New Zealand
Economics and cultural bonds between New Zealand and Europe in its broader sense have far reaching and ancient roots. It is therefore not surprising that thousands of New Zealand Nationals travel towards Europe every year both for business and tourism purposes.
ETIAS for New Zealand citizens: main terms
New Zealand citizens coming to Europe as visitors will be asked to apply for ETIAS from 2025
ETIAS required for either tourism, business, transit and medical treatment journeys to and across the 34 ETIAS Area Countries
Combined stay in the ETIAS Area must not surpass the limit of 90 days within 6 months.
Electronic application and delivery system
Must hold a valid passport of New Zealand with a minimum of 3 months validity for the whole stay in the ETIAS Area.
ETIAS Area and New Zealand
Economics and cultural bonds between New Zealand and Europe in its broader sense have far reaching and ancient roots. It is therefore no awe that thousands of New Zealand Nationals travel towards Europe every year both for business and tourism purposes.
A major incentive on this continuous exchange has certainly been along the years the fact that New Zealand passport holders were granted Visa Waiver rights to the European Union in its entirety.
Starting from 2025 New Zealand Nationals, whose Visa Waiver rights to Europe will remain untouched, will though need to obtain an ETIAS Visa Waiver in order to travel to the EU/Schengen Area.
Such provision and connected rights are strictly linked to the visitors’ nationality of passport therefore holders of New Zealand temporary or permanent Residence Permit must still check whether their Passport Nationality is among those eligible to apply for an ETIAS Visa Waiver.ETIAS admitted travel purposes
ETIAS Visa Waiver will be suitable for journeys to 34 EU/Schengen Area Countries for purpose of either leisure, business, medical therapy or transit. Also, the stay inside the ETIAS Area as a whole will always have to stay within the ninety days out of every six months threshold.
Short term family visit and study/training courses can be filed under touristic purpose as long as the actual stay in the ETIAS Area complies with the aforementioned threshold of ninety days. Concerning this last point still it is important, before deciding to embark on a short study journey on an ETIAS, to verify if the receiving school or institute in Europe accepts to enroll scholars with a Visa Waiver and not with a Schengen Study Visa.
Same importance should be given in noticing that ETIAS is only valid for journeys to the 34 Countries that are current, future or de facto members of the Schengen Area. As a matter of fact, there currently is 1 EU Member Nation that is not to any legal extent connected to the Schengen Area and that therefore will not be applying the obligation for ETIAS to Visa Waiver Visitors and that country is the Republic of Ireland (EIRE). The same principle applies to other countries in Europe that are neither part of the Schengen Area or the European Union like, for instance, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.ETIAS to New Zealanders: application guideline in brief
Like for other ETIAS Eligible Countries New Zealand Nationals will be required to input a series of data to forward their electronic application. Such data, broadly subdivided in 4 categories, include:
- personal information
- contact details
- information about the first planned trip to ETIAS Area
- background questions
The application submission takes place after the due taxes have been electronically paid and is expected to provide the candidate with an outcome, positive in most cases, within 72 hours.
Any applicant who is in need to urgently receive a feedback to their ETIAS application is invited to flag the “urgent procedure” button in the application form.The feedback will be sent directly and only to the personal e-mail address of the applicant as written in the ETIAS request form.
Once approved ETIAS Visa Waiver issued to New Zealand passport holders is valid for 3 years or until passport expiry date (whichever incurs first) and allows for multiple entries to any of the ETIAS Destination Countries. ETIAS Visa Waiver will be electronically linked to the passport and it is therefore not necessary to print out a hard copy the approval document.Every individual visitor from New Zealand must have an ETIAS of his/her own. Minors too are therefore required to apply for the Visa Waiver through the support of a parent or legal guardian.
ETIAS Area arrival
Even though it possession is most cases compulsory, for short term trips falling under the categories as summarized in the Basic Facts and analyzed in depth here, holding a ETIAS Visa Waiver itself does not give an absolute certainty for any visitor to be allowed entry into the Schengen Area since the final decision on such matter is only taken by the Border Control Officers.
Voyagers holding a Passport from New Zealand coming to ETIAS Area from abroad are therefore to recall that they might always be asked to present additional documents so as to allow an evaluation on the genuine purpose of their journey and on the fact that they do not plan to overstay in the ETIAS Area. Such additional documents may include:- return ticket to country of residence
- travel health insurance
- proof of sufficient funds to support themselves during the whole stay
A valid ETIAS Visa Waiver is accepted for entry in any of the 34 Member Countries from either air, land or sea borders and regardless of place of origin of the journey as long as such point of origin is outside the Schengen Area itself.
No ETIAS is required to visitors that hold a valid Schengen Visa or a Permit of Stay issued by any of the Schengen nations while on the other hand a Schengen Visa will be required to all those travelers whose situation does not fit in the ETIAS eligibility standards.