Immigration New Zealand requires your passport to be valid for at least 3 months after the date you plan to leave New Zealand. Read that carefully: the count runs from your departure, not your arrival. A passport that expires four months after you land can still fail if you are staying three months.
Work it out from the end of the trip
- Take your planned departure date from New Zealand
- Add 3 months
- Your passport must still be valid on that date
A new passport means a new NZeTA
The NZeTA is linked electronically to the passport used in the application. If you renew your passport, the authorisation does not transfer — even though it would otherwise still be within its 2 years. You must request a new one before you travel.
Travel on the passport you applied with
If you hold more than one nationality, the passport you present at check-in must be the one your NZeTA is attached to. Dual nationals are refused boarding for this reason more often than for any problem with the authorisation itself.
Source: Immigration New Zealand — Visa Waiver Visitor Visa
Damaged passports are a separate risk. A water-damaged or torn biodata page can be refused even when the expiry date is fine, and the chip may fail to read in the NZeTA app.
More on the NZeTA
What is the NZeTA
The NZeTA is a pre-travel authorisation for visa-waiver passports, not a visa. What it covers, who needs one, and what it does not do.
How to apply
Applying takes about ten minutes in the official app (NZ$17) or on the Immigration New Zealand website (NZ$23). Here is the order of the steps and what trips people up.
Cost
The NZeTA request fee is NZ$17 in the app or NZ$23 online, plus the NZ$100 IVL — about NZ$117–NZ$123 in total.
What you need
A valid passport, a photo of your face, an email address and a payment card. What the photo has to look like and what else is asked.
Processing time
Most NZeTA requests are decided in minutes, but Immigration New Zealand asks you to allow up to 72 hours. What makes an application take longer.
Validity
An NZeTA lasts 2 years from the date it is issued, or until your passport expires — whichever comes first — and allows multiple entries.