New Zealand immigration site traffic surges after US election

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Screenshot taken from INZ websiteImage source, Immigration New Zealand
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Immigration New Zealand (INZ) said its website received 56,300 visits in the past day

New Zealand's immigration website has said it saw a surge in traffic, as the results of the US election came in.

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) said its website received 56,300 visits in a 24 hour period, an increase of almost 2,500%. The site has a daily average of 2,300 visits.

Canada's immigration website also received a high amount of traffic on Wednesday, causing it to crash.

Donald Trump secured a surprise victory in the presidential election.

New Zealand Now's website, which contains information about living, working, studying and investing in the country, also saw a similar spike in traffic.

"In the 24 hours up to 9am local time on Wednesday, NZ Now received 70,500 visits from the US compared to a usual daily average of 1,500 visits," said INZ marketing manager Greg Forsythe in a statement to the BBC.

Online, some Americans expressed that their interest to move to New Zealand was a result of Mr Trump's victory.

Image source, Twitter/@Seulgichu808RV
Image source, Twitter/@BCbasshead

But not everyone from the country seemed to welcome Americans with open arms.

Image source, Twitter/@TaikaWaititi

Mr Forsythe added that some 7,287 registrations had been received from Americans in the past 24 hours as compared to a normal amount of 3,000 registrations.

However, he added that these were purely "registrations of interest" and not visa applications.