Wozniak wants NZ move

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak wants to move to New Zealand, hoping Australian citizenship approval will pave the way.

According to U.S. news station NBC, the American told reporters he and his wife, Janet Hill, "love New Zealand" and confirmed his quest for Australian papers.

Wozniak is no stranger to the country having visited earlier this year for his Woz Live tour in May, telling the New Zealand Herald at the time:

"I've been over to New Zealand many, many times, much more than Australia," he said.

"It was a long time ago I was selected to be patron of the Wellington Apple Users Group and I would fly over around Christmas time and give speeches and meet the people.

"I saw the South Island and the tourist stuff in the North Island."

The computer engineer responsible for inventing the Apple I and Apple II computers with the late Steve Jobs, insists he still intended to retain his U.S. citizenship meaning higher tax fees.

"Listen, I would never pay that kind of money for that kind of visa if I weren't serious [about Australian citizenship]," he said.

Woz, as he is nicknamed in the industry, would not be the first famous figure to uproot for New Zealand, with Canadian film director James Cameron recently being approved to buy Kiwi land near Wairarapa last week.