New Zealand nationals or permanent residents can be employed as domestic staff without restrictions. However, domestic staff in New Zealand can be quite expensive and limited in availability. If you bring a domestic staff person from a prior assignment to work for you here, you must acquire a visa for the person. Check with the New Zealand immigration authorities for further details.

In Auckland, servants are hard to find. Few New Zealand families, regardless of social or economic standing, employ full-time servants, especially live-in workers. Some part-time help is available at about NZ$10 per hour. A part-time cleaning woman (referred to as “housekeeper”) is about the best that most people are able to find. Baby-sitters for evenings, generally neighbourhood school girls, are available but daytime sitters are hard to find and expensive. Special nurses, called karitanes, are available to live in for short periods to care for young children while parents are away, or to help before and after birth.