New Zealand – Important news on new visa requirement for Australian permanent and temporary residents

There is a new visa procedure for people travelling to New Zealand.  The new NZeTA procedure is applicable for those persons travelling to NZ from Visa Waiver Countries – see list below.

Persons travelling to NZ from a visa waiver country you must hold an NZeTA before you travel. Allow up to 72 hours for processing, but it could take just 10 minutes.

Australian citizens travelling to NZ on an Australian passport will be exempt from the NZeTA. Permanent Residents of Australia who are not Australian citizens, and holding another country’s passport will need to obtain the NZeTA.

Visitors from other visa-waiver countries:

Andorra Argentina Austria Bahrain Belgium Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Canada Chile Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia — citizens only Finland France Germany Greece Hong Kong — residents with HKSAR or British National (Overseas passports only) Hungary Iceland Ireland

Israel Italy Japan South Korea Kuwait Malaysia Malta Mauritius Mexico Monaco Netherlands Norway Oman Poland Portugal — if you have the right to live permanently in Portugal Latvia — citizens only Liechtenstein Lithuania — citizens only Luxembourg Macau — only if you have a Macau Special Administrative Region passport

Qatar Romania San Marino Saudi Arabia Seychelles Singapore Slovak Republic Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Taiwan — if you are a permanent resident United Arab Emirates United Kingdom — if you have the right to reside permanently in the United Kingdom United States of America — including USA nationals Uruguay Vatican City

 

Visit the Government’s official NZeTA website at and apply online at a cost of NZ$12 or via the NZeTA apps for Android and iPhone) for NZ$9.

NZ is also introducing an International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL) of NZ$35.   Australian permanent residents are exempt from the IVL even though they still need the NZeTA – everyone else will find the tourism levy is collected at the same time as the NZeTA charge, bring the total cost of obtaining the visa-free travel authorisation to NZ$44 via the mobile app, or NZ$47 on line.    You do not need to pay the IVL again until they need to apply for a new NZETA.

You may only visit NZ up to a maximum of 3 months after you arrive in NZ (or 6 months, if you are from the United Kingdom) or when you leave NZ, whichever happens first.  

The NZeTA is valid for a period of two years.   After two years you must apply for a new NZeTA.  

If you do not meet requirements you may not travel under this pathway but may apply for a Visitor visa.

You can be refused entry permission even holding an NZeTA if:

• you do not meet our health or character requirements 
• you are unable to provide evidence you have any onward travel or funds required by the conditions of your visa
• an immigration officer considers that you are not a bona fide visitor
• you refuse to let us take your photo or to provide us with your fingerprints or an iris scan, if asked for them
• you provide (or have provided) false or misleading information in a visa application, to an immigration officer or on any part of your arrival card.

Information provided by Woburn International