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VISAS AND TAPE |
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All visitors to New Zealand must have a passport and it must be
valid for at least three months beyond the time you intend to stay,
although if your home country has an embassy or consulate in New Zealand
that can renew your passport, you can get away with one month.
On arrival, British citizens are automatically issued with a permit to
stay for up to six months, and a three-month permit is granted to
citizens of most other European countries, Southeast Asian nations,
Japan, the USA and Canada. Australian citizens and permanent residents
can stay indefinitely.
Other nationalities need to obtain a visa from a New Zealand Embassy; a
tourist visa costs the local equivalent of NZ$61 and is normally valid
for three months. You will also have to pay a visitor application fee of
$65.
The granting of a visitor permit or tourist visa is dependent upon your
having evidence of sufficient funds to support yourself without working
(about NZ$1000 a month, or NZ$400 a month if your accommodation is
prepaid), in the form of a bank draft, cash, travellers' cheques, a
statement from a New Zealand bank account, one of the major credit cards,
or a friend or relative who is prepared to guarantee your accommodation
and maintenance (although you are rarely asked to prove these things
when you get off the plane). You must also have a confirmed onward
ticket and right of entry (including any necessary visas) to your
proposed destination.
Tourist visas, visitor permits and short-term work permits and study
permits can be extended in three-month chunks up to nine months, and "genuine
tourists" may be able to get extensions up to a maximum stay of twelve
months. Apply for extensions (each costing NZ$61) though the New Zealand
Immigration Service, which has offices in Auckland, Christchurch,
Dunedin, Hamilton, Manukau, Palmerston North and Wellington. The
immigration Web site www.immigration.govt.nz offers up-to-date
information on all these matters.
New Zealand embassies and consulates abroad
AUSTRALIA
High Commission: Commonwealth Avenue, Canberra, ACT 2600 (tel 02/6270
4211, fax 6273 3194).
Consulates: Level 14, 1 Alfred St, Circular Quay, Sydney (tel 02/9247
8567); 60 Albert Rd, Melbourne (tel 03/9696 0501); Watkins Place
Building, 288 Edward St, Brisbane (tel 07/3221 9933).
CANADA
High Commission: Suite 727, 99 Bank St, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6G3 (tel
613/238 5991).
Consulate: Suite 1200, 888 Dunsmuir St, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6C
3K4 (tel 604/684 7388).
IRELAND
Embassy: 46 Upper Mount Street, Dublin 2 (tel 01/676 2464).
JAPAN
Embassy: 20-40 Kamiyama-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150 (tel 03/3467 2271/5).
NETHERLANDS
Embassy: Carnegielaan 10, 2517 KH The Hague (tel 70/346 9324).
UK
High Commission: The Haymarket, London SW1Y 4TQ (tel 020/7973 0363).
Consulate: The Ballance House, 118a Lisburn Rd, Glenavy, Co. Antrim (tel
028/9264 8098).
USA
Embassy: 37 Observatory Circle NW, Washington, DC 20008 (tel 202/328
4848, visa enquiries tel 202/328-4835).
Consulates: Suite 1150, 12400 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles (tel
310/207 1605); Suite 1904, 780 Third Ave, New York (tel 212/832 4038)
Working and studying
If working or studying is part of your plan, you're better off obtaining
the relevant visa before entering the country. You can apply for a
short-term work or study permit after you have entered New Zealand, but
if it is granted, it will only cover the time left on your visitor
permit.
British, Canadian and Japanese citizens between the ages of 18 and 30
may be able to obtain a Working Holiday Visa . This entitles you to
undertake short-term work as you travel around the country for up to
twelve months. Only two thousand such permits are granted each year,
beginning in July, and are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis,
so apply early.
A long-term work permit must be obtained before you enter New Zealand
and will be granted only if you have a confirmed job offer and no New
Zealand citizen is suitable and available for the post. These permits
stipulate the type of employment in which you can engage and are
normally valid for up to three years.
You can study for up to three months on a visitor permit, but to study
longer you will need to obtain a study permit before you enter the
country. For further information on the various permits and visas
available, consult the Visiting New Zealand leaflet, which is stocked by
all New Zealand embassies and consulates .
Customs
In a country all too familiar with the damage that can be caused by the
import of non-native plants and animals, New Zealand customs take
particular care to minimize the chance of destructive foreign bodies
being introduced to the delicate environment of the country. Aircraft
cabins are often sprayed with insecticide before passengers are allowed
to disembark, to kill off any stowaway insects or micro-organisms; the
spray is apparently harmless to humans.
It is prohibited to import certain goods into New Zealand. The following
must be declared at customs and will either be treated or confiscated:
fresh food, plants or parts of plants (dead or alive), animals (dead or
alive), equipment used with animals, camping gear, golf clubs, used
bicycles, biological specimens, and footwear (specifically walking
boots). If your camping stuff or boots have soil deposits from other
countries, they will be cleaned before being returned to you. The
duty-free allowance is 200 cigarettes, or 250 grams of tobacco, or 50
cigars; alcohol allowances are a generous 4.5 litres of wine or beer,
plus one bottle of not more than 1125ml of spirits. It is possible for
people from the UK to take an extra two bottles of spirits and 200
cigarettes under the Dover Allowance Provision.
There are restrictions on the export of wildlife, plantlife, antiquities
and works of art. If you're unsure, contact the nearest customs office;
there are offices in Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Invercargill,
Napier, Nelson, New Plymouth, Tauranga, Mount Maunganui, Timaru,
Wellington and Whangarei. A more detailed rundown on these provisions is
available on www.quarantine.govt.nz .
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