New Zealand Visa from the Philippines: Applying Online for a Visitor Visa, Funds and Health Rules, NZeTA and Transit

What a New Zealand Visitor Visa Allows, How Long You Can Stay, and Why You Get an eVisa

Neither the Philippines nor China is on New Zealand's visa waiver list, so holidays and family visits require a Visitor Visa. According to Immigration New Zealand (INZ), it allows a stay of up to 6 or 9 months, no work in New Zealand, and study of up to 3 months. The official page is INZ Visitor Visa.

What the visa lets you do: holiday, visit family and friends, study for up to 3 months, and include your partner and dependent children aged 19 or younger in the application. What it does not allow: working in New Zealand. INZ notes separate rules for working remotely for an overseas employer or client, and anyone travelling to do business should apply for a Business Visitor Visa instead.

INZ decides whether you get a single-entry or multiple-entry visa:

• Multiple-entry: visit as often as you like while the visa is valid, staying up to 6 months in total in any 12-month period, counted back from your intended departure date. To be eligible, you must have been out of New Zealand for at least 9 months in the 18 months before you apply.
• Single-entry: issued if you want to stay more than 6 months, if you are extending your stay onshore, or if INZ decides you do not need multiple entry. You can stay up to 9 months in an 18-month period, and the visa expires if you leave.

Approved applicants receive an eVisa. INZ's eVisa guidance explains that the visa is issued and recorded electronically, with no label needed in your passport; print the eVisa letter and carry it when you travel. You can request a physical label for a fee. If you later get a new passport, tell INZ so it can update your record, or you may be delayed at the airport.

INZ also recommends not booking non-refundable travel until your visa is approved. If you are outside New Zealand when it is approved, the visa is valid from the date you enter, and you must leave before it expires.

INZ assesses New Zealand visas on its own; an Australian visa does not work as a New Zealand visa, apart from a narrow exception for certain passports described in section 5. For the Australian process itself, see Canada and Australia visas from the Philippines.

Not sure whether you need a Visitor Visa or a Business Visitor Visa? → Yixing New Zealand tourist visa help

Applying Online in Four Steps: Gather, Submit and Pay, Wait, Track

INZ has announced that from 1 October 2026, paper applications will no longer be accepted for a group of visas including the Visitor Visa, Business Visitor Visa, Group Visitor Visa and Transit Visa; they must be submitted through the enhanced Immigration Online system. The announcement was published on 4 September 2026 (INZ paper application changes); paper applications lodged before that date will be processed as normal.

The online steps on the INZ Visitor Visa page are:

1. Gather your documents: a copy of your passport or certificate of identity; one acceptable photo for an online application; proof of funds, of your plans in New Zealand and of how you will leave; police certificates, a chest X-ray or a medical examination if required; relationship and identity evidence for any family you include; and a sponsorship form if you have a sponsor. Documents not in English need English translations by a translator who meets INZ's requirements, together with copies of the originals.
2. Log in or create an account, complete the form, upload documents and pay. INZ shows fees once you enter your country details; this guide does not quote amounts.
3. Wait for a decision. INZ will contact you if it needs more information.
4. Track your application in your account. INZ emails you when it decides and issues an eVisa if you are approved.

Two rules to follow while filling it in:

• Enter your identity details exactly as they appear in your passport. INZ warns that mistakes cause delays and can lead to a decline or refusal of entry.
• Your passport must be valid for at least 3 months after your planned departure from New Zealand. INZ adds that you may not be allowed to check in if your passport is close to expiring.

On timing, the INZ Visitor Visa page currently displays a processing figure of "80% within 2 weeks" (checked in September 2026). The figure is updated over time, so rely on whatever INZ shows when you apply. INZ also warns that applications surge over the New Zealand summer, especially before Christmas, and recommends applying early with every relevant document attached to avoid delays.

If INZ asks for more information, respond by the deadline and in the way it specifies. Chest X-rays, medicals and police certificates take time to obtain, so find out early whether you are likely to need them (see section 4).

Key time limits at a glance (all from INZ):

• paper applications: no longer accepted from 1 October 2026 for Visitor, Transit and related visas;
• length of stay: up to 6 or 9 months; multiple entry allows up to 6 months in any 12 months, single entry up to 9 months in 18 months;
• study: up to 3 months;
• passport: valid for at least 3 months after your planned departure;
• chest X-ray and medical evidence: less than 3 months old when INZ receives it;
• police certificates: less than 6 months old when you apply, triggered at age 17 and over with 24 months or more in total in New Zealand;
• transit: Auckland only, less than 24 hours;
• NZTD traveller declaration: can be submitted from 24 hours before an air journey begins.

Want help filling in the form and ordering your documents? → Let Yixing work through the INZ checklist with you

Proof of Funds: A Monthly Standard, Lower if Your Accommodation Is Prepaid

INZ requires visitors to have enough money to pay their living costs in New Zealand, or an acceptable sponsor. If you are paying for yourself, the minimum is set per month of stay, with a lower monthly figure if your accommodation is already paid. Check the current amounts on the INZ Visitor Visa page; this guide does not quote them.

INZ accepts evidence such as:

• proof of prepaid accommodation, like hotel vouchers or receipts;
• bank statements or credit card statements;
• bank drafts or traveller's cheques.

The evidence must show three things: the account is in the applicant's name, which bank holds it, and what currency the money is in.

If you have a sponsor, that organisation or individual is responsible for you while you are in New Zealand and must complete the Sponsorship Form for Temporary Entry (INZ 1025). Supporting documents can include recent bank statements, pay slips, an employment agreement, and ownership papers or rent receipts for the accommodation they provide. Online applications may also require the sponsor's sharing ID.

Your onward travel is counted separately. If you are paying for yourself, provide a ticket out of New Zealand, or bank or credit card statements showing you can buy one. INZ is explicit that the money for the ticket must be in addition to your living funds. If you are sponsored and have no return ticket, your sponsor can show recent bank statements proving they can buy one for you. At the border, you will again need a ticket out (or evidence you can buy one, or your sponsor's agreement to pay) and proof of funds for your stay.

Health costs are yours: INZ states that you or your sponsor must pay for any health care you need in New Zealand, and recommends full medical insurance for the whole stay. Pregnant applicants face additional requirements.

In practice, financial evidence usually fails not on the balance but on its source: a large sum transferred in shortly before applying, or a balance out of line with your income, tends to draw questions. For building a credible statement history, see how to prepare visa financial proof; for checking a policy, see travel insurance for trips abroad.

Not sure how to present your funds? → Have Yixing check them against INZ requirements

Health and Character: When You Need a Chest X-ray, a Medical or Police Certificates

INZ requires visitors to be in good health and of good character. If you are staying less than 6 months, you do not normally need a chest X-ray, and if you are staying less than 12 months, you do not normally need a medical certificate. Whether you need either depends on your answers to the health questions in the application, and INZ may still ask for them during processing.

A chest X-ray is mandatory if you will stay in New Zealand for more than 6 months and either:

• you are a citizen of a country that does not have a low incidence of tuberculosis; or
• you have spent more than 3 months in the last 5 years in such a country.

Whether the Philippines or China counts as low incidence is determined by INZ's published list of low-incidence countries. If you provided an X-ray before, you need a new one if you have since spent 6 months in a row in a country without low incidence and are now coming for more than 6 months (counting time already spent in New Zealand if you are there). X-ray and medical evidence must be less than 3 months old when INZ receives it, so do not get it done too early.

Police certificates are required if you are 17 or older and your total time in New Zealand, including earlier stays on other visas, will be 24 months or longer. They must be less than 6 months old when you apply and must come from every country you are a citizen of and every country you have lived in for more than 5 years since turning 17. You do not need new ones if you supplied certificates issued within the last 24 months with an earlier application, but if INZ asks for a new certificate, you must provide it.

Most short holidays never approach the 24-month threshold. If certificates are requested, a Chinese citizen who has lived in the Philippines for more than 5 years may need both a Chinese police certificate and a Philippine NBI Clearance; for the latter, see the NBI Clearance website and offices.

Genuine intentions is a separate test. INZ weighs everything you submit, what it knows about your personal circumstances, and information you have given it before, to decide whether you are a genuine visitor who will leave at the end of your stay. A criminal conviction or a security risk may lead INZ to refuse a visa.

The real risk with health and character is discovering a requirement just before departure. X-ray appointments and police certificates both take time, so work through INZ's criteria before you submit.

Why an NZeTA Cannot Replace a Visitor Visa, but You Need One to Transit Auckland

The New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority (NZeTA) is for travellers from visa waiver countries. The Philippines and China are not on INZ's visa waiver list, so an NZeTA cannot replace a Visitor Visa for a holiday. See the INZ visa waiver list; Hong Kong (residents on HKSAR or BN(O) passports), Macau (residents on Macau SAR passports) and Taiwan (permanent residents on Taiwan passports) have their own entries.

Transit is a different story: both the Philippines and China are on INZ's transit visa waiver list. According to the transit visa waiver list, citizens of those countries do not need a Transit Visa to pass through Auckland International Airport, but they must request an NZeTA before travelling.

INZ's transit guidance defines a transit passenger narrowly:

• you pass only through Auckland International Airport, staying in the transit area, on board your aircraft, or in police custody;
• you stay for less than 24 hours;
• there is no accommodation in the transit area, so an overnight stay outside the airport requires a Visitor Visa;
• you cannot collect your bags, so ask the airline to check them through at your origin;
• passing through any other New Zealand airport does not count as transit, because only Auckland has a transit area.

If you already hold a valid New Zealand visa, you do not need an NZeTA.

One further arrangement applies only to Chinese and Pacific Islands Forum passports. Under INZ's "Chinese and Pacific Island visitors travelling from Australia" page, a Chinese passport holder with an eligible Australian visa on INZ's list (for example Visitor subclass 600, Student subclass 500, Skills in Demand subclass 482 or Partner subclass 820; see INZ for the full list) who is in Australia and flying directly from an Australian airport can request an NZeTA instead of a visa and stay up to 3 months at a time. It does not apply if you are only transiting Australia. INZ advises requesting the NZeTA at least 72 hours before travel. INZ lists 12 Pacific Islands Forum countries, and the Philippines is not one of them, so Philippine passports are not part of this arrangement.

Everyone arriving in New Zealand must also complete the New Zealand Traveller Declaration (NZTD); air travellers can submit it from 24 hours before their journey begins.

Routing through Auckland, or heading over from Australia? → Let Yixing check whether you need an NZeTA or a visa

Chinese Passport Holders in the Philippines: Residence Evidence, the Supplementary Form and Next Steps

The eligibility criteria on INZ's Visitor Visa page include no rule that you must apply in your country of residence and no minimum period of residence, and online applications are not split by where you file. But INZ looks at your personal circumstances when judging genuine intentions, so the shorter your Philippine status, the harder your documents must work to show you will leave on time.

For Chinese nationals living in the Philippines, prepare three kinds of evidence:

1. Lawful residence in the Philippines: a valid Philippine visa or residence status and your ACR I-Card (see how to get the ACR I-Card).
2. Work, business and financial records here, plus approved leave.
3. Ties to China: if you are here only on a short-stay tourist visa, use employment, assets and family in China to show where you are returning.

On the supplementary form: INZ states that Chinese citizens applying from mainland China, Hong Kong or Macau must also submit a supplementary form (INZ 1027) and may add a Hukou household register as extra identity evidence. INZ's application guide and checklists for Chinese visitors are likewise written for applicants in those three places. Whether the form is needed when you apply from the Philippines depends on what the online system asks for and INZ's current checklist.

For the general status test for third-country applications from here, see who can apply for a third country visa from the Philippines.

A visa is not the last hurdle. INZ lists grounds for refusing entry at the border, including not being a genuine visitor, failing character requirements, a change in circumstances since the visa was issued, refusing to have your photo, fingerprints or an iris scan taken, and being unable to show onward travel or the money to leave. If you have been refused a visa, understand why before reapplying; see why visa applications get refused.

For New Zealand citizens settling in the Philippines, see the long-stay guide for New Zealanders. If the US or the UK is also on your list, compare US visa application in the Philippines and UK visa from the Philippines.

If you want someone to check your file against INZ requirements, Yixing Visa & HR services can help. Decisions rest with Immigration New Zealand, and Yixing makes no promise about outcomes.

Chinese passport, filing from the Philippines, and want your file assessed first? → Yixing New Zealand tourist visa · All outbound visas