NZeTA Declined or Refused: What It Means and What to Do Next
An NZeTA can be refused. When it is, neither the NZ$17–23 request fee nor the NZ$100 International Visitor Levy is returned. Reconsideration is not available for a request made from outside New Zealand, so the published routes are a fresh request or a full Visitor Visa application. Correct as at August 2026.
Quick Facts
| Item | Detail (as at August 2026) |
|---|---|
| Can an NZeTA be refused? | Yes |
| Is the NZ$100 levy refunded? | Never — in any circumstance, including refusal |
| Is the NZeTA fee refunded? | No, once the request has been processed |
| Reconsideration available? | No for an offshore request. Reconsideration requires that the application was made while you were in New Zealand |
| Reconsideration fee where it does apply | NZ$220 |
| Published refusal grounds | INZ publishes none for the NZeTA specifically |
| Published refusal rate | INZ publishes none for the NZeTA |
| Usual published alternative | A Visitor Visa application, from NZ$441 |
| Does a refusal stop you travelling? | Yes. An airline will not board you without a valid authority |
What a refusal actually is
An NZeTA is a permission to travel, granted before departure. A refusal means INZ has decided not to grant that permission. It is a decision on a request, recorded electronically, and it is communicated to you — a refusal does not arrive as silence or as a request that simply never resolves.
Two things follow immediately, and both matter more than people expect.
You cannot board. Airlines check the authority at check-in. A refused NZeTA is not a warning; it is a closed door at the airport counter, and it closes before you reach New Zealand rather than at the New Zealand border.
The money is gone. INZ does not refund an application fee or a levy once a request has been processed, even where the outcome is a decline. The NZ$100 International Visitor Levy is stricter still: it is never refunded, in any circumstance. That is the published rule, not a discretionary practice.
What INZ does not publish — and what we will not invent
INZ publishes no list of NZeTA refusal grounds and no NZeTA refusal rate. Sites that offer you "the top five reasons your NZeTA was declined" are describing their own guesswork or generalising from other visa types.
What can be stated is what the published rules require, because the NZeTA request asks about exactly those things:
- Character. The request asks about criminal convictions, and about deportation or removal from any country.
- Immigration history. The request asks about previous refusals of visas or entry.
- Genuine visitor intent. Visa-waiver entry is for a genuine, temporary visit. Working for a New Zealand employer is not permitted on it.
- Eligibility for the product at all. Medical treatment is excluded from visa-waiver entry, and someone who needs a financial sponsor is outside the scheme.
- Passport data. The request has to match the passport it is being granted against.
Whether any of that applies to a particular person is an assessment. This page does not make it, and no website should.
Refusal is not the same as ineligibility
A refused NZeTA does not automatically mean New Zealand is closed to you. Several published products exist that an NZeTA does not cover, and being outside the NZeTA scheme is not the same as being outside New Zealand's immigration system.
| Situation | The product INZ publishes for it |
|---|---|
| Not on the visa-waiver list at all | Visitor Visa |
| Travelling for medical treatment | Medical Treatment Visitor Visa |
| Travelling on business, not on the waiver list | Business Visitor Visa |
| Visiting adult children in New Zealand | Parent and Grandparent Visitor Visa |
| Changing planes at Auckland only | Transit Visa |
Which of these fits a given person's circumstances is precisely the kind of question that requires a licensed adviser rather than a web page.
Step 1: Read the decision itself, in full
The decision INZ sends is the only reliable account of what happened. It is also the document that any adviser will ask for first. Do not act on a summary, a screenshot, or a friend's interpretation.
Step 2: Check that the message is genuine
INZ has publicly warned about fabricated visa-denial letters sent to travellers. The pattern is a message claiming a visa or NZeTA has been refused, followed by a link and a demand for payment to "resolve" it.
INZ's National Manager Risk and Verification has advised travellers to check that links end in .immigration.govt.nz, because scam addresses can look similar. Applying that test:
nzeta.immigration.govt.nz— genuineimmigration.govt.nz— genuine- Anything ending in
.com,.org,.nzalone, or.uk— not INZ, whatever it looks like
More on how the lookalike sites are constructed is on NZeTA scam sites and resellers.
Step 3: Understand which review routes exist
There are three published mechanisms in New Zealand's temporary-visa system, and only some of them can ever apply here.
| Route | Applies to an offshore NZeTA refusal? |
|---|---|
| Reconsideration by a different immigration officer | No. Reconsideration requires that the application was made while you were in New Zealand, that you are still in New Zealand, and that you hold a valid visa |
| Appeal to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal | The Tribunal's temporary-visa jurisdiction does not extend to offshore refusals of this kind |
| A fresh request or a different visa application | Available, subject to the ordinary rules and fees |
Where reconsideration is available — a temporary visa applied for from inside New Zealand — the fee is NZ$220, one reconsideration is allowed per decision, and a different officer reviews it. It runs to a short statutory deadline measured from when you received the decision. Confirm that deadline from your own decision letter, because missing it ends the route entirely and we will not publish a day count that might be wrong for your case. The mechanism is explained on reconsideration of a declined temporary visa.
Step 4: Decide with proper advice, not with a search engine
New Zealand regulates immigration advice under the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007. Anyone assessing your circumstances and telling you what to do next needs a licence, and the offence of advising without one carries penalties of up to NZ$100,000 and seven years' imprisonment — whether or not the person was paid.
That is why this page describes the options and stops. To check whether someone is licensed, use the Immigration Advisers Authority register at app.mbieregisters.govt.nz. New Zealand lawyers may also give immigration advice.
What a refusal costs, in money
| Charge | Amount | Returned on refusal? |
|---|---|---|
| NZeTA request | NZ$17 (app) / NZ$23 (website) | No, once processed |
| International Visitor Levy | NZ$100 | Never |
| A subsequent Visitor Visa application | From NZ$441 ($300 fee + $41 levy + $100 IVL) | No, once processed |
Note the levy in the third row. Someone who is refused an NZeTA and then applies for a Visitor Visa pays the NZ$100 levy again, because it attaches to each application rather than to the traveller. This is the single most expensive consequence of a refused NZeTA and almost nobody publishes it. The exemptions that avoid it are listed on the International Visitor Levy page.
What a refusal is not
Several things people assume follow a refusal do not follow from the published rules.
It is not a ban. A refusal is a decision on one request. INZ publishes no automatic exclusion period attached to an NZeTA refusal.
It is not a deportation or removal. Those are separate legal processes with separate consequences, and neither is triggered by an unsuccessful travel-authority request.
It is not a finding about your character. INZ does not publish the basis for NZeTA decisions, and a refusal on its own establishes nothing about why.
It does not affect a visa you already hold. Someone holding a valid New Zealand visa did not need an NZeTA in the first place; a refused request does not disturb the visa.
What a refusal does create is a fact you will be asked about — see below.
Timing, if you were about to travel
An unsuccessful request usually surfaces at the worst moment: flights booked, leave approved, family waiting. The published system offers no shortcut for that, and this page will not pretend otherwise.
Two things are worth knowing before you spend money reacting. A duplicate NZeTA request is a second fee and a second NZ$100 levy for the same decision. And a Visitor Visa application is not a fast alternative — INZ published 80% completion within two weeks as at 20 August 2026, against 72 hours for an NZeTA. Whether either route is open to a particular person after a refusal is an assessment, and licensed advice is the way to get one.
Declaring the refusal afterwards
A refusal is part of your immigration history. New Zealand visa application forms ask whether you have previously been refused a visa or entry to any country, and other countries ask the same question. Answering it accurately matters: providing false or misleading information is a separate and more serious problem than the original refusal, and it is treated as such — see false or misleading information in a visa application.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can an NZeTA be rejected?
Yes. INZ decides each request and can refuse it. INZ does not publish how often this happens or on what grounds, so no figure or reason list on this topic should be trusted, including ours — we do not publish one.
Why was my New Zealand ETA denied?
The decision INZ sends is the only source for that. INZ publishes no general refusal-reason list for the NZeTA, and no third party can see your record.
Can I appeal an NZeTA refusal?
Reconsideration is not available for a request made from outside New Zealand — it requires that the application was made and is being reconsidered while you are in New Zealand and hold a valid visa. What remains is a fresh request or a different visa application, if you are eligible for one.
Do I get my money back if my NZeTA is declined?
No. The NZ$100 International Visitor Levy is never refunded under any circumstance. INZ does not refund an application fee or levy once a request has been processed, even where it was declined.
Can I just apply for a Visitor Visa instead?
A Visitor Visa is a separate product with its own criteria, its own form and its own fee from NZ$441. Whether it is open to a particular person after an NZeTA refusal depends on that person's circumstances, which is an assessment a licensed adviser makes rather than a website.
Will an NZeTA refusal affect other countries' visas?
Other countries ask about previous refusals on their own forms. What weight they give the answer is their decision, not New Zealand's. Answer such questions accurately.
Can I travel to New Zealand while my request is refused?
No. The airline checks the authority at check-in and will not board you without a valid one. There is no counter at a New Zealand airport that issues one on arrival.
I received an email saying my visa was denied and asking for payment. Is that real?
INZ has publicly warned about fabricated denial letters of exactly that kind. Check the link: genuine INZ addresses end in .immigration.govt.nz. Confirm any decision through the official app or nzeta.immigration.govt.nz before paying anything.
This page explains published rules and published options. It is general information, not immigration advice, and it does not assess whether any option is available to you. Anyone facing a refusal should speak to a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer.
