Traveling to New Zealand During Covid-19

Updated: Jul 8, 2021

New Zealand is partially restarting the travel bubble. This includes quarantine-free travel with South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and the Australian Capital area.

New Zealand has had some of the world’s strictest restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, and unfortunately for travelers, these haven’t changed much in recent months. The early lockdown measures and strict border restrictions mean the country has minimized the spread of COVID-19 during the pandemic.

However, these restrictions aren’t appearing to go anywhere soon, much to the frustration of individuals with family and friends of New Zealand residents around the world.

Who Can Enter New Zealand Right Now?

As of the current time, only partners, dependents, and critical workers can enter New Zealand. Residents and citizens are also allowed to return to the country, but anyone else wishing to enter New Zealand will need to obtain prior permission first. Any other travel will only be for critical purposes, and you’ll need to receive permission to be admitted beforehand.

If you do need to travel to New Zealand this year, ensure you read their border entry requirements very carefully, as there is a strong chance you will be turned away otherwise.

The restrictions have been in place since March 2020, and it has some of the world’s toughest guidelines. Any arrival into the country, including citizens of New Zealand, will have to quarantine for 14 days and also test negative for COVID-19 before they are allowed out into the country and their community.

Before arriving in New Zealand, you’ll need to book a place in a managed isolation facility before traveling, and you’ll have to show this voucher to be allowed onto your flight. Availability is very limited for these facilities, so you’ll need to try and book this as soon as possible to avoid further delays to your travel.

A Slow Re-Opening: Travel Bubble Updates

For individuals flying from the United Kingdom and the United States to New Zealand, you’ll need to show a negative COVID-19 test result before you can board the flight. Travelers from India are currently banned from the country due to the current situation in India. New Zealand has now introduced a travel bubble between New Zealand and Australia and also one from the Cook Islands to New Zealand.

Citizens and residents can now travel freely between these countries without the quarantine restriction. However, this was temporarily suspended with Australia, but some territories will resume this bubble on July 4th.

Around the world, New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern has been praised for how well she has handled the COVID-19 pandemic. In the time since the pandemic, the country has only had 26 deaths and 2,743 cases in total. The country is planning to remain closed for the majority of 2021, aside from the agreements with Australia and the Pacific nations. With current concerns about cases and new variants across the country, this is how New Zealand plans to keep its residents safe for the near future.

While things may change in the upcoming months, it’s unlikely that anyone will be able to enter New Zealand for a vacation this year. You’ll want to avoid booking any flights or accommodation before any of the restrictions are changed to avoid any issues or disappointment further down the line.

Updated: May 10, 2021

New Zealand is slowly starting to open its borders as for the first-ever time in a year, people are permitted to travel from Australia to New Zealand without having to put up with measures of strict quarantine. The leaders of both countries are hoping to make more extensive arrangements. A trans-Tasman travel bubble has been kicked off between the 2 Pacific nations.

The trans-Tasman travel bubble permits New Zealand and Australian people to visit one another’s country with no limitations. The governments of both countries placed tight restrictions regarding entering the borders in March 2020, primarily on account of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Arden, expressed that it is fantastic and exciting news that the country can now start quarantine-free travels with Australia. Whether you are returning friends, family, or holidays, New Zealand now welcomes everybody from Australia to come and enjoy themselves.  

NZ Announces Quarantine-Free Travel with the Cook Islands

Jacinda Arden, the New Zealand Prime Minister, announced earlier this week that the country will be forming a travel bubble that will permit quarantine-free travel with the Cook Islands. This travel between these two countries is expected to begin on May 17, 2021.  Arden announced at a news press briefing in Wellington that the 2 nations somehow arranged as they both exhibited a robust response against the novel Covid-19 pandemic. 

Just last month, Australia and New Zealand have come to a similar agreement and made arrangements for quarantine-free travels. Under this, visitors to each country must not have had a positive test result in the past 14 days, cannot be awaiting the Covid-19 test results, and cannot be experiencing any signs or symptoms of coronavirus. 

Arden also stated that New Zealand would aid the people of Cook Islands with vaccine rollout for Covid-19 by supplying sufficient amounts of Pfizer BioNTech doses so that the entire population can receive immunizations. Cooks Island lies approximately 3.2k km to the northeast of New Zealand. Moreover, the island heavily depends on the tourists of New Zealand for its economy.

How Does it Impact the Rest of the World That Wants to Travel to New Zealand?

For several months, the Australians and Kiwis have remained stuck at home, anxiously and desperately awaiting the day when they can finally cross the ditch to meet their nearest and dearest friends and family. At present, the quarantine-free trans-Tasman travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand has made the entire world envious.

The people who are watching from across the globe have been awestruck looking at the ability of both nations to stop the deadly Covid-19 pandemic and finally open their country borders to each other. This move proved to be incredibly earth-shattering, to the extent that it made the front page of BBC and international headlines.

While the launch of the trans-Tasman travel bubble has allowed quarantine-free travel between Australia and New Zealand, the borders of New Zealand remain closed to the rest of the world throughout the significant part of 2021 between uncertainties regarding the Covid-19 vaccine rollouts.

According to Prime Minister Arden, the travel bubble will continue to pursue the Pacific and Australia. However, other countries of the world are still highly likely to pose too much of a risk to New Zealander’s health. Their economy is still not in a position at this stage to take this risk.

The success of the nation in combating the deadly virus is what has enabled it to lift the tight restrictions and get its industry and economy back on track earlier than it has expected. Still, the closed borders badly affect the New Zealand tourism industry and become a means of a disappointment for the rest of the world as they cannot travel to NZ.

Also, even though it was announced that the government anticipates providing regulatory approval for the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine in the subsequent week, Arden proposed that even mass immunization won’t start any time before mid-year. A conservative approach was being taken to let foreigners enter inside the borders again.

For traveling to fully resume and restart, one of the two things is needed: 

1. The need for confidence that getting vaccinated indicates you cannot pass on the virus to others, which still remains unknown. 
2. The need for a significant amount of the population to be immunized and protect so that the rest of the world can safely enter the New Zealand borders.

Unfortunately, both of these things are bound to take some time, so the remaining countries of the world need to be patient and wait.  

New Zealand Covid-19 Cases

Jacinda Arden, the New Zealand Prime Minister, has won praise and gained a lot of recognition for her commendable abilities in handling this deadly crisis. As reported on May 6, 2021, the overall number of confirmed coronavirus cases is 2,633. 26 actual deaths have been reported on account of the Covid-19 pandemic. A total of 2,579 individuals have successfully recovered from the virus.

How to Enter New Zealand Once Its Borders Open For All

Undoubtedly, New Zealand has become an ideal example of how a country should deal with the deadly Covid-19 pandemic. Its initial strict border measures and lockdown indicate that it suppressed coronavirus from a very early stage to an alarming degree. This success also signifies that it will be a long time before most foreign travelers are permitted to go to New Zealand.

Who can go?

Besides the few exceptions for dependents, critical workers, and dependents, only New Zealand citizens and residents can enter the country without placing a request to travel. Any other travel into New Zealand should be for a fundamental reason and must first obtain admission. 

What are the restrictions?

Entry from countries to New Zealand remains under strict control to prevent the Covid-19 pandemic from spreading further. The government has managed to impose and implement some of the world’s most demanding travel procedures and guidelines ever since Covid-19 first started to spread in March 2020.

All arrivals, including New Zealand citizens, are required to test negative for the coronavirus and undertake 14 days of compulsory quarantine before entering the community. Travelers from all countries to New Zealand, besides the authorized passengers from quarantine-exempted travel districts, must fulfill a mandatory 14-day quarantine or stay in managed isolation.

The arriving visitors must book their place in a quarantine facility and manage isolation before traveling. They should carry a voucher confirming that they booked a space and present it before boarding the flight. Currently, the availability is particularly restricted. Travelers coming in from the USA or the United Kingdom should also show proof of a negative test result for Covid-19 before they board the flight. 

The New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority (NZeTA)

A few transit passengers and tourist visitors can visit New Zealand without a visa, provided they get themselves an NZeTA before traveling. The NZeTA stands for New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority. New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has only recently announced the Electronic travel authority (eTA) for the citizens of more than sixty countries.

According to this eTA, travelers will be allowed to enter New Zealand for tourism or transit purposes. It has a validity of 2 years. The New Zealand eTA application process is quite simple, easy, and entirely online.

Once you submit your application and it becomes accepted, you will receive a confirmation along with a reference number. This needs to be taken and presented to the immigration officers as soon as you arrive. With the NZeTA, you can:

• Pass as a transit passenger through the Auckland International Airport on the way from or to Australia.
• Travel to New Zealand without needing to apply for a visa – if you are traveling from a visa waiver country on a passport or a permanent Australian resident or a cruise ship passenger. 
• Get somebody to assist you with the NZeTA request. You have to inform about your criminal history and whether you are looking for medical aid and treatment in New Zealand.
• Pass as a transit passenger through the Auckland International Airport on your way to another destination – if you come from a transit waiver or visa waiver country. 

Things to Note

1. If you are from a visa-waiving country, you must hold an NZeTA before traveling.
2. On average, it takes roughly 72 hours to process, but sometimes it might barely take just 10 minutes. 
3. You need to pay an International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL) while you pay for your NZeTA. This costs around NZD $35. 
4. After your request for NZeTA has been completed, you can always check for its status.