3

We are applying for an Australia visa for work trip. And we thought of applying for a NZ visa as well. But it looks like we may need to send passports for the NZ visa. (Australian Visa does not need it). Does anyone know if we have to send the passports for sure? We have to start travelling by 26th sep. So sending passports is risky and we are debating if we should drop the plan for New Zealand.

Improve this question
3
  • Where are you applying from? Would help to know what your local NZ representation is.
    – Ozzy
    Sep 8, 2019 at 6:01
  • I think Australia is the only country which doesn't require visa applicants to submit their passport. If you intend to do much international travel, you should get accustomed to sending your passport to various consulates.
    – Michael Hampton
    Sep 8, 2019 at 6:58
  • @MichaelHampton it highly depends - my wifes NZ work visa was issued electronically without needing to present the passport and was granted an eVisa, but when I applied for my work visa (Partner of a worker work visa), I had to submit my passport. This changed last year however, and all visas issued by NZ immigration are now eVisas - immigration.govt.nz/about-us/our-online-systems/…
    – user29788
    Sep 9, 2019 at 0:36

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
2

New Zealand does issue eVisas but this won't answer the question as to whether you will need to submit your passport or not, as you may be asked to supply your passport for verification after you have submitted your visa application.

In general, however, personal experience and after a quick poll in the office, the experience of the many nationalities that I work with in New Zealand (a good selection of people from around the world) is that in the past 18 months none of them have had to submit their passport for their own visas, and none of their families have had to submit passports when applying for an tourism eVisa.

Improve this answer
1

New Zealand doesn't provide E-Visa and you do not qualify for a visa waiver. Therefore you have to send the passport to the embassy.

Sending passport via post for Visa is very common and losing the passport is very rare. However, in the current timeline, there is a real possibility of the passport not arriving in time. Check with your visa agent if this is realistic.

If that is the case, it's better to cut short the visit only to Australia.

Improve this answer
6
  • 1
    Why would you think there is a visa agent?
    – phoog
    Sep 8, 2019 at 13:46
  • Ignore that point if there is none. Many embassies don't accept walk-in applications. I assumed New Zeland to be such.
    – Anish Sheela
    Sep 8, 2019 at 17:05
  • 1
    As far as I'm aware no embassy or consulate requires the use of an agent. One can make one's own appointment to avoid prohibitions on walk-in applications. But I was asking because it seems that the use of agents is common in India and perhaps some other countries. Some people get themselves in trouble because unscrupulous agents advise them to lie, or even lie on their behalf without their knowledge. I would like to understand this phenomenon better. Thanks for responding to my comment.
    – phoog
    Sep 8, 2019 at 22:23
  • @phoog Malaysian Visa (not e-visa, but stamped one) is accepted only by authorized agents. Also Singapore E-Visa. It's not available via embassy unless submitted by an authorized agent.
    – Anish Sheela
    Sep 8, 2019 at 23:17
  • 1
    New Zealand does provide eVisas - immigration.govt.nz/about-us/our-online-systems/… "We issue eVisas for all visa application types." This was a change last year.
    – user29788
    Sep 9, 2019 at 0:33

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .