Technical article

Which Pacific Countries Still Have a Retirement Door?

The Home Affairs page for the Investor Retirement visa (subclass 405) sits in the department's list of repealed visas.

By Neil Solomon · 5 min read

Picture a couple named Paul and Helen. Paul is 66 and Helen is 64. They are retired, and they would like a warm place in the Pacific with an English-speaking government. They start with Australia, because it is the one they know. Then they find that the retirement visa they read about years ago is gone.

So which doors are still open? I read the immigration pages for four countries.

Australia: closed to new applicants

The Home Affairs page for the Investor Retirement visa (subclass 405) sits in the department's list of repealed visas. It still describes the visa as "for self-funded retirees who have no dependents". The page itself does not say when it closed. It was last updated on 24 September 2026.

A second Home Affairs page, on the retirement visa pathway, is clear. It says the Retirement visa (subclass 410) and the Investment Retirement visa (subclass 405) "are closed to new applicants". People who already hold one can still apply for a later 410 or 405. The pathway page was last updated on 4 September 2025.

That pathway is a route to permanent residence for people who held a 410 or 405 on 8 May 2018 and have not held another main visa since. They must be in Australia when they apply. They apply for a Parent visa (subclass 103) or a Contributory Parent visa (subclass 143). The sponsorship and balance-of-family tests are waived for them. They must keep health insurance and are not eligible for Medicare while they wait. The page says places for subclass 103 were not available in the first four years, and that "some places have been available" since the 2022-23 program year.

So for a newcomer who held neither visa in 2018, the pathway is not open. What else is on offer for a person in their 50s or 60s? The pathway page says the waived tests are normally part of the parent visa rules. That suggests the ordinary parent route needs an Australian sponsor and a family test. The parent visa pages are not among the sources in full, so there are no figures. No official page in the sources gives them.

New Zealand: two doors with a price

The first row quotes the Immigration New Zealand page. It sets no age limit for the parent, and does not say whether applications are open this month. Its date is not shown. The second row comes from the May 2025 guide. It sets no minimum income, but asks for five years of earnings to show where the money came from. You must also hold insurance with a yearly limit of at least NZ$500,000 for the two years.

Fiji: a permit with an age floor and a deposit

The Ministry of Immigration page for "Residence on Assured Income" says the applicant "must be 45 years and above". There is no amount for income. The page asks for "assets or a reliable source of income outside Fiji".

The permit is for three years. Six months are issued first. The rest follows after "Remittance of $100,000.00 and/or purchase of property of value equivalent to $100,000.00 or more". The page uses a dollar sign and does not name the currency for that figure. Fees are in FJD: 650.05 for the main applicant and 185.00 for each dependant. Papers include a medical report from the last three months and a police report from the last year. The page shows no date.

Vanuatu: a monthly income test, no retirement label

Vanuatu has no category named for retirees. The nearest is "Self-funded Resident", one of six grounds for a residence visa. It asks for a certified monthly income of at least 250,000 Vatu, or 500,000 Vatu "if including a spouse or de facto partner". Visa fees "range from 57,600 Vatu for a 1-year visa to 511,200 Vatu for a 10-year visa". Visas are "typically granted for 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, or 10 years".

One small difference. A second Vanuatu page says spouses and children can be included in most residence visas "but not under the Self-funded Resident category". That sits oddly beside the 500,000 Vatu figure for a couple. I show both and do not pick. Neither page shows a date. The first also notes that anyone who held a self-funded retiree permit before 7 February 2011 faces different income rules.

What is left open

• Australia: the parent visa pages, so no figures for a newcomer.
• New Zealand: the current fee for the Temporary Retirement visa, and whether the Parent Retirement visa is taking applications now.
• Fiji: any monthly income number.