Do I need a visa to visit New Zealand?

It is only natural to ask yourself whether or not you need a visa when you visit New Zealand. After all, going to a foreign country is usually accompanied by that question. However, the answer to your questions depends on your nationality, of course.

According to New Zealand’s visa policy, there are 60 jurisdictions whose citizens do not need to apply for a visa. If you find yourself on that list, you can rest assured that you only need a passport. You can check that using iVisa’s Visa Checker. Insert your nationality and select New Zealand as your destination. The information you need will be displayed in just a second.

Usual instances that may require you apply for a visa

Nevertheless, and this is very important, there are instances in which you do need a New Zealand visa even if you are from a visa waiver country. They are as follows:

• You are from a visa waiver country, but you want to stay in New Zealand for more than 3 months – apparently, the citizens of visa waiver countries cannot stay longer than 3 months in New Zealand without a visa, in which case you need to apply for one. Lucky for you, that can be done online. iVisa can help you with your visa application process.

• You are a British citizen, and you wish to remain in New Zealand for more than 6 months – British citizens are a special category, and while the United Kingdom is a visa waiver country, its citizens have special rights. Yet, if you are a British national and you plan to stay in New Zealand for more than half a year, you need a visa. Again, you can apply online for one.

• You are not from a visa waiver country – the rest of the nationalities are required to apply for a New Zealand visa. But that is very simple. You can use iVisa’s services and apply online. It is cheap, and you can get your electronic document in just a little while.

Special circumstances that may require you apply for a visa

The three points mentioned above are the usual instances. However, there are some special circumstances that may require you to apply for a New Zealand visa disregarding where you are from. Here are a few examples:

• You have a criminal history – criminal history does not refer to misdemeanors. Nobody cares if you ran a red light or you have some unpaid parking tickets. However, if you have been accused, convicted of a felony, and you served time in prison, you need to apply for a visa. Some people try to hide this type of information, but they are deported once the authorities in New Zealand find out.

• Your health issues could endanger the public health, or they are too expensive for New Zealand’s health services – there is a reason why there is such thing as a medical visa. If you plan to go to New Zealand because you are sick and you hope to get treated, think again.

So to answer your question, you do need a visa to visit New Zealand, but only in the circumstances mentioned above. If you are exempt, you can just take your passport and board a plane. If not, you can apply online for you visa. However, do not get too excited. It seems that the government of New Zealand wants to introduce the ETA (Electronic Travel Authorization) for all people from visa waiver countries. It is easy to get, but it is, after all, an additional procedure. To be more precise, you have until 2020 to take advantage of this.