How to apply

1. 1

   Step 1: Gather your documents

   The section 'Who can apply' explains the requirements for this visa and what you will need as proof.

   Get documents translated

   For your application you must provide:

   • certified English translations of police and medical certificates that are not in English, if required
   • scanned copies of the original documents.

   Note

   If your other evidence is not in English, you can provide a translated copy to help prevent delays with processing.

   Documents must be translated by someone who meets our requirements for providing English translations.

   Providing English translations of supporting documents

   Providing English translations of supporting documents

   Check the requirements of the visa you are applying for. Provide certified translations of your documents to avoid delays processing your application.

   Check the visa application requirements

   Residence visa applications

   All supporting documents submitted with your resident visa application must be provided in English or include an English translation. 

   Visitor visa applications

   Visitor visa requirements are changing

   From 26 May 2025, supporting document translations for visitor visa applications will no longer need to be certified.

   Changes to certification requirements for translations of visitor visa supporting documents

   Examples of documents that require full translation include:

   • proof of funds — such as bank statements, pay records (proof of funds must be fully translated, partial translations may not be accepted)
   • flight itineraries including return tickets
   • proof of employment in your home country
   • leave of absence documentation
   • identity documents other than passports — for example, Hukou for Chinese nationals.

   All other visa applications

   You must provide us with full certified English translations of all medical and police certificates. This includes police certificates that record no convictions.

   Note

   If your other evidence is not in English, you should provide a translated copy, as this will help us to process your application faster.

   Our requirements for translated documents

   Immigration New Zealand does not translate documents on behalf of visa applicants. You must pay for certified translations.

   Who can complete a certified translation

   You can provide certified translations completed by:

   • reputable private or official translation businesses
   • community members known for their accurate translations.

   We do not accept translations completed by the applicant, family members, or the immigration adviser assisting with your application.

   We will accept translations from a licensed immigration adviser (LIA) who is:

   • a trustworthy person within the community
   • known to translate documents accurately
   • not an adviser on the application.

   Using the English spelling of the name in your passport

   Check your passport to see if it has your name written in English. Ask your translator to use this spelling when they translate your documents.

   If a translator used a different spelling of your name in your translated documents, then include this spelling of your name in the 'other names' section of the visa application form.

   Include your 'other names' in the application form

   We need to know if you have used other names that are in your translated documents.

   For example, if:

   • you have a different birth name, or name from a marriage or adoption
   • you have other passports with a different name
   • the translator used a different name or spelling when translating your documents into English.

   In your visa application form, enter all other names that you have used in the section called 'other names'.

   Check your translated document

   Each translation must:

   • be on the translation business’s official letterhead, if possible
   • certified as a correct translation by the translator
   • stamped or signed by the translator or translation business.

   Submitting your original foreign language documents

   When you apply for your visa, the supporting documents that you provide us are the:

   • original document in a foreign language, and
   • a certified English translation of the document.

   How you provide the documents depends on if you are applying online or on a paper form.
   If applying online, make sure all scanned copies are clear and readable.

   Applying online

   We may not need an original document or its certified copy in the following situations:

   • if we asked for uncertified copies in our form or guide
   • if you submitted a legible scan of the original document in the online form
   • if you submitted a legible copy of the original document for a temporary entry visa.

   When we process your application, we will contact you if we need you to send us a document.

   File formats for uploading documents and photos

   File formats for uploading documents and photos

   All documents uploaded must be PDFs and all images must be JPEG or JPG.

   Documents must be in PDF format

   All documents you upload must be in a PDF format and as a single file. For example, if your bank statement is 4 pages, it must be uploaded as a single file and not 4 separate files. Try to avoid uploading multiple copies of the same document.

   To merge pages, you can paste documents into a Microsoft Word document and save it as a PDF or use an online PDF merging tool.

   Alert

   Password protected or compressed files will be rejected by Immigration Online.

   Creating PDF documents — wikihow.com

   Reducing PDF document file size — wikihow.com

   Merging PDF documents — wikihow.com

   Passports and travel documents

   If you are uploading a copy of your passport or travel document, it should clearly show your information page. This is the page with your photo, name, date of birth and document details such as your passport number and issuing location.

   If you are applying for a Permanent Resident Visa, Second or Subsequent Resident Visa, Transit Visa or a variation of travel conditions for a resident visa

   Each person included in your application will be asked to upload a scan of the information page of their passport or travel document at the beginning of the application.

   The scan should only include the passport information page. You can upload a separate scan of any other required passport pages in the 'Supporting documents' section of the application.

   Make sure the scan of the passport information page:

   • is high-quality
   • can be easily read including all your personal details
   • includes the MRZ code - the string of characters on the bottom of the information page of your passport
   • does not have any glare or discolouration.

   Document size

   Check the document file size requirements in the form you are completing. Make sure the documents you upload are not larger than what is allowed.

   Photographs must be in JPG or JPEG format

   You need to upload a photo of yourself showing a full-front view of your face as part of your application. Visa photos have specific requirements such as no smiling and no hair covering your face.

   Face image

   You are required to upload a photo showing a full-front view of your face as part of the application.

   Visa and NZeTA photos

   If you need to convert your photo to the JPG or JPEG format before you upload it, read the instructions on the wikiHow website.

   Converting pictures to JPG/JPEG — wikihow.com

   Organise proof of identity, citizenship and age

   You must have a passport that is valid for at least 3 months after your visa expires.

   If you need a new passport, allow yourself enough time to get it.

   When you apply, make sure you enter your identity details exactly as they appear on your passport or certificate of identity.

   Alert

   If there are any mistakes in your identity details such as an incorrect name or passport expiry date, your application will be delayed. We may also decline your application or refuse you entry to New Zealand.

   Organise proof of medical insurance

   Documents you can show us include:

   • a copy of your insurance certificate
   • an approval letter from your insurance company.

   Book medical appointments, if required

   When you apply online, whether you need an X-ray or medical examination will depend on the health information you give us. We will contact you if we need you to organise a medical appointment.

   If they are needed, evidence of a chest X-ray or medical examination must be less than 3 months old when we receive them. Allow yourself enough time to get these.

   How to get an X-ray or medical examination

   How to get an X-ray or medical examination

   If you need a chest X-ray or medical examination for your visa application, you will need to make a doctor's appointment and take any relevant documents with you. You will need to provide evidence of your medical results in your application.

   Process overview

   1. Prepare your visa application as much as you can — check if you need an X-ray or medical examination and when.
   2. If you need an X-ray or examination, make an appointment.
   3. Get all the things you need for your appointment ready.
   4. Go to your appointment. The doctor may need you to take other tests — that can take more time.
   5. Provide evidence of your X-ray or medical examination results in your application.
   6. Get your results. You can share them with your immigration advisor.

   Note
   Your chest X-ray and medical examination results must be no more than 3 months old when we get your application.

   1. Check if you need a chest X-ray or medical examination

   You can check the situations where you need an X-ray or medical examination, and the different types of examinations.

   Who needs an X-ray or medical examination

   If you need a medical examination, you normally get a 'general medical examination' unless you need a limited medical examination. A general medical examination is sometimes called a 'full medical examination'.

   For some visas, you must have a chest X-ray, a medical examination or both before you apply.

   For an Accredited Employer Work Visa or a Visitor Visa, we will let you know after you submit your application if you need a chest X-ray or medical examination.

   2. Make an appointment

   If you need a chest X-ray or medical examination, you must visit a doctor or radiologist from our list of 'panel physicians' — unless there are no panel physicians in your country.

   Panel physicians are doctors and radiologists approved to complete chest X-rays and medical examinations for New Zealand visa applications.

   Check if there is a panel physician in your country.

   Doctors who can do examinations

   If there is a panel physician in your country

   You must visit a panel physician.

   1. Contact a panel physician to make an appointment for your chest X-ray or medical examination.
   2. Tell them it is for an Immigration New Zealand application and what visa you are applying for.
   3. Tell them the type of medical examination you need.
   4. You can ask the clinic about the costs when you make your appointment.

   If there is no panel physician in your country

   You can use any registered doctor.

   1. Contact your doctor to make an appointment for your X-ray or medical examination.
   2. Tell them it is for an Immigration New Zealand application.
   3. Tell them the type of medical examination you need.
   4. You can ask them about the costs when you make your appointment.
   5. Make sure you have a printed medical certificate form for the examination you need, and 3 passport sized photos.

   If you are in New Zealand and only need a chest X-ray

   You must visit a panel medical clinic who will refer you to a panel radiology clinic.

   1. Find a panel medical clinic from the list of approved panel physicians.
   2. Tell the clinic what type of visa you are applying for, and that you need a chest X-ray only.
   3. You will normally need to visit the clinic. Bring an identity document.
   4. The clinic will create a case for you and refer you to a panel radiology clinic.

   Note

   If there are other people on your application, they will each need an appointment.

   If you are menstruating (having a period), you need to wait until your period finishes before having your medical examination. You cannot have your medical examination during your period because the blood can affect your urine test.

   For an Accredited Employer Work Visa or Visitor Visa, if we need you to have a chest X-ray or medical examination, we give you an Immigration New Zealand health case reference number (NZHR). Give the NZHR to the clinic when you make your appointment.

   Finding your eMedical and INZ health case reference numbers

   Bringing someone with you to the appointment

   You can bring a family member, support person or interpreter to your appointment.

   Let the clinic know when you make your appointment if you are bringing someone with you.

   If you are having a physical examination, you can ask the clinic for a chaperone. The clinic must have chaperones available.

   3. Get what you need for your appointment

   Have the following ready to bring to your appointment:

   • an identity document
   • your glasses or contact lenses if you use them
   • a list of any medication you are taking, including dosage
   • any relevant medical reports or X-rays
   • other documents you need if you are not visiting a panel physician, or if you are using an immigration adviser.

   Identity documents for X-rays and medical examinations

   Note

   If you are 17 years or under, you need your parent or legal guardian to come with you.

   If you are visiting a doctor that is not a panel physician

   If you are visiting any registered doctor because there are no panel physicians in your country, you need to also bring:

   • 3 recent passport-sized photos less than 6 months old — you only need 1 photo if you are having a chest X-ray and not a medical examination, and
   • a printed copy of the required medical certificate form for your doctor to complete and send to us.

   Get the medical certificate form you need:

   Chest X-ray Certificate (INZ 1096)

   pdf,  

   273 KB

   Limited Medical Certificate (INZ 1201)

   pdf,  

   879 KB

   General Medical Certificate (INZ 1007)

   pdf,  

   517 KB

   If you are using a licensed immigration adviser

   You need to also bring a completed 'Immigration Adviser Details' form to give to the clinic.

   Immigration Adviser Details form (INZ 1160)

   pdf,  

   260 KB

   4. Go to your appointment

   Authority to collect medical information

   At your medical appointment, you must sign a form to allow the doctor to send your medical information to us.

   If you are 17 or younger, your parent or guardian must sign the form for you.

   If your doctor is using eMedical, they will give you an eMedical client consent and declaration form to sign. You can read the form before your appointment:

   INZ eMedical client consent and declaration

   pdf,  

   166 KB

   What happens at the medical examination

   There are 3 parts to the medical examination:

   • medical history and physical examination
   • urine and blood tests
   • chest X-ray, if required.

   The doctor checks your height, weight, mental state, hearing and vision, listens to your heart and lungs, feels your abdomen and checks your reflexes and other parts of your nervous system.

   A nurse or health care assistant may complete parts of the examination.

   You will need to:

   • remove some items of clothing for the physical examination
   • provide a urine sample during the medical examination
   • get blood tests, and possibly a chest X-ray or other tests if needed — the clinic will tell you if you need these, and you may need to go to different places to get some tests done.

   Paying for your medical examination

   You must pay any costs related to your X-ray and medical examinations.

   Note

   Ask the clinic about the costs when you make your appointment.

   5. Provide evidence of your results in your application

   In your visa application, you need to provide evidence of your X-ray or examination results.

   To show you had an examination you can either:

   • tell us the eMedical reference code from your panel physician — we will get your results electronically (this is the quickest way)
   • tell us the name of the clinic where you had the medical examination, or
   • give us a copy of the completed medical certificate, if you did not visit a panel physician — the doctor will normally send your medical certificate to us, but you can ask them for a copy.

   Finding your eMedical and INZ health case reference numbers

   6. How to get your results

   To get a copy of your results you can ask the doctor when you have your examination, or any time afterwards.

   You can ask for email notifications. If you do, you will receive an email when your physician sends us your results. You cannot reply to this email.

   If you have any questions about your results, discuss these with your doctor.

   If you need a copy of your results

   You can ask the clinic for a copy of your medical examination results.

   Once we receive your results you can also contact us if you want a copy of them.

   Sharing your medical information with an immigration adviser

   If you have an immigration adviser, and would like them to be able to see and ask questions about your medical information, you need to:

   • complete an ‘Immigration Adviser Details’ form and take it with you to your medical examination
   • ask for copies of your results at your examination and give these to your immigration adviser when you receive them.

   Immigration Adviser Details form (INZ 1160)

   pdf,  

   260 KB

   Your privacy

   The panel physicians who use eMedical must agree to protect your personal information to meet New Zealand privacy laws.

   Your information is sent to us using a secure online channel and is available only to us and the clinic where you were examined.

   If you have any privacy concerns, you can contact us.

   Contact us

   Request or change your personal information

   Apply for police certificates, if required

   When we process your application, we will contact you if we require police certificates from you.

   Police certificates

   Police certificates

   When you apply for a visa, you may need to provide us with a police certificate to show that you are of good character.

   About police certificates

   Depending on the visa you want, and how long you plan to stay in New Zealand, you may need to provide a police certificate as evidence of your good character.

   Police certificates are documents issued by the police or a government agency. They:

   • provide information about any criminal record you have
   • are based on official records and checks
   • are also sometimes called criminal checks, police clearance certificates or penal records.

   If we ask you to provide a police certificate, you must:

   • make sure the police certificate is less than 6 months old when you submit your visa application
   • provide us with a translation, if it is not in English.

   Providing English translations supporting documents 

   Find out how to get a police certificate

   How to get a police certificate

   • Applying for a visitor, student or work visa

     You must provide police certificates if your total time in New Zealand will be 24 months or longer across all visits. This includes any time you have spent in New Zealand in the past on other visas, even if you have been out of the country since then.

     Provide police certificates from any country you:

     • are a citizen of, and
     • have lived in for more than 5 years since you turned 17.

     If you are aged 16 or younger, you do not need to provide police certificates.

     If you have a criminal record, we may still be able to grant you a visa. You can provide an explanation of your criminal record when you apply, and we will decide if you meet our good character requirements.

   • Applying for a resident visa

     You must provide police certificates if you are aged 17 or older.

     Provide police certificates from:

     • any country you are a citizen of
     • any other country where you spent 12 months or more over the last 10 years — even if those 12 months were not all in one stay.

     Police certificates must show any criminal records you have had at any time in any of these countries — not only in the last 10 years.

     If you have a criminal record, we may still be able to give you a visa. You can provide an explanation of your criminal record when you apply, and we will decide if you meet our good character requirements.

   • Partners supporting your application

     If you apply for a visa as the partner of a New Zealander or a New Zealand visa holder, your partner is known as the 'supporting partner'.

     Your supporting partner must be able to show us they are of good character. They may need to provide police certificates for proof.

     If your supporting partner is a New Zealand citizen or has a resident visa, they:

     • must provide police certificates, if you are applying for a resident visa
     • may be asked to provide police certificates, if you are applying for a temporary visa to work or visit.

     If your partner needs to provide police certificates, the police certificates must be from countries where they have spent 12 months or more over the last 10 years, since they turned 17 — even if the 12 months were not all in one stay.

     Police certificates must show any criminal records they have had at any time in any of these countries — not only in the last 10 years.

     Note

     Your partner does not need to provide a New Zealand police certificate, as we will get one directly from the authorities.

     If your supporting partner has a temporary visa to work or study

     If your supporting partner has a work or study visa, we may ask your partner to provide police certificates, if you are applying for a temporary visa.

     Your partner will not meet our character requirements if they have any convictions for

     domestic violence

     or sexual offences in the last 7 years, whether in New Zealand or in other countries.

     If your partner cannot prove good character

     If your supporting partner cannot prove they are of good character, we may give them a

     character waiver

     . This would mean your partner would still be able to support your visa application.

     If your partner has any convictions for domestic violence or sexual offences, they cannot support your application.

     For all types of visa applications, we still may request police certificates from your partner to make sure they meet our character requirements.

   If you have provided police certificates before

   You may not need to provide police certificates if you have provided them in a previous visa application. Check the character requirements of the visa you are applying for.

   Fingerprinting for police certificates 

   Some of the authorities that issue police certificates (the police and other government agencies) may require a set of fingerprints when you request a police certificate.

   If you do need a set of fingerprints to get a police certificate, check in your region for a fingerprinting service. There are many private businesses who offer fingerprinting services.

   If you cannot find a fingerprinting service in your region, you can contact the New Zealand Police to see if they can help. They only offer this service in some regions and on specific days. Contact them to check availability before going to a police station.

   New Zealand Police fingerprinting service – NZ Police

   How to get a police certificate

   Your police certificates must be less than 6 months old when you submit your application. Allow yourself enough time to get these certificates.

   Organise proof you have enough money to live on

   You will need to show that you have at least NZD $4,200 to cover the cost of your stay.

   Organise proof you can leave New Zealand

   This can be a plane ticket or proof you have the money to buy one.

2. 2

   Step 2: Submit your application and pay the fee

   You must apply online and in English.

   To apply, log in to your account, or set up an account if you do not have one already.

   You can then fill in your application, upload your documents and pay the applicable fees.

   Check the 'How to pay and submit' section for fees.

3. 3

   Step 3: Wait for our decision

   We let you know if we need more information.

   Waiting for a visa

   How long it takes to process an application

   Check the 'How to pay and submit' section for timeframes.

4. 4

   Step 4: Check your application status

   Log in to your account to check the status of your application.

   We will email you when we make a decision.

   If we approve your application, we will give you an eVisa and send you a copy.

   Using eVisas and visa labels

   Check the 'While you are in New Zealand' section to find out what you can and cannot do when you come to New Zealand.