The NZeTA Explained: Who Needs One, What It Costs, How to Get It
An NZeTA is New Zealand's electronic travel authority for visa-waiver travellers. It costs NZ$17 in Immigration New Zealand's mobile app or NZ$23 on its website, plus the NZ$100 International Visitor Levy. It lasts two years, allows multiple visits of up to three months each, and Immigration New Zealand says to allow 72 hours. Figures as at August 2026.
Quick Facts
| Item | Detail (as at August 2026) |
|---|---|
| Full name | New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority |
| Cost | NZ$17 through the official INZ mobile app · NZ$23 through the INZ website |
| Levy on top | NZ$100 International Visitor Levy (IVL), per person |
| Total for a normal tourist | NZ$117 (app) or NZ$123 (website) |
| Processing | Allow 72 hours |
| Validity | 2 years for travellers · 5 years for airline crew |
| Entries | Multiple |
| Stay per visit | Up to 3 months · up to 6 months for United Kingdom citizens |
| Stay limit | Maximum 6 months in any rolling 12-month period |
| Who it is for | Citizens of the 60 visa-waiver countries and territories, Australian permanent residents, cruise and cargo ship passengers, and some transit passengers |
| Work rights | None in New Zealand. Remote work for an employer outside New Zealand is allowed |
| Leads to residence | No |
| Where to request it | nzeta.immigration.govt.nz or the official INZ app — nowhere else |
What an NZeTA actually is
An NZeTA is not a visa. It is a permission to board a plane or ship bound for New Zealand, granted before you travel, and linked electronically to your passport. There is no sticker, no label and nothing to collect. Immigration New Zealand (INZ) holds the record; the airline checks it when you check in.
The visa itself is granted at the border. When you arrive holding a valid NZeTA and you are admitted, you are granted a Visa Waiver Visitor Visa — the actual legal permission that lets you stay. Australian citizens and Australian permanent residents are granted an Australian Resident Visa instead.
That two-step design explains something people find confusing: an NZeTA does not guarantee entry. It gets you to the border. An immigration officer at the border decides whether to grant entry permission. In practice most visa-waiver travellers are admitted without difficulty, but the officer can ask for your onward ticket, your funds, and your reason for visiting.
The NZeTA scheme is separate from the Visitor Visa, which is a full application with a much larger fee and a much longer form. If your passport is on the waiver list, the NZeTA replaces that application entirely.
Who needs an NZeTA
INZ requires an NZeTA from:
- Citizens of a visa-waiver country or territory. There are 60 of them. The full list, and the conditions attached to nine of the entries, is on the visa-waiver countries page.
- Australian permanent residents who are not Australian citizens.
- Citizens of China or a Pacific Islands Forum country travelling from Australia on an eligible Australian visa.
- Cruise ship and cargo ship passengers, of any nationality — including nationalities that would otherwise need a visa. This is the exception most people miss. See cruise and cargo ship passengers.
- Transit passengers changing planes at Auckland International Airport, where their nationality is on either the visa-waiver list or the separate transit visa waiver list.
Who does not need an NZeTA
INZ publishes a short list of travellers who are outside the scheme:
- Holders of a valid New Zealand visa of any kind. If you already hold a Visitor Visa, a work visa or a resident visa, you do not also buy an NZeTA.
- Australian citizens travelling on an Australian passport. No visa, no NZeTA, no levy. This is the single most misreported fact in the whole area, and it is covered in detail on Australians and the NZeTA.
- New Zealand passport holders, and holders of a foreign passport carrying an endorsement confirming New Zealand citizenship.
- Members of an Antarctic Treaty scientific programme.
- Members of a visiting force.
Who cannot use an NZeTA
An NZeTA is the wrong product — and will not be granted — for several groups:
- Crew members of commercial airlines, cruise ships and cargo ships. Crew need a separate crew travel authority, arranged through the employer. See the Crew NZeTA.
- People travelling for medical treatment. Medical treatment is excluded from visa-waiver entry, and a Medical Treatment Visitor Visa is the route INZ publishes for it.
- People who need a financial sponsor to support their visit.
- People with character or security matters that need to be assessed before travel.
What it costs, and where the money goes
Two separate charges land on the same screen, and it is worth knowing which is which.
| Charge | App | Website | Refundable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Traveller NZeTA | NZ$17 | NZ$23 | No, once processed |
| International Visitor Levy (IVL) | NZ$100 | NZ$100 | Never |
| Total | NZ$117 | NZ$123 | — |
The NZeTA request fee is what INZ charges to assess and hold the authority. The IVL is a separate levy set by government, paid per person, that funds conservation and tourism infrastructure. Some travellers pay one and not the other — Australians and citizens of 16 Pacific nations are levy-exempt, and transit passengers pay no levy at all. The IVL page sets out every exemption.
A Transit NZeTA costs the same NZ$17 or NZ$23 and carries no levy.
The app is cheaper because INZ prices it that way, and one app request can cover up to 10 people — a family of four pays NZ$68 in NZeTA fees rather than NZ$92. The reasons behind the price gap, and the arithmetic for groups, are on NZeTA cost: app vs website.
There has been no general New Zealand visa fee or levy increase in 2025 or 2026. INZ's fee schedule still carries an "as of 1 October 2024" date. Any site quoting you a materially different government charge is either stale or adding its own margin.
Step 1: Check that your passport is covered
Work from your passport, not your residence. The waiver runs on citizenship and passport type. Nine of the 60 entries carry conditions — Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Greece, Portugal, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the United Kingdom each have a qualifying rule attached. Your passport also has to be valid for at least three months beyond the date you intend to leave New Zealand.
New Zealand publishes no chip or biometric-passport rule for visa-waiver entry. Guides that tell you otherwise are wrong, and the actual passport rule is short.
Step 2: Request the NZeTA before you book anything tight
Use the official INZ app or nzeta.immigration.govt.nz. You will need your passport, an email address and a payment card. The request asks for your passport details, a photograph taken with the phone or uploaded, and a set of declarations covering criminal convictions, deportation history and previous refusals.
Answer the "reason for travel" question accurately. Cruise and cargo ship passengers must answer "visiting", not "transit", even though they are only in New Zealand briefly.
Step 3: Allow 72 hours, and do not assume it is instant
INZ's published guidance is to allow 72 hours. Many requests are decided far faster than that, but INZ does not publish a typical turnaround and neither will we. If anything on your declarations triggers a check, the request can take considerably longer. What "pending" means, and what it does not mean, is covered on NZeTA processing time and pending status.
Nobody can shorten this. New Zealand sells no express channel at any price — see can you fast-track a New Zealand visa.
Step 4: Complete the New Zealand Traveller Declaration
Separately from the NZeTA, every arriving traveller must complete the New Zealand Traveller Declaration (NZTD). It covers customs, biosecurity and health, and it is free. It is not the NZeTA, it does not replace the NZeTA, and it is completed close to travel rather than months in advance.
Step 5: Carry proof of funds and an onward ticket
Visa-waiver travellers can be asked at the border for evidence of an onward or return ticket and evidence of funds. The published funds standard for visitors is NZ$1,000 per person per month of the stay, or NZ$400 per person per month where accommodation is already paid for. A sponsor can cover this instead. The detail is on the visitor visa funds requirement.
How long an NZeTA lasts, and how long you can stay
These are two different clocks, and mixing them up is the most common NZeTA mistake.
| Clock | Rule |
|---|---|
| How long the NZeTA itself lasts | 2 years from grant, or until the passport expires, whichever comes first |
| How many trips | Unlimited within those 2 years |
| How long each visit can be | Up to 3 months — up to 6 months if you are a United Kingdom citizen |
| Total time in any 12 months | 6 months maximum |
So a two-year NZeTA does not entitle anyone to two years in New Zealand. It entitles a series of short visits, capped at six months of presence in any rolling twelve. If your passport is replaced during those two years, the NZeTA does not move with you — it is tied to the passport it was granted against.
Whether a longer stay is possible, and on what basis, is covered on how long you can stay as a visitor.
What an NZeTA does not allow
- No work for a New Zealand employer. None. Not casual, not paid in cash, not "helping out".
- No exchange of services with New Zealand businesses or individuals, and no work that requires you to be physically present in New Zealand to perform it.
- Remote work for an employer outside New Zealand is permitted. Since 27 January 2025, visitor conditions place no limit on the amount of such work. The conditions and the tax boundary — which is a tax question, not an immigration one — are set out on remote work on a visitor visa.
- Study is limited to short courses, up to three months in any 12-month period.
- No medical treatment.
What happens at the New Zealand border
Holding an NZeTA gets you onto the aircraft. Entry permission is a separate decision, made by an immigration officer after you land, and it is the moment the visa is actually granted.
Officers may ask about your reason for visiting, how long you plan to stay, where you are staying, whether you have an onward ticket, and how you are funding the trip. They may look at the answers you gave on the New Zealand Traveller Declaration. Answering consistently and accurately is the whole of it — the questions are routine, and for the overwhelming majority of visa-waiver travellers the process takes moments.
An officer can decline entry permission even to someone holding a valid NZeTA. That is uncommon, but it is how the system is designed: the NZeTA is a pre-check, not a guarantee.
If you already hold a New Zealand visa
Someone who already holds a valid New Zealand visa of any kind does not also request an NZeTA. A resident visa holder, a work visa holder, a student visa holder and a Visitor Visa holder all travel on the visa they hold.
This trips up people whose visa is close to expiry. A visa that expires while you are outside New Zealand does not roll over into an NZeTA, and a visa that expires while you are inside New Zealand is a different problem again — see changing from a visitor visa to another visa.
It also trips up people who have renewed a passport. Visas and travel authorities attach to the passport they were granted against, and INZ's published position for visas generally is that they must be transferred to the new passport before it is used for travel.
Where to request it — and where not to
Only two channels are genuine: the official INZ mobile app, and nzeta.immigration.govt.nz. INZ's own guidance is that official INZ web addresses end in .immigration.govt.nz.
A large number of commercial sites sell NZeTA "application services" at two to eight times the government price, and several present themselves with government-style branding, government-style domain names, and phrases such as "Official NZeTA Application Service". At least one site reproduces INZ's logo, the New Zealand Government shield and a Crown copyright line with no disclaimer at all. None of them is INZ, none can process anything faster, and none can grant anything. How to tell them apart is set out in detail on NZeTA scam sites and resellers.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is an NZeTA?
NZ$17 through the official INZ mobile app, or NZ$23 through the INZ website, as at August 2026. The NZ$100 International Visitor Levy is charged on top for most travellers, giving a total of NZ$117 or NZ$123 per person.
How long does an NZeTA take to process?
INZ says to allow 72 hours. Many are decided sooner, but INZ does not publish an average and there is no way to buy a faster decision. Requesting it as soon as your travel is decided is the only lever you have.
How long is an NZeTA valid for?
Two years from the date it is granted, or until your passport expires — whichever happens first. Airline crew authorities run for five years.
Does an NZeTA allow multiple entries?
Yes. Within its two-year life you can enter as many times as you like, subject to the three-month-per-visit limit (six months for United Kingdom citizens) and the six-months-in-any-twelve cap.
Do I need to print my NZeTA?
No. It is held electronically against your passport number and the airline checks it at check-in. Carrying the confirmation email or a screenshot does no harm, but nothing needs to be printed or presented at the border.
Can an NZeTA be extended?
No. An NZeTA is not extended and the stay granted under it is not extended by renewing the NZeTA. Someone already in New Zealand who wants to stay longer applies for a Visitor Visa from inside the country — see visitor visa extensions.
Do NZeTA requests get processed on weekends?
INZ does not publish its NZeTA processing hours or say whether decisions are made outside business days. The published guidance is the same either way: allow 72 hours, and do not plan around a faster answer.
Can I travel to New Zealand with just an NZeTA?
If your passport is on the visa-waiver list and your visit fits the visitor rules, yes — the NZeTA is what you need in advance, plus the traveller declaration before you arrive. Entry permission is still granted by an officer at the border.
Is an NZeTA the same as a visa?
No. It is an authority to travel. The visa — a Visa Waiver Visitor Visa — is granted when you are admitted at the New Zealand border.
What happens if my NZeTA is declined?
The NZeTA request is refused and the levy is not refunded. INZ does not publish NZeTA-specific refusal grounds. What the options are, and what a refusal does and does not mean, is on NZeTA declined or refused.
This page explains published rules. It is general information, not immigration advice, and it does not assess any individual's circumstances. Anyone who needs their own situation assessed should speak to a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer.
