New Zealand ETA (Tourist Visas) for Aussie Travellers

[Missmiaow]

This is really confusing! I sent my travel agent the information below because we’re cruising in December. She replied quoting the same information but not answering my question. It says “All cruise travelers” need to buy it, but it also says “Australian citizens are exempt”. We don’t want to arrive and not be able to board, or arrive in NZ and be told we can’t leave the ship. Does anyone know the answer??

 

New Zealand will implement an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) as a new security and facilitation measure that will help speed things up at the border.

From July 2019, travellers will be able to request an ETA and it will become mandatory for travel from 1 October 2019 onwards. 

Who needs an ETA

From 1 October 2019, all air travellers from 60 visa waiver countries, and all cruise travellers, will need to hold an ETA before travelling to New Zealand. An ETA will last up to 2 years and cost NZD $9.00 for mobile application requests and NZD $12.00 for web browser requests.
 

• Australian citizens will be exempt, however Australian permanent residents will need to hold an ETA but will not be required to pay for an International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL).   
• New Zealand citizens (provided they travel on their New Zealand passports) and holders of valid New Zealand visas (both resident visas and temporary visas) will continue to be able to enter New Zealand without an ETA.
• Passengers from a visa waiver country or a transit visa waiver country, who are transiting through New Zealand, are also required to hold an ETA from 1 October 2019, even if New Zealand is not their final destination.

[Big Kev]

30 minutes ago, Missmiaow said:

This is really confusing! I sent my travel agent the information below because we’re cruising in December. She replied quoting the same information but not answering my question. It says “All cruise travelers” need to buy it, but it also says “Australian citizens are exempt”. We don’t want to arrive and not be able to board, or arrive in NZ and be told we can’t leave the ship. Does anyone know the answer??

 

New Zealand will implement an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) as a new security and facilitation measure that will help speed things up at the border.

From July 2019, travellers will be able to request an ETA and it will become mandatory for travel from 1 October 2019 onwards. 

Who needs an ETA

From 1 October 2019, all air travellers from 60 visa waiver countries, and all cruise travellers, will need to hold an ETA before travelling to New Zealand. An ETA will last up to 2 years and cost NZD $9.00 for mobile application requests and NZD $12.00 for web browser requests.
 

• Australian citizens will be exempt, however Australian permanent residents will need to hold an ETA but will not be required to pay for an International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL).   
• New Zealand citizens (provided they travel on their New Zealand passports) and holders of valid New Zealand visas (both resident visas and temporary visas) will continue to be able to enter New Zealand without an ETA.
• Passengers from a visa waiver country or a transit visa waiver country, who are transiting through New Zealand, are also required to hold an ETA from 1 October 2019, even if New Zealand is not their final destination.

 

Some people living in Australia have residency, but are not Australian Citizens... They have to get an ETA, whether arriving by sea or air..     If you are a holder of an AU passport you ARE an Australian citizen, and dont need an ETA whatever travel means you use.. Passport holders from  other countries who are arriving by any means also need to check whether ETA,  applies to them. 

Edited June 28 by Big Kev
typo

[Missmiaow]

Thanks @bigkev I hope you’re right. (That was a really quick reply too. Appreciated!) I’m sure we’ll hear otherwise if that’s the case, because it begins in October. There’s a lot of other Aussies sailing through before we’re due to depart. We’re not sailing until December, but I like to have everything planned far enough ahead of time to not have any worries before we sail.

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, Big Kev said:

 

Some people living in Australia have residency, but are not Australian Citizens... They have to get an ETA, whether arriving by sea or air..     If you are a holder of an AU passport you ARE an Australian citizen, and dont need an ETA whatever travel means you use.. Passport holders from  other countries who are arriving by any means also need to check whether ETA,  applies to them. 

Nice one, very clear when put that way.

 I really wish that some information is made much clearer so that it causes less confusion.

[vozzie]

I believe that, from the 1st July, the ETA website will become operational. On that website you will be able to enter your details and circumstance and it will tell you whether you need an ETA, or not. So, don't panic till Monday.

[Aus Traveller]

The site the OP quoted says " Australian citizens will be exempt, ". They do not require the ETA. Full stop.

 

The TA is obviously reluctant to give advice on visas and the ETA. I have found that TAs often don't have much knowledge of this or of (for instance) the 6-month-validity rule for passports. My TA recently nicely told me we needed 6 months validity on our passports for a cruise from Aust to NZ. My daughter's TA told her she had to get a new passport prior to her trip to NZ a year or two ago. Neither advice was correct. Australian citizens can return to Australia on our passport up to the date of expiry, and for an Australian passport-holder travelling to NZ, the passport just needs to be valid until the date they leave NZ.

 

To be safe, it is wise to get the correct information from the relevant government department website.

[kiwimeggles]

Hi missmiaow.  Nz immigration website info pages and press releases state Australian citizens who are travelling on Australian passports do not need a ETA and are exempt from application...as long as you meet the requirements to enter NZ visa free such as subject to criminal records etc. If you do not hold an Australian passport and hold a foreign passport with an Australian permanent residence visa you need to apply for an ETA. 

[GUT2407]

Clear as day, BUT I don’t blame a TA for not wanting to give what amounts to leal advice

[MicCanberra]

40 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

Clear as day, BUT I don’t blame a TA for not wanting to give what amounts to leal advice

If the TA gets it wrong (due to a misunderstanding of the customers circumstances), then they may become liable for compensation if it goes wrong.

[GUT2407]

5 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

If the TA gets it wrong (due to a misunderstanding of the customers circumstances), then they may become liable for compensation if it goes wrong.

And that, combined with the fact the system isn’t even operational yet, is very god reason to keep out of it.

[Tigerlily75]

I emailed the NZ High Commission about their very confusing wording. They responded that if you are an Australian Citizen travelling on an Australian passport (meeting character requirements of course) you do not need a NZeTA when travelling by cruise ship. The webpage I had included in the email was then updated, however other pages still have the confusing wording. 

 

To to clarify the confusing wording, it originally said

 

Under “Who does NOT need an ETA” - Australian citizens travelling on an Australian passport 

 

Then under “Who DOES need an ETA” - passengers travelling by cruise ship REGARDLESS of nationality 

 

So which is it, I asked them. They need to be more concise with something so important.

 

Edited June 29 by Tigerlily75

[MicCanberra]

4 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

And that, combined with the fact the system isn’t even operational yet, is very god reason to keep out of it.

There is that as well.

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, Tigerlily75 said:

I emailed the NZ High Commission about their very confusing wording. They responded that if you are an Australian Citizen travelling on an Australian passport (meeting character requirements of course) you do not need a NZeTA when travelling by cruise ship. The webpage I had included in the email was then updated, however other pages still have the confusing wording. 

 

To to clarify the confusing wording, it originally said

 

Under “Who does NOT need an ETA” - Australian citizens travelling on an Australian passport 

 

Then under “Who DOES need an ETA” - passengers travelling by cruise ship REGARDLESS of nationality 

 

So which is it, I asked them. They need to be more concise with something so important.

 

Good job.

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, Tigerlily75 said:

I emailed the NZ High Commission about their very confusing wording. They responded that if you are an Australian Citizen travelling on an Australian passport (meeting character requirements of course) you do not need a NZeTA when travelling by cruise ship. The webpage I had included in the email was then updated, however other pages still have the confusing wording. 

 

To to clarify the confusing wording, it originally said

 

Under “Who does NOT need an ETA” - Australian citizens travelling on an Australian passport 

 

Then under “Who DOES need an ETA” - passengers travelling by cruise ship REGARDLESS of nationality 

 

So which is it, I asked them. They need to be more concise with something so important.

 

I agree that the previous wording that you have quoted gives incorrect information. We are all so used to just 'turning up' in New Zealand, that if they required all cruise ship passengers to have an ETA, there would have been chaos.

[banzaii]

11 hours ago, Big Kev said:

 

Some people living in Australia have residency, but are not Australian Citizens... They have to get an ETA, whether arriving by sea or air..     If you are a holder of an AU passport you ARE an Australian citizen, and dont need an ETA whatever travel means you use.. Passport holders from  other countries who are arriving by any means also need to check whether ETA,  applies to them. 

This advice is spot on.  Only oroblem is if NZ immugration dept do not train their staff to interpret so clearly!

Edited June 29 by banzaii

[OzKiwiJJ]

The confusion could have been avoided if they had used the following wording:

"Australian citizens will be exempt, however Australian permanent residents who are not Australian citizens will need to hold an ETA but will not be required to pay for an International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL).  

 

During many years of writing software documentation I learnt that you had to spell everything out so that there was no possible way it could be misinterpreted.  

Edited June 30 by OzKiwiJJ

[MicCanberra]

Agreed, they need to change it from Legislation to a easy to read instruction that even a 12 year old would understand.

[GUT2407]

2 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

The confusion could have been avoided if they had used the following wording:

"Australian citizens will be exempt, however Australian permanent residents who are not Australian citizens will need to hold an ETA but will not be required to pay for an International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL).  

 

During many years of writing software documentation I learnt that you had to spell everything out so that there was no possible way it could be misinterpreted.  

There are always ways to misinterpret things though.

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

There are always ways to misinterpret things though.

 

True but you learn to minimize the possible misinterpretation options.

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

True but you learn to minimize the possible misinterpretation options.

And seek clarification for stuff that you cannot understand.

[Elorac123]

How about a simple

”Australian passport holders are exempt “

Cheers Carole

[Kiwi Kruzer]

In NZ as from today....July 1st 2019

 

International visitor levy fees

From today, most international visitors entering New Zealand will be charged a levy of $35 that will be invested in sustainable tourism and conservation projects.

But the industry wants to ensure that the $80m a year from the international visitor levy goes towards worthy projects, otherwise it will just be seen as an unnecessary tax grab.

The Government wants a law change in place so foreign visitors will start paying the levy and an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) fee of between $9 and $12.50 by the second half of this year.

Most foreign visitors - but not citizens of Australia and several Pacific nations, or ship and air crew - will have to pay the $35 levy.

The ETA will mean that visitors from countries that have a visa-waiver agreement with New Zealand - including the UK, USA and European countries - will also have to pay an additional fee and go online to get permission to travel here before arriving.

[MicCanberra]

Wow, $35 NZD, that is like $33.50 AUD, $23.50 USD, E20.70, or 18.50 GBP, at least I won't have to pay it.

[icat2000]

I won't either being on NZ passport. Nor Pete. Its just revenue raising. 

[Kiwi Kruzer]

12 minutes ago, icat2000 said:

I won't either being on NZ passport. Nor Pete. Its just revenue raising. 

Depends how you look at it.

We are told its going into providing the necessary tourist infrastructure for visitors. All the money collected will all be used for that purpose........

Hang on ...I think we have heard that before   ....😮🤑 ....