Tour Escort Visitor Visa

You can come to New Zealand as a tour escort with this visa. You must meet the criteria of the visa and have a letter from your employer confirming your role as a tour escort before you apply.

Length of stay

3-9 months

Cost
From
NZD $211
Processing time
80% within
2 weeks
With this visa you can
  • Travel to New Zealand with a tour group and act as a tour escort.
Things to note
  • You must arrive, leave and travel within New Zealand with a tour group.
  • You must live outside New Zealand and be employed by an employer outside New Zealand.
  • If you are from a visa waiver country, you do not need to apply for a visitor visa but you still need to carry a letter from your employer and you must hold an NZeTA (New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority) before travelling to New Zealand.
    Visa waiver countries and territories
    Information about NZeTA

What you need to apply

Check if you are eligible to apply for this visa and what supporting documents and information you need to provide.

View All Evidence
  • 1 acceptable photo if you apply online, or 2 photos if you use a paper application form.
  • your passport or certificate of identity.

Acceptable photos

If you apply online, you must upload a copy of your passport when you apply. We will let you know if you need to send your passport after you have applied.

Providing your passport for online applications

If you submit a paper application, provide your original passport or a certified copy.  We can usually process your application faster if you provide your original passport.

Tips

If you are a citizen of China and you submit a paper application form in China, you must also complete a supplementary form.

Supplementary form for Chinese citizens (INZ 1027) PDF 338KB

If you are submitting a paper application form, you must provide a supplementary form for Hong Kong and Macao visitors, workers and students.

Supplementary form for Hong Kong and Macao visitors, workers and students (INZ 1220) PDF 240KB

Also provide your:

  • Hukou (household registration book)
  • Chinese identity card.

Also provide a copy of your Identity card.

We may ask you to have a chest x-ray, a medical examination or both as proof of your good health.

If you are staying less than:

  • 6 months you do not normally need a chest x-ray. 
  • 12 months you do not normally need a medical certificate. 

Who needs an x-ray or medical examination

When we process your application we let you know if we need you to have a chest x-ray or medical examination.

Acceptable standard of health criteria for visa approvals

Please only provide medical certificates if requested

Tips

You must provide a chest x-ray completed in the last 3 months, even if you've provided one to us previously, if:

  • you have spent 6 consecutive months in China since the last x-ray certificate was issued, and
  • you are now coming to NZ for more than 6 months.

If you have a criminal conviction or are a security risk to New Zealand we may not be able to grant you a visa.

Good character for temporary visas

You must provide police certificates if your total time in New Zealand will be 24 months or longer across all visits. This includes any time you have spent in New Zealand in the past on other visas, even if you have been out of the country since then.

You also must provide police certificates if we ask for them.

If you are 16 years old or younger you do not need to provide police certificates.

Providing police certificates

How to get a police certificate

If you have already sent us Police Certificates with a previous visa application and they are less than 24 months old, you do not need to send them again.

Police certificates must be less than 6 months old when you submit your application. They must be from any country you are a citizen of, or have spent more than 5 years in since you turned 17.

When we decide if your intentions are genuine, we consider all the information:

  • you provide to support your application
  • we have about your personal circumstances, and
  • you provided in any previous applications.

Genuine intentions to visit, study or work in NZ

You must provide a letter from your employer that confirms your work as a tour escort. This letter must:

  • include your name and nationality, and the passport number, and expiry date of the passport you will be travelling on to New Zealand
  • describe your duties and responsibilities while in New Zealand
  • include a copy of the tour itinerary
  • be on your employer’s letterhead
  • include your employer’s name and contact details
  • be signed by your employer
  • be written or translated in English

The letter must be no older than 12 months from the date your tour group will arrive in New Zealand.

Tips

If you’re from a visa waiver country, you don’t need to apply for a visa to visit New Zealand for up to 3 months (or 6 months if from the UK) to undertake your role as a Tour escort.

You’ll still need to carry a letter from your employer confirming your role and duties as a tour escort and meet our entry requirements.

We’ll check your employer’s information to confirm they are based outside New Zealand.

We will check your address and travel history to confirm where you live.

You must have at least NZD $1,000 per month, or NZD $400 per month if you’ve already paid for your accommodation.

Evidence can include:

  • proof of accommodation pre-payment, like hotel pre-paid vouchers or receipts
  • bank statements
  • credit card statements
  • bank drafts
  • travellers’ cheques
  • a 'Sponsorship Form for Temporary Entry' completed by an acceptable sponsor.
If you are sponsored:

Your sponsor must provide evidence they can look after you in New Zealand. Evidence can include:

  • recent bank statements
  • pay slips
  • employment agreement
  • accommodation ownership or payment of rent.

Criteria and process to become a sponsor

What sponsors must do while you are in New Zealand

Tips

You may be eligible for streamlined visa processing arrangements.

Check if you are eligible

If you are pregnant, there are additional requirements.

Paying for maternity care

You must declare in your visa application that you will pay the costs of any health care or medical assistance you receive in New Zealand.

Tips

We recommend that you have full medical insurance for the length of your visit.

When you arrive in New Zealand you may be asked to show that you intend to leave the country — for example, a return ticket or proof you have enough money to buy a ticket out of New Zealand. This is in addition to the funds you have to live on.

If you are sponsored and you do not have a return ticket your sponsor can provide recent bank statements to show they have enough money to buy you a ticket out of New Zealand.

Tips

If you are not a citizen of the country you will return to after your visit, you must provide evidence of your legal right to enter that country.

If you will return to Schengen member state after your visit, but are not a citizen of a member state, evidence of your right to enter that country is a current copy of your Schengen visa.

Process and costs

The information below will help you understand the process, timeframes and costs involved in applying for this visa, so you can plan ahead and have the best chance of submitting a complete application.

Notes

We cannot display any process or costs information until you have provided your country details. Enter your country details in the panel above to view information relevant to your situation.

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How to submit

Payment methods and receiving centre details if applicable.

Notes

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Conditions

These are the conditions that you must meet once you have your visa.

Entry permission

You must apply for entry permission when you arrive in New Zealand. You can do this by completing a digital New Zealand traveller declaration (NZTD), or an NZTD paper declaration.

New Zealand Customs and Biosecurity also check that you meet their entry requirements.

Arriving in New Zealand

Notes

You can be refused entry permission if:

  • you do not meet our character requirements
  • your circumstances have changed since you were granted a visa
  • you refuse to let us take your photo or to provide us with your fingerprints or an iris scan, if asked for them
  • you are unable to provide evidence of any onward travel or funds required by the conditions of your visa.

If you are refused entry to New Zealand

Before you travel to New Zealand

Travel with a tour group

You must arrive, depart and travel in New Zealand with a tour group.

If you want to travel in and out of New Zealand, you must have valid Glossary for multiple entry travel conditions to return to New Zealand.

Notes

If you’re applying from inside New Zealand, we’ll normally give you multiple entry travel conditions when we grant you this visa.

If you don’t have multiple entry travel conditions and you leave New Zealand, your visa will expire.

Your travel conditions will be recorded on your visa label or in your visa letter.

Onward travel

Unless your visa label or letter says 'Return/onward travel not required', you must have either of the following:

  • a travel ticket to a country you can enter
  • an acceptable sponsor who can pay for your travel ticket out of New Zealand to a country you can enter.

What sponsors must do – responsibilities and obligations

Notes

Unless your visa label or letter states “Return/onward travel not required” you must have a ticket to leave New Zealand whenever you travel here.

Funds or sponsorship

You must have enough money to support yourself while you are in New Zealand or have a sponsor.

What sponsors must do – responsibilities and obligations

Notes

You may be asked for evidence you have enough funds to support yourself when you check in or arrive in New Zealand.

Visa expiry

You must leave New Zealand before your visa expires.

Notes

Visa expiry dates are printed on a visa label or included in a visa letter.