New Zealand visa and entry requirements

How your entry route is decided

Working out which entry regime and documents apply follows these steps:

1. Are you an Australian citizen? Australians travelling on a valid Australian passport need neither an NZeTA nor a visa in advance. Australian permanent residents do not need a visa, but are legally required to obtain an NZeTA before departure.
2. Check the visa waiver list: Passport holders from 60 approved countries and territories - including most of the EU, the UK, the USA and Japan - do not need a conventional visa for a tourist stay of up to 90 days (up to 6 months for UK citizens). An approved NZeTA before departure is, however, strictly required.
3. Check the specific territorial exceptions: Citizens of China or of Pacific Forum member states travelling from Australia and holding a valid Australian visa may also apply for an NZeTA instead of a full visitor visa.
4. Standard visa route (Visitor Visa): Travellers from all other countries - India, China on a direct flight, Russia, Cambodia - must apply online for a conventional Visitor Visa well in advance, through the official Immigration New Zealand portal.
5. Transit passengers: Anyone transiting through Auckland international airport with a connection under 24 hours must be from a visa-waiver or transit-visa-waiver country and hold an approved NZeTA for transit.

Entry formalities that apply to everyone

Every traveller must submit the electronic New Zealand Traveller Declaration (NZTD). It is free, the window opens 24 hours before the first leg of your journey, and it collects immigration, customs and biosecurity information in one form.

The NZeTA is electronic, and cheaper in the app.

• Cost - NZD 17 through the NZeTA mobile app, NZD 23 through the Immigration New Zealand web portal.
• Processing - up to 72 hours.
• Plus the IVL - the International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy, NZD 100 since 1 October 2024, paid alongside the NZeTA or as part of a visa application.
• Validity - multiple entries over 2 years.

Everyone is subject to customs and biosecurity rules administered by NZ Customs and the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI). Duty-free allowances as of 1 March 2026:

• Cash and monetary instruments: Physical money in any currency exceeding NZD 10,000 must be declared in writing.
• Tobacco: A maximum of 50 cigarettes, or 50 grams of tobacco or cigars, or a combination not exceeding 50 grams in total.
• Alcohol: Up to 4.5 litres of wine or beer (6 bottles of wine at 750 ml, or 12 cans of beer at 330 ml) and a maximum of 3 bottles of spirits (each up to 1,125 ml).
• Other personal goods: Goods bought abroad up to a total value of NZD 700.

What actually matters in practice

• Have the onward ticket ready at check-in. Travellers on r/Aotearoa and r/travel report this is the most common failure: no return or onward ticket leaving New Zealand within 90 days of arrival, and airlines strictly refuse boarding without it.

• Declare all food on the NZTD. Trained dogs and X-ray scanners in the arrivals area pick up even forgotten fruit or a sandwich from the in-flight service, and MPI inspectors issue a non-negotiable on-the-spot fine of NZD 400 for any undeclared risk item.