Standard processing takes up to 15 working days. An urgent service, for an extra fee, takes 5 working days.
• If a document needs notarising, you must use a New Zealand notary public. The Authentication Unit does not accept documents witnessed by a Justice of the Peace or a solicitor.
• In Qatar, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs charges QAR 100 for an academic certificate and QAR 100 for a marriage contract.
• Ask your employer exactly which documents they need before you start.

Your tax residency

You stop being a New Zealand tax resident only if you both have no permanent place of abode in New Zealand and are away for more than 325 days in any 12 months. The change is backdated to the day you left.

A permanent place of abode is somewhere you usually live, even if you are not there all the time. You do not need to own it, and it does not need to be empty while you are away. Inland Revenue gives the example of a house you rent out while you are away. It also looks at your family, your investments and whether you intend to return.

If you stay a New Zealand tax resident, your Qatar salary stays taxable in New Zealand. Qatar has no income tax on salaries, and New Zealand has no tax treaty with Qatar.

• In the year you leave, you can file an IR3 return for income up to your departure date, or ask Inland Revenue for an income tax assessment if your only income was already taxed.
• Tell your bank and any share registries that you are a non resident, so they deduct the right non resident withholding tax.
• If you still earn other New Zealand income, such as rent, you may need to file a non resident return (IR3NR).

Student loan

• If you spend 31 days or fewer in New Zealand in a 184 day period, you become overseas based.
• Your loan then stops being interest free, backdated to the day after you left.
• Repayments are based on your loan balance, not your income. Payments are generally due on 30 September and 31 March.
• Your minimum repayments can go up if your balance grows, but they do not go down as it shrinks.

KiwiSaver and your pension

After you have lived overseas, outside Australia, for 1 year, you can withdraw most of your KiwiSaver savings: your contributions, your employer’s, the kickstart, fee subsidies and interest. You cannot withdraw the government contributions.

New Zealand has social security agreements with 11 countries. Qatar is not one of them. Generally only Qatari citizens can claim a state pension in Qatar. Your employer may owe you an end of service gratuity instead.

Working for Families

• To get Working for Families, you must be a New Zealand tax resident for the time you receive it, and your child must be a New Zealand resident and present in New Zealand.
• Update Inland Revenue before you leave.

Health cover

In Qatar your cover comes from your employer’s insurance and from public healthcare, which you register for once you have your Qatar ID. Our healthcare guide explains how.

• If you stay longer than 30 days as a visitor, you must buy Qatari health insurance from a Ministry of Public Health approved company, at a standard 50 riyals a month. It is separate from travel insurance.
• Carry a prescription and a medical report from the last 6 months. Controlled medicines need a Ministry of Public Health permit.

Family residence

Your employer sponsors you. You can then sponsor your family once your own residence permit is issued.

• Under Qatar’s 2023 rules, private sector staff need a technical or specialised job and a salary of at least QAR 10,000 a month, or QAR 6,000 when family housing is in the contract.
• Government and semi government staff need family housing from their employer, or a salary of at least QAR 10,000.
• You can sponsor a husband or wife, unmarried daughters of any age and sons aged 24 or younger. To sponsor a partner you must be legally married.
• Children aged 6 to 18 must be enrolled in a licensed school in Qatar, or show they are enrolled elsewhere, before their residence permits are issued or renewed.

Driving

• Anyone with a residence permit needs a Qatari driving licence.
• The Australian and Canadian governments both advise getting an international driving permit before you leave home. Do the same until you have a Qatari licence.
• We have not confirmed whether a New Zealand licence can be exchanged without a test. At the Traffic Department in Madinat Khalifa we found that a UK licence qualifies only if the holder is also a British citizen. A similar rule may apply to New Zealand licences, so ask before you rely on an exchange.
• Qatar has zero tolerance for drink driving.

Debts, contracts and travel bans

• Unpaid loans and debts with a Qatari institution can stop you leaving Qatar, and a pending legal case can bring a travel ban. Cases can take years.
• Issuing a bounced cheque is an offence in Qatar.
• In a contract or employment dispute, Qatari authorities go by the Arabic text of the contract. Have the Arabic version translated before you sign.

Voting from overseas

• You can vote from overseas if you are enrolled and either a citizen who has been in New Zealand in the last 3 years, or a permanent resident who has been in New Zealand in the last 12 months.
• Overseas voters download their voting papers from vote.nz and upload them there, or vote at some New Zealand diplomatic posts.