travel document immigration nz

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What you need for your application

• Identity referee or witness
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Certificate of identity or refugee travel document

If you need to travel and you cannot get a passport from your country of citizenship, you may be able to apply for a New Zealand certificate of identity or refugee travel document.

Certificate of identity

A certificate of identity may be issued to a person who is not a New Zealand citizen and cannot get a passport from their country of citizenship. You must be physically present in New Zealand to qualify for a certificate of identity.

A certificate of identity is valid for a maximum of 2 years.

Refugee travel document

A refugee travel document may be issued to a person who is not a New Zealand citizen and who has refugee status confirmed by Immigration New Zealand. You must be physically present in New Zealand to qualify for a refugee travel document.

A refugee travel document is valid for a maximum of 5 years.

A certificate of identity or refugee travel document application costs NZD$120.00.

Allow a minimum of 20 working days for your application to be processed.

Download an application form

Application for a certificate of identity or refugee travel document (PDF 357KB)

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Page last updated: 25 May 2023

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Visas and entry requirements

Visas, New Zealand

By Tourism New Zealand

Learn more about the available visa options and entry requirements into Aotearoa New Zealand, including the New Zealand Traveller Declaration.

Aotearoa New Zealand enjoys welcoming visitors (manuhiri) to our beautiful country.

Having a valid passport, the right visa and completing the entry requirements are key to a trouble-free entry into New Zealand.

Your passport has to be valid for at least three months beyond your intended departure date, and if required, have a valid New Zealand visa .

On this page, you'll find helpful information on:

• Arriving in New Zealand
• Visitor visa for a holiday
• Working holiday visa
• Transit visa (through New Zealand or Australia)

New Zealand visa options

Visiting new zealand for a holiday.

You do not need a visa to visit New Zealand if you are:

• A New Zealand citizen travelling on a New Zealand passport or on a foreign passport that has a New Zealand citizen endorsement
• An Australian citizen travelling on an Australian passport
• A foreign passport holder with a valid visa for New Zealand - including a Permanent Resident visa

If you plan to visit New Zealand for a short period, you need to request a New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority (opens in new window) (NZeTA) before you travel if you are:

• A citizen of a country which has a visa waiver (opens in new window) agreement with New Zealand (you can stay up to three months)

If you don’t meet the above, then you’ll need a visitor visa. The fastest and easiest way to apply for a visitor visa (opens in new window) is online.

Before travelling to New Zealand, you need to make sure your passport is valid for at least three months longer than your expected departure date.

Be sure to request your NZeTA (opens in new window) , or apply for your visitor visa well in advance of travel to avoid delays, and only use the official NZeTA website to request your New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority.

For more information on cost and processing times, visit the official NZeTA website .

If you have a biometric ordinary passport (or electronic passport) and are over 12 years old, you may be able to use New Zealand Customs eGate service. This allows you to complete your Customs and Immigration checks faster so you can get on with enjoying your visit to New Zealand.

Essential travel information

Working holidays.

Working holiday visas (opens in new window) are available to young people, usually aged 18-30 (but 18-35 for a select few nationalities). They let you travel and work in New Zealand for up to 12 months, or 23 months if you’re from the UK. To apply you’ll need to meet the visa requirements, and have:

• A return ticket, or enough money to pay for one; and 
• Be coming mainly to holiday, with work being a secondary intention.

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Work visas and staying permanently

If you’re thinking of coming to New Zealand to work for a few years, or maybe even to settle, you’ll need a work or resident visa. To get that – you’re likely to need a job.

For information about working in New Zealand, including industry profiles, tips on job hunting, and a list of job sites to check out, visit New Zealand Now. (opens in new window)

Transiting through New Zealand or Australia

If you are travelling to New Zealand via an Australian airport, you may also need an Australian visa – consult your travel agent or airline if you are unsure.

Transit visas (opens in new window) will also be needed for all people travelling via New Zealand, unless they are specifically exempted by immigration policy.

More information about visas

The visa and immigration information on this page is just a summary. For everything you need to know about coming to New Zealand, visit Immigration New Zealand. (opens in new window)

Find out if you need a visa

Arriving in Aotearoa New Zealand

Everyone entering New Zealand needs to complete a  New Zealand Traveller Declaration (NZTD) (opens in new window)  including babies and children.

Traveller Declaration requirements (opens in new window)

It’s free and you can complete it on the NZTD website or by downloading the NZTD app ahead of your travel.

You can start your NZTD at a time that suits you. If arriving by plane, the earliest you can submit your declaration is 24 hours before you start your trip to New Zealand. An NZTD needs to be submitted by the time you reach New Zealand passport control.

If arriving by boat (including cruise ships), the earliest you can submit your NZTD is 24 hours before departing the vessel’s last foreign port prior to arriving in New Zealand.

It needs to be submitted by the time the vessel has berthed at its first port in New Zealand. ​

If you apply for a visa or NZeTA, you still need to complete an NZTD (opens in new window) .

Here's how to complete your declaration online. 

The form is available in English and Te Reo Māori, as well as simplified and traditional Chinese Mandarin. 

From April 2024, the form will be in 12 more languages: Hindi, Samoan, Fijian, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Tagalog, Tamil, Tongan, and Portuguese.

Paper NZTD forms will be available for travellers who cannot complete it online.

Fill out your NZ Traveller Declaration

What you can bring into New Zealand

After you’ve cleared passport control, you should collect your baggage and proceed through customs and biosecurity checks. In order to protect New Zealand and its environment, certain items are not allowed to be brought into the country, have restrictions for entry or must be declared if they are deemed to present a biosecurity risk. These include food, plants, animal products and outdoor recreational equipment.

Your baggage may be sniffed by a detector dog and/or x-rayed, and it may be searched to identify any risk goods you might be carrying.

To avoid penalties it is best to familiarise yourself with these guidelines prior to travel. For a detailed list of prohibited, restricted or declarable items, please visit Ministry for Primary Industries (opens in new window) (biosecurity agency).

Allowances and duty free concessions

As a visitor to New Zealand you may be entitled to various concessions and duty free entries on some of your goods. If you are 17 years or older, you are entitled to allowances for alcohol, cigarettes and tobacco. For detailed information on allowances and duty free concessions, please visit New Zealand Customs (opens in new window) .

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Before you travel

Avoid surprises — before you go, find and check your passport, pay your fines and check if there are any special travel requirements for the countries you’re visiting.

Documents you’ll need to leave NZ

You’ll need a passport. If your passport is damaged or close to expiring, you might not be allowed to enter some countries.

Check your passport is valid

The name in your passport must match your tickets and your officially registered name.

Before you travel, check if the country you’re visiting has special rules.

Check visa and entry requirements for your destination

Travel advisories

Travel advisories from the NZ government cover security and safety concerns in 137 places around the world.

The SafeTravel website has tips to help you stay safe overseas, what to do if things go wrong, and how the New Zealand government can or cannot help.

Register with SafeTravel

SafeTravel is the official registration facility for New Zealanders travelling or living overseas.

If you’re registered, SafeTravel can:

• contact you if there is a major incident overseas
• send you updates about emergencies, natural disasters or terrorist attacks.

Get travel insurance

You should get comprehensive travel insurance before heading away. You need to make sure it covers everywhere you’re going, and everything you plan to do.

If you do not have travel insurance, you’ll have to pay any overseas medical costs yourself, including the cost of returning to New Zealand.

Unpaid fines

If you have unpaid fines and try to leave or come into New Zealand, the police can stop you at the airport. You will be allowed to pay by credit card over the phone with a registrar.

If you’re travelling in the next 48 hours and you have fines or reparation you have not paid, call 0800 729 677 to pay with your credit card.

If you get a benefit

You must let Work and Income know your travel plans and your reasons for travel before you leave New Zealand. Partners travelling must also let them know. If you do not, your benefit might stop the day after you leave.

Going overseas to live

If you get NZ Super or Veteran’s Pension

You need to tell Seniors Services that you’re going overseas before you leave NZ.

• If you travel overseas
• Living overseas if you get NZ Super or Veteran’s Pension

If you have a student loan

If you do not meet your repayment obligations, you could be arrested when you return to NZ. Make sure you keep up your student loan payments while you’re overseas or you could be charged interest and penalties.

Going overseas when you have a student loan

If you pay tax

You might need to file a tax return (IR3) that covers the period up to the date you leave NZ. You may also need to file a tax return at a later time showing details of any income you’ve earned overseas or from an NZ source.

Find out if you should file a tax return

If you have tax debt, contact Inland Revenue to discuss the options for paying your debt. The Australian Tax Office can help recover tax debt owed by New Zealanders who move to Australia.

What to do if you have a tax debt

If you pay child support

You must contact IR.

Child support payments

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Last updated 15 October 2021

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Date printed 30 April 2024

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Road not taken: the moment Andrew Giles passed on chance to shut down detention court case

FoI documents show immigration minister refused to grant a visa or release NZYQ into community detention before Five Eyes allies rejected request for deportation

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Andrew Giles closed off an avenue to avoid the high court case on indefinite detention before the Australian government made a failed attempt to head off defeat by deporting the plaintiff, a new document reveals.

A submission to the immigration minister, released under freedom of information, shows that on 18 September Giles refused to give NZYQ a visa or release him into community detention, nine days before the government approached its Five Eyes allies to deport him.

The government lost the high court challenge in November, resulting in the release of more than 150 immigration detainees.

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In November Guardian Australia revealed that on 26 May the government considered releasing the man at the centre of the case “in light of [the] litigation risk” that his challenge would overturn a 20-year-old precedent on the legality of indefinite detention.

The second stage submission, cleared by the department on 27 August, shows this remained a live option as late as mid-September.

The document is heavily redacted and reveals little about the minister’s reasons. It notes NZYQ’s criminal history, that he “was convicted of one child sex offence and served three years and four months” in prison, and sex offender counselling had been arranged for him .

On 31 May, at the initial stages of the case , the commonwealth had conceded it was impossible to deport NZYQ, a stateless Rohingyan man who had pleaded guilty to raping a 10-year-old boy.

But on 29 August the home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, met senior departmental officials, ordering them to progress all avenues to deport NZYQ, including asking the Five Eyes allies to take him, later summarised by an official as a “no stone unturned” approach.

The Albanese government had changed course, seeking to either end the challenge by removing NZYQ or to distinguish his case from the precedent of Al Kateb by arguing that it was not impossible to deport him.

On 14 September Giles’ office was asked if he was comfortable with the approaches to the Five Eyes. A staffer confirmed he was on 16 September.

Giles signed the submission on 18 September, declining to intervene by granting NZYQ a visa, a move which would have shut down his court challenge. The department had asked for a response by 30 September.

According to documents in the NZYQ court file, despite O’Neil’s order of 29 August it was not until 27 September that the home affairs department emailed regional directors seeking their assistance contacting Five Eyes officials to discuss removing NZYQ.

Rejections flowed within days, with officials responsible in the high commissions to the UK and New Zealand relaying their negative response on 28 September, and an email on 1 October indicating the Canadian immigration department’s response was “as close to a ‘no’ as we are likely to receive”.

The US promised to take a “hard look” at NZYQ’s case, which the commonwealth used to argue at the 8 November hearing that it was still possible the plaintiff could be deported. It was unsuccessful.

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The high court ruled there was “no real prospect of the removal of the plaintiff from Australia becoming practicable in the reasonably foreseeable future” and that detention is unconstitutional in those circumstances.

The shadow immigration minister, Dan Tehan, said “once again this highlights how poorly the government handled this issue from start to finish”.

“Clare O’Neil needs to answer why it took a month for her department to approach Five Eyes countries after having made the decision to do so. Andrew Giles also needs to answer the question: why did he cut off a possible option to keep Australia’s ability to detain people before all avenues had been exhausted to remove NZYQ from the country?”

A government spokesperson said: “These documents make it clear the government took every step to prevent the release of these individuals.” “Community safety has always been our top priority and we continue to take all possible steps to remove people from Australia.”

In November O’Neil said the government had been “advised that it was likely that the commonwealth would win the case”. The minister later clarified that she had not been referring to legal advice, but was instead referring to operational advice about the prospects of removing the plaintiff.

Earlier in April Guardian Australia revealed that Giles was warned of legal “risks” associated with immigration detention within months of Labor’s election, including a need for his department to be able to show “concrete and robust steps” to deport some non-citizens.

A spokesperson for Giles and O’Neil said at that time: “At no stage has the opposition been able to identify an action they would have taken which would have resulted in a different outcome.”

• Australian immigration and asylum
• Australian politics
• Andrew Giles
• Clare O'Neil
• Labor party

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Travellers flying to New Zealand can now do their arrival declaration online

22 August 2023

Travellers arriving into all New Zealand international airports now have the option to complete a digital declaration instead of a paper arrival card, before travelling to New Zealand.

Travellers flying to New Zealand can now do their arrival declaration online – New Zealand Customs Service

Last updated: 22nd August 2023

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