Immigration New Zealand requires your passport to be valid for at least 3 months after the date you plan to leave New Zealand. Read that carefully: the count runs from your departure, not your arrival. A passport that expires four months after you land can still fail if you are staying three months.
Work it out from the end of the trip
- Take your planned departure date from New Zealand
- Add 3 months
- Your passport must still be valid on that date
A new passport means a new NZeTA
The NZeTA is linked electronically to the passport used in the application. If you renew your passport, the authorisation does not transfer — even though it would otherwise still be within its 2 years. You must request a new one before you travel.
Travel on the passport you applied with
If you hold more than one nationality, the passport you present at check-in must be the one your NZeTA is attached to. Dual nationals are refused boarding for this reason more often than for any problem with the authorisation itself.
Source: Immigration New Zealand — Visa Waiver Visitor Visa
Damaged passports are a separate risk. A water-damaged or torn biodata page can be refused even when the expiry date is fine, and the chip may fail to read in the NZeTA app.
More on the NZeTA
Traveller Declaration
Everyone arriving in New Zealand must complete a Traveller Declaration, including New Zealand passport holders. It is free and opens 24 hours before you travel.
Biosecurity
Undeclared risk goods mean an instant NZD $400 fine, even by honest mistake. Deliberate smuggling: up to NZD $100,000 and 5 years in prison.
Customs allowances
Goods over NZD $700, more than 50 cigarettes, and cash of NZD $10,000 or more all have to be declared on arrival.
Bringing medicines
You may bring up to 3 months' supply of prescription medicine, or 1 month of a controlled drug. Both need paperwork and must be declared.
Transit through Auckland
Most passengers transiting through Auckland need an NZeTA even though they never leave the airport. This is the single most missed requirement for New Zealand.
Cruise passengers
The visa-waiver list does not apply to cruise arrivals. Every cruise passenger needs an NZeTA, including nationalities that would otherwise need a visa.