Story: Immigration regulation

The first restrictions on immigration

The first restrictions on immigration

In 1881 a law imposed a poll tax (initially of £10, raised in 1896 to £100) on all Chinese who sought to enter New Zealand. The number of Chinese who could come on any one ship was also limited. This was the first piece of legislation which restricted the entry of immigrants. The poll tax remained on the statute books until 1944, although the tax was not collected after 1934.

Using this item

Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
Reference: New Zealand Statutes, 1881, pp. 301–3.

This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page:

Ann Beaglehole, 'Immigration regulation - 1881–1914: restrictions on Chinese and others', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/document/1366/the-first-restrictions-on-immigration (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Ann Beaglehole, published 8 Feb 2005, updated 1 Aug 2015