Citizens of Australia, UK, EU, USA, and some other countries (there are 60 of them in total) do not need a visa to stay in New Zealand for up to 3 months. But how do you apply for a visa if you come from a country whose citizens need a visa or plan to stay in New Zealand to work or study?
This guide will help you.
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What Documents Do I Need To Collect?
To obtain a tourist visa, the following documents are required:
- A passport;
- A 900 x 1200 pixel photo for the online form or 35×45 mm photos if you go with a paper form application;
- A completed application form. It can be filled online at the Apply for your visa online website;
- A copy of the completed pages of your current passport and the old passport, if it contained visas from the Schengen countries, Great Britain, the USA, Australia, and Canada;
- Confirmation of flights booking;
- Confirmation of the hotel reservation;
- Certificate from the place of work indicating income, as well as the length of service and position;
- Confirmation of the availability of funds for the trip at the rate of $1000 NZD (about $700 USD) per person for the entire stay in the country.
All documents must be in English or translated into English. The translation must be done by a professional translation service and must be certified. The list of required documents is different from the other types of visas.
How Much Money Should I Have?
As mentioned, you need a confirmation of the availability of funds. It is about $1000 NZD for one person. The visa fee differs according to visa type. It varies from $35 NZD to $170 NZD ($25-120 USD). Check your fee and other details according to visa type at Fees, decision times and where to apply
Remember that New Zealand is an expensive country and it is better to take more money than less.
How Do I Apply?
Generally, you can apply for your visa online. New Zealand visas offers all visa types including
- New Zealand electronic travel authority
- Visitor visa
- Work visa (including working holiday visa)
- Study visa
- Permanent resident visa
These visa categories have subcategories, pay attention to the one you are going to apply for. If you mess up with the visa categories, your application can be denied. So, you know what your visa type is. What’s next?
To get a New Zealand visa yourself online follow the next steps:
- Register in the RealMe system at their website;
- Create your profile;
- Open the profile and select visit visa;
- Fill out a visa application form online;
- Upload required documents mentioned above in digital format;
- Pay for your visa application online.
Can I Check The photo?
Remember when you upload your visa photo you will not see it as an image. The visa form will show only the file name. Only the file name will be seen. So be very careful when you take the photo: you will not be able to check it at the time of application. So use professional services like Visafoto.com to get your photo.
For an online form you will need a digital visa photo. It should be:
- Its dimension should be 900 x 1200 pixels to 2250 x 3000 pixels.
- File size should be from 500 KB to 3 MB;
- The face should be in the center;
- The photo should have a light background;
- The photo must have been taken in good lighting and have natural colors;
- Wear plain clothes;
- Hats are prohibited, but a photo in a headscarf is allowed for religious reasons. In this case the oval of the face must be visible;
- The applicant should look directly into the camera and should not smile.
Also when you upload the rest of your scanned documents, you will not see their images either, just the file names.
When Will My Visa Be Ready?
When will the visa be ready? The processing time differs. For a visitor visa, your application can be done in 2 months, but the maximum processing time is about 8 months. But student and working visas are processed much faster. For a student, the maximum processing time is about 1 month, and for a working one it is just 2 months.
Processing time for work visas varies. It starts from 9 days and ends at 6 months. The longest processing time is for a resident visa. It varies from 17 days to 2 years! So it is better to apply for your visa in advance. Give yourself about 8 months at least. To make the process quicker, apply online for your New Zealand visa.
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