Medical Treatment Visitor Visa

Visit New Zealand for medical treatment or consultation. You must be able to pay for your treatment, unless it is funded under a special arrangement.

Length of stay

6 months

Cost
From
NZD $341
Processing time
80% within
5 weeks
With this visa you can
  • Come to New Zealand for medical treatment or consultation you have already been accepted for.
  • Stay in New Zealand until it is safe for you to travel.
Things to note
    • Full English language translations must be provided for any documents not in English.
      Providing English translations of supporting documents
    • You have to apply for a visa to come to New Zealand for medical treatment or consultation, even if you are from a visa waiver country.
    • If your condition requires it, you may be escorted by a family member, friend or doctor. They will need to apply for their own visa.
    • If your need for treatment or consultation is urgent or an emergency situation, contact us. We may be able to make special arrangements for you.
      Contact us

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
Tip

Your passport must be valid for at least 3 months after you plan to leave New Zealand.

  • 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

Your passport must be valid for at least 3 months after you plan to leave New Zealand.

Also provide a copy of your Identity card.

Also provide your:

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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
  • you provided in any previous applications.

Genuine intentions to visit, study or work in NZ

You must provide:

  • a completed ‘Details of Intended Medical Treatment’ form
  • written evidence of your acceptance for treatment, like a letter from the appropriate medical authorities to the health authority in the your home country
  • details of the expected costs of the treatment 
  • evidence that you can pay for all medical costs, unless the treatment will be funded under special arrangements for citizens of South Pacific countries
  • evidence, where necessary, that you need an escort because of the nature of your condition.

Details of Intended Medical Treatment (INZ1009) PDF 235KB

Tips

If you need specialised medical treatment in New Zealand because it’s not available in your home country, it may be funded by either:

  • your home Government
  • New Zealand's Official Development Assistance Programme under the Medical Treatment Scheme, administered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Only citizens of South Pacific countries may be granted a visa to have renal dialysis in New Zealand.

Evidence of funds can include:

  • bank statements
  • credit card statements
  • bank drafts
  • travellers’ cheques
  • a 'Sponsorship Form for Temporary Entry' completed by an acceptable sponsor.

What sponsors must do – responsibilities and obligations

Sponsorship Form for Temporary Entry (INZ 1025) PDF 414KB

Tips

If you are pregnant, there are additional requirements.

Paying for maternity care

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.

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.

If you have a special arrangement, your healthcare costs may be funded by either:

  • your home Government
  • New Zealand's Official Development Assistance Programme under the Medical Treatment Scheme, administered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

To bring family:

  • you must provide evidence of your relationship with them, like marriage and birth certificates
  • you must provide proof of their identity
  • they must be of good character
  • they must be in good health.

Partnership
Dependent children

Tips

A family can include yourself, your partner, and dependent children 19 and under.

You should provide copies of family members Hukou (household registration book) included in your application.

You should provide copies of identity cards for family members included in your application.

Your partner and dependent children may need to have a chest x-ray and/or a medical examination as proof of their good health.

Who needs an x-ray or medical examination

Documents must be translated by someone who meets our requirements for providing English translations.

Providing English translations of supporting documents

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.

Enter country details

How to submit

Payment methods and receiving centre details if applicable.

Notes

We cannot display any receiving centre or payment method information until you have provided your country details. Enter your country details in the panel above to view information relevant to your situation.

Enter country details

Conditions

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

Entry permission

You can only enter New Zealand to receive preapproved specified medical treatment at/with the hospital or institution specified on your visa.

You must apply for entry permission when you arrive in New Zealand. You can do this by completing an arrival card, which you’ll be given on the way to New Zealand.

Notes

You can be refused entry permission if:

  • you do not meet our character requirements
  • your circumstances have changed since you were issued a visa
  • you refuse to let us to take your photo, or provide us with your fingerprints or an iris scan, if we ask you for them.

Travel

If travelling in and out of New Zealand, a valid multiple entry travel condition is needed to return to New Zealand.

Changing the conditions of a visitor visa

Notes

You can request multiple entry travel conditions when you apply for your visa. If you’re applying from inside New Zealand, we’ll normally give you multiple entry travel conditions when we grant you a Visitor Visa.

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

Check your visa label for your travel conditions.

Onward travel

You must have a travel ticket or enough money to buy one.

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.

Work

You cannot work in New Zealand on this visa, however you may be able to volunteer or work remotely for an employer or client based outside New Zealand.

Working remotely in New Zealand on a visitor visa

Notes

You can only visit New Zealand to receive preapproved medical treatment at the hospital or institution printed on your visa label.

Visa expiry

You must leave New Zealand before your visa expires.

Notes

Check your visa label for your visa expiry date. 

We may grant you another visa to stay longer if you need more treatment, become ill or have an accident during your visit.

You’ll need complete a new visitor visa application and include details of your medical treatment.