NZ issues half-a-million NZeTAs

More than 500,000 NZeTAs (New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority) have been issued since the system went live in early August, says Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway.

The NZeTA helps New Zealand officials screen travellers for border and immigration risks off-shore before they travel to New Zealand.

“This is a significant milestone in keeping our borders secure with the NZeTA,” explained Lees-Galloway. “There’s excellent awareness and compliance among travellers after Immigration New Zealand successfully ensured all key players were well informed and prepared for the introduction of the electronic travel authority.”

The Minister continued: “While there are always hiccups for a small number of people, over 99 per cent of applications have been processed automatically within 10 minutes.

“There were 196 individuals who had their NZeTA refused, which demonstrates that NZeTAs are already helping to improve border security and bring our border control into line with international best practice.”

The NZeTA was launched in August and became mandatory for visitors from visa waiver countries from 1st October 2019. Immigration New Zealand advise that it should be applied for either directly through the INZ website or via the official mobile app. There is no need, they say, to use a third party to apply for one.

The New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority costs NZ$9 via the mobile app and NZ$12 through the INZ website. At the same time that a visitor requests their NZeTA, they are charged the new NZ$35 International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL).

“More than $27 million has been collected through the IVL to go towards sustainable tourism and conservation projects,” says Iain Lees-Galloway.

Article published 20th November 2019