A new regulation in New Zealand means that most visitors arriving in that country after 1 October 2019 will need to request a New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority (NZeTA ) to be allowed in.
The good news is that most Aussies don’t need to worry about it. Any Australian citizen travelling to New Zealand on an Australian passport will be exempt from the NZeTA requirement, in recognition of the strong ties between Australia and New Zealand.
It will affect Australian residents using other passports, however. They will need an NZeTA. Importantly, passengers in international transit will also require an NZeTA if they arrive after 1 October 2019, even if they don’t cross the border into New Zealand (unless they are travelling on an Australian passport, in which case they are exempt).
A visa waiver has been introduced to screen travellers in advance of their arrival in New Zealand for border and immigration risks. It forms part of a wider effort by the New Zealand government to make border crossing as seamless as possible.
The new NZeTA system will apply to all air and cruise travellers from 60 visa waiver countries, who will need to obtain the NZeTA up to 72 hours before travelling to New Zealand.
Permanent residents of Australia who are not Australian citizens and are travelling on another country’s passport will need to obtain an NZeTA, as well as visitors from other visa-waiver countries including the United States, Canada and the UK.
A single NZeTA will cover multiple trips into New Zealand.
The price for obtaining an NZeTA is currently NZD 9 when completed on a mobile app, or NZD 12 when completed online. The NZeTA will be valid for two years or until the traveller’s passport expires, whichever comes first, and covers multiple entries into New Zealand for both business and tourism.
Auckland
For those countries who currently require a visa before entering New Zealand, there is no change to the entry requirements.
The following are visa waiver countries and territories for New Zealand, who thus require an NZeTA:
- 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
- Korea — South
- Kuwait
- Latvia — citizens only
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania — citizens only
- Luxembourg
- Macau — only if you have a Macau Special Administrative Region passport
- Malaysia
- Malta
- Mauritius
- Mexico
- Monaco
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Oman
- Poland
- Portugal — if you have the right to live permanently in Portugal
- 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
More information on the New Zealand Immigration website here.
Written by Peter Needham
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