If you are refused entry to New Zealand
You need permission to travel to and enter New Zealand. Find out what to do if you have not been allowed to travel here or have been refused entry.
Apply for a visa
- Tools and information for meeting criteria
Arriving in New Zealand
When you arrive in New Zealand, you must apply for entry permission and answer questions about biosecurity and customs.
Getting permission to enter New Zealand
When you arrive at the New Zealand border, you must apply for entry permission even if you already have a visa or NZeTA (New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority). This process is usually quick, but immigration officers may ask you some extra questions before giving you permission to enter New Zealand. You must answer these questions truthfully.
Immigration officers can ask you to provide evidence to support your application to enter New Zealand. They may ask to see your ticket to leave New Zealand or evidence of how you will support yourself while you are here.
Before you travel to New Zealand
If you have a visa
If we approved your application for a visa, immigration officers at the border will have a record of your visa and any conditions we have placed on it. When they check your visa details, they may ask you to provide evidence that you will meet the conditions of your visa.
Before you travel to New Zealand
Nearly all visas are issued as eVisas.
Getting a visa when you arrive
Some travellers can apply for a visa and entry permission when they arrive in New Zealand. This applies to you if you have an NZeTA and:
- are visiting from a visa waiver country — that is, a country whose passport holders do not need to get a visa before they arrive in New Zealand, or
- hold a current Australian permanent resident visa that allows you to return to Australia from overseas.
Arriving on a cruise ship
If you are a cruise ship passenger and have an NZeTA you will be deemed to hold a visitor visa for 28 days when you arrive at your first New Zealand port.
An NZeTA is not a visa.
How you apply for entry permission
There are 2 ways to apply — by:
- presenting your documents to an immigration officer, or
- using a eGate or Smartgate — not all passport holders can use this option.
To apply for entry permission, you need to have your:
- completed arrival card — this will be given to you on the plane or ship before you arrive
- passport or travel document.
You may need to have a travel ticket out of New Zealand to a country you have the right to enter if:
- we asked for that when we approved your visa, or
- you are visiting New Zealand on a passport from a visa waiver country.
If you are refused entry to New Zealand
Customs and biosecurity
Other border agencies such as the New Zealand Customs Service and the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) check that you meet their entry requirements. They can refuse to let you enter New Zealand entry if you do not.
Travel to and from New Zealand | New Zealand Customs Service