Tourist Guide to Wellington on New Zealand eTA

Updated on Apr 08, 2023 | Online New Zealand Visa

Travellers wanting to visit Wellington with New Zealand eTA can easily apply through an online visa application process. Before planning a trip with New Zealand eTA to Wellington, you must ensure your country's eligibility, duration and documents required are all prepared well in advance for an easy application process.

E-visa for New Zealand is also called New Zealand electronic travel authorization or New Zealand eTA and is easy to apply for through an online visa application procedure.

This article aims to help you guide through the New Zealand eTA application process and contains all the important details regarding the process to apply for an e-visa for New Zealand online.

New Zealand Visa (NZeTA)

New Zealand eTA Application Form now allows visitors from all nationalities to obtain New Zealand eTA (NZETA) by email without visiting New Zealand Embassy. New Zealand Visa application process is automated, simple, and completely online. New Zealand Immigration now officially recommends Online New Zealand Visa or New Zealand ETA online rather than sending paper documents. You can obtain New Zealand eTA by filling out a form on this website and making the payment using a Debit or Credit Card. You will also require a valid email id as New Zealand eTA information will be sent to your email id. You do not need visit an embassy or consulate or to send your passport for Visa stamping. If you are arriving to New Zealand by the Cruise Ship route, you should check the New Zealand ETA eligibility conditions for Cruise Ship arrival to New Zealand.

Do you need a Traditional Visa or New Zealand eTA to visit Wellington?

New Zealand eTA is an easy application process and anyone who is eligible for the same must get the experience of travelling with New Zealand eTA to Wellington.

All travellers must check the availability of following documents before visiting Wellington:

A valid passport with expiry of at least 3 months from the intended date of departure from New Zealand.
A traditional visa or a New Zealand eTA.

Note that only one among a traditional visa or New Zealand eTA is required by travellers. Those with a traditional visa need not apply for an e-visa for New Zealand. However, those without a traditional visa must check their eligibility before applying for New Zealand eTA.)

After checking the availability of the above documents, you can easily start your New Zealand eTA application process.

The easy e-visa application process would save your time from physically visiting any embassy or consulate to get your visa for New Zealand.

READ MORE:
New Zealand eTA or NZeTA has been made a necessary entry document needed by foreign citizens on arrival to New Zealand from 2019. If visiting New Zealand is among your travel plans or a trip to the country for any other specific purpose, then your wait to get an authorisation to visit New Zealand could be simply a few minutes. Learn more at New Zealand Business Visa.

Famous Facts about Wellington You Must Know
A City Far South

Wellington is known as the southernmost Capital city of the world situated at the latitude of -41.28. Wellington sits near the southern tip of the North Island region of New Zealand.

A visit to this place would make you one of the travellers visiting world's most southern city to the south of the equator, a fact which itself could make many travellers excited to explore this part of New Zealand.

Given its location, Wellington is also known as one of the windiest cities on earth!

World Class Cafés

For many travellers, visiting New Zealand is more about its natural charm than exploring food and culture.

Although when we hear the word coffee, Africa might be the first region the mind travels, but many remain unaware that Wellington is among the top coffee destinations in the world.

Café culture in Wellington started developing around 1930's and in the past two decades the city has become a haven for coffee lovers with classic coffee houses found in various parts of the city.

You can explore some of the best cafés in New Zealand spread around Wellington.

Cultural Heart of New Zealand

Wellington is renowned for its many festivals organised within a year in the city.

The city has some of the world class restaurants in New Zealand, a great arts and entertainment scene and a thriving film industry.

For foreign tourists visiting New Zealand, exploring Wellington is of the top priorities of their travel plans, given its large and vibrant urban culture in the country.

READ MORE:
New Zealand has a new entry requirement known as the Online New Zealand Visa or eTA New Zealand Visa for short visits, vacations, or professional visitor activities. To enter New Zealand, all non-citizens must have a valid visa or electronic travel authorization (eTA). Learn more at Online New Zealand Visa.

Benefits of Using New Zealand eTA to visit Wellington

Since New Zealand eTA is an online application process, it becomes even more time saving to apply for an e-visa rather than a traditional visa to visit New Zealand for a short period of time.

You may use your New Zealand eTA for the following purposes:

Tourism anywhere within New Zealand
Business trip to Wellington or anywhere in New Zealand

Other benefits of travelling with New Zealand eTA include:

Permission to stay within New Zealand for a period of 3 months. For citizens of the UK travelling with New Zealand eTA, permission to stay within New Zealand is up to 6 months period.
New Zealand eTA allows visitors to enter New Zealand multiple times within a 2 year period or until the date of expiry of the passport of New Zealand eTA holder; whichever is earlier.

As a travel authorization to enter New Zealand, you can use your New Zealand eTA to visit anywhere within the country including Wellington.

All these benefits make e-visa much more attractive to short term travellers than travelling with a traditional visa.

Documents Needed to Fill Online E-visa form for New Zealand

Although getting an e-visa is an easy process in online format, you must keep the following documents ready for quick completion of your New Zealand eTA application form:

A recent passport size photograph of the applicant.
A valid passport from a New Zealand eTA eligible country.
*Note that only citizens belonging to countries eligible for New Zealand eTA can apply for an e-visa through the online e-visa application portal.
A valid debit or credit card for payment of your New Zealand eTA application form. The payment for e-visa application can only be made online using a debit or credit card.

READ MORE:
If you want to visit the beautiful locations of New Zealand, then there are many hassle-free ways to plan your trip to the country. You can explore your dream locations like Auckland, Queenstown, Wellington and plenty of other gorgeous cities and places within New Zealand. Learn more at New Zealand Visitor Information.

3 Steps to fill the New Zealand eTA Application Form

You can fill your e-visa application form in 3 easy steps. Travelling with New Zealand eTA would save a great amount of your time from making any physical appearance at any embassy office.

Follow the 3 steps below to quickly get your e-visa to visit Wellington:

Visit the New Zealand eTA application page and apply as an applicant for e-visa to New Zealand.
Pay the fees for e-visa application. After processing your application, you will only need to follow the third step.
The third step of getting your e-visa is to download the emailed pdf e-visa document from the email address provided at the time of filling the application.

You can show this copy of your e-visa in the printed format to the authorities at the time of arrival in New Zealand.

What is asked in New Zealand eTA Application Form?

All applicants must provide the necessary information asked in New Zealand eTA application process.

The following basic information is asked to all applicants in the online eTA application form:

Applicant's full name, date and year of birth, citizenship, or nationality.
Passport related information like passport number, date of issue and expiry date of passport.
Applicant's email address and other contact details.

You must fill your New Zealand eTA application form carefully with all the accurate information.

Any discrepancy in the information provided in the application form will result in unnecessary delays in processing of e-visa application.

At the end of application form, applicants are asked to pay the general visa waiver application fee as well as the International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL).

The required New Zealand eTA application fee can only be paid using a valid credit or debit card.

All the above information is asked equally to all applicants without any age, gender or caste related bias.

All information provided in the New Zealand eTA application form is solely collected for the purpose of e-visa processing and is not sold to any third party for any other use than mentioned above.

READ MORE:
Get Online New Zealand visa for US citizens, with new-zealand-visa.org. To find out the requirements of the New Zealand eTA for Americans (USA Citizens) and the eTA NZ visa application learn more at Online New Zealand Visa for US Citizens.

How Long Does It Take for New Zealand eTA to Process?

If you plan to travel to New Zealand using New Zealand eTA then you do not need to wait much in order to receive your e-visa.

Most New Zealand eTA applications are processed within 3 business days and applicants receive their e-visa through email in a pdf format which can later be downloaded.

The application form for New Zealand eTA can be completed in a few minutes without needing to make any in person visit to an embassy or visa office.

To avoid last minute delays, all applicants are advised to apply for their e-visa in sufficient time in advance of their trip to New Zealand.

Make sure that the information provided in the New Zealand eTA application form is accurate and up to date as any discrepancy in the same might result in restriction of entry by the officials at the point of arrival in New Zealand.

New Zealand eTA gives travellers permission to visit the country at multiple points within a 2 year time period or until the date of expiry of the applicant's passport; whichever is earlier.

How to Visit Wellington with New Zealand eTA?

You can choose to visit New Zealand by cruise or by air. There are various options for reaching Wellington for foreigners wanting to visit the country.

After making sure that you have all the required documents including an approved New Zealand eTA for your visit to New Zealand, you can arrive at the port in New Zealand through following routes:

Wellington International Airport
Queen's Wharf or Aotea Quay

At the time of arrival in New Zealand, passengers must present the same passport that is used to fill the New Zealand eTA application form.

A passenger's e-visa is linked to the passport provided at the time of New Zealand eTA application process.

New Zealand eTA acts as a multiple entry permit which allows citizens of eligible nationalities to enter New Zealand at multiple times within a two (2) years time cycle or until the date of expiry of passport; whichever is earlier.

How to Transit through Wellington with New Zealand eTA?

If you are a transit passenger transiting through Wellington to a third country then you can use your transit New Zealand eTA while travelling.

A passenger must present a transit visa or a transit New Zealand eTA while transiting from New Zealand.

Although, transit passengers can only pass through Auckland International Airport at the time, hence visiting Wellington with a transit New Zealand eTA is not a suitable option for those planning to visit Wellington in New Zealand.

As a transit passenger travelling with transit New Zealand eTA, you must:

Stay within the designated transit area at Auckland International airport.

Inside the aircraft till the duration of transit time in New Zealand.

Maximum duration allowed to stay within the transit area at New Zealand port for those with a transit visa or transit New Zealand eTA is 24 hours.

Foreign nationals with an e-visa of New Zealand who are planning to visit Wellington can take connecting domestic flights from Auckland to Wellington, given that they hold a New Zealand eTA or a traditional visa of New Zealand.

Visitors with an approved New Zealand eTA are allowed to visit anywhere within New Zealand for a specified duration of time.

When do you need a Traditional Visa for New Zealand?

While e-visa for New Zealand is an easy online visa application process, not all people wanting to travel to Wellington in New Zealand with an e-visa might find an option to travel with New Zealand eTA.

New Zealand eTA is eligible for citizens belonging to around 60 nationalities and those not falling under this category are rather required to apply for a traditional visa instead.

A traditional visa for New Zealand is needed if:

Not all New Zealand eTA eligibility requirements are met by the applicant like nationality, security related issues, etc.
Planning to stay in Wellington for longer than 3 months duration (or longer than 6 months’ time in case of UK citizens) since New Zealand eTA allows stay within New Zealand upto 3 months period in general and for 6 months specifically in case of UK citizens.
Purpose of visiting New Zealand is other than tourism or business.

In case of all the above reasons, an applicant will have to apply for a traditional visa application instead of a New Zealand eTA.

A traditional visa application process is long and time consuming, which requires applicants to make an in person visit to an office or embassy.

If you are planning a trip to Wellington with a traditional visa, then your application process must start well in advance from your intended date of travel.

Ensure that you have checked the eligibility for your Online New Zealand Visa. If you are from a Visa Waiver country then you can apply for an Online New Zealand Visa or New Zealand eTA regardless of the mode of travel (Air / Cruise). United States citizens, European citizens, Canadian citizens, United Kingdom citizens, French citizens, Spanish citizens and Italian citizens can apply online for New Zealand eTA. United Kingdom residents can stay on New Zealand eTA for 6 months while others for 90 days.