Who needs what to enter New Zealand, when to apply, and the passport rule that catches people out.
Entry to New Zealand is straightforward, but it has to be done in the right order and before you fly. We are not immigration advisers — the rules below are a plain-language summary, and the current requirement for your passport is always at immigration.govt.nz.
Three groups of travellers
Australian citizens enter on their passport alone. Nothing to apply for.
Visa-waiver passports — including the UK, USA, Canada, most of the EU, the UAE, Singapore, Japan and around fifty others — need an NZeTA (New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority) before boarding. You apply online or in the official app, pay a small fee plus the International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy, and it's usually approved within a few days. It lasts two years and covers multiple visits.
Everyone else — including Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Pakistani, South African and many other passports — needs a visitor visa, applied for online in advance. Processing times vary from a couple of weeks to a couple of months in busy periods, so apply as soon as your dates are firm.
The passport rule
Your passport should be valid for at least three months beyond the date you intend to leave New Zealand. Airlines check this at check-in, and it is the single most common reason a trip goes wrong at the last minute. Check every traveller's expiry date the day you start planning.
What we do
- Tell you which group each traveller falls into at the first call.
- Give you the itinerary and accommodation confirmations that visa applications usually ask for.
- Keep passports and documents in your trip file, and warn you automatically if an expiry date is too close to your travel dates.
What we don't do
We don't lodge applications, guarantee outcomes or give immigration advice. If your situation is complicated — previous refusals, mixed-nationality families, work or study plans — a licensed immigration adviser is the right person to talk to, and we'll say so.
Ready when you are