Border control at New Zealand airports: what happens to travellers and their data

Arriving: the steps at the border

Everyone travelling into New Zealand must complete a New Zealand Traveller Declaration (NZTD), including New Zealand passport holders and babies. The NZTD collects travel, customs, immigration and biosecurity information. It is free and can be done online or in the NZTD app. Air travellers can submit it from 24 hours before the trip starts, and must do so by the time they reach passport control ⁸.

The declaration is linked to the passport. It is checked when the traveller scans the passport at an eGate or when a border officer checks the passport. Nothing needs to be printed ^4,8. The NZTD site describes the digital form as an option in place of a paper declaration filled in on board ⁸.

Travellers with an NZeTA do not hold a visa when they arrive. Immigration New Zealand (INZ) says that when a person arrives at the border with an NZeTA, it may give that person a visitor visa ¹.

Entry permission: visa, NZeTA and the IVL

INZ says most travellers need either an NZeTA or a visa. The NZeTA is for citizens of visa waiver countries and territories, cruise and cargo ship passengers, Australian permanent residents and transit passengers. Citizens of China or a Pacific Islands Forum country who travel from Australia with an eligible Australian visa can request one too ¹.

As of 19 October 2026, the INZ page lists the NZeTA as costing from NZD 17, with a processing time of up to 72 hours. It is valid for two years for most travellers and five years for airline crew. Each visit can last up to three months, or six months for UK citizens. An NZeTA allows transit through Auckland International Airport for up to 24 hours ¹.

Australian passport holders need no visa or NZeTA before travel. INZ normally gives them an Australian Resident Visa on arrival, subject to character requirements. INZ advises people with a criminal conviction or a past deportation to apply for a visa before travel ¹.

The International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL) is NZD 100. It is charged on most visitor visas, NZeTAs, student visas, working holiday schemes and some work visas. It is not refunded, even if INZ declines the application ². INZ says these rates apply from 1 October 2024 ³.

People who do not pay the IVL include holders of Australian or New Zealand passports, passport holders from many Pacific Island nations, transit passengers at Auckland International Airport, New Zealand resident visa holders, Australian Resident Visa holders, and Business Visitor Visa or APEC business travel card holders ².

Biometrics and eGates

New Zealand Customs runs eGates at Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown airports, for arrivals and departures. Users must be 10 or older and hold an ePassport from an eligible country or territory. The gate matches the face image in the ePassport with a photo it takes at the gate ⁴.

Eligibility has grown in steps. A Gazette notice dated 18 May 2023 listed 16 countries and an age limit of 12 ⁷. In May 2024 Customs lowered the age to 10. From 23 September 2024 ePassport holders from all 27 EU member states could use the gates, which brought the total to 37 countries ⁶. On 13 October 2025 Customs added 11 more, including Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Malaysia and the Philippines, for a total of 59 countries and territories ⁵.

Customs says Customs, Biosecurity and Immigration officials use the information given at the gate, including the photo, to clear people and goods across the border. It keeps biometric information for three months before destroying it. It keeps other information, including records of border crossings, indefinitely. The information may be shared with other law enforcement or border control authorities ⁴.

eGate is an automated electronic system under section 296 of the Customs and Excise Act 2018. Its details are published in the New Zealand Gazette ^4,7. A Customs officer who cannot confirm a traveller's identity by sight may ask that person to use an eGate ⁴.

Passenger data: APP and PNR

Airlines must send Advance Passenger Processing (APP) data on every passenger and crew member on flights to or from New Zealand, including transit passengers. The data covers name, passport number and issuing country, nationality, date of birth and gender. It is collected at check-in. INZ keeps APP data for five years and then archives it ⁹.

INZ receives Passenger Name Record (PNR) data. This covers name, contact details, ticketing and payment details, itinerary, baggage and seating, and others on the same booking. Airlines send only the data set out in the Immigration (Carriers' Information Obligations) Regulations 2010 ⁹.

Airlines must send PNR data 72 hours, 12 hours, 2 hours and 1 hour before departure, and at departure. INZ can ask for more at other times for specific investigations. INZ keeps PNR data for three years, or longer if needed for an investigation ⁹.

Watch lists and checks

INZ says it analyses PNR data as part of border management. It checks that travellers have a lawful reason to come and looks for people who are not complying with immigration law or who may pose a risk to security, public order or the public interest. Examples it gives include terrorism, drug trafficking, identity fraud and people smuggling ⁹.

Where needed, INZ discloses APP and PNR data to other government bodies in New Zealand and overseas, in particular law enforcement agencies. It says this follows the Immigration Act 2009 and the Privacy Act 2020 ⁹.

Your data: the law and how to ask for records

The Privacy Act 2020 governs how agencies handle personal information. Under information privacy principle 6, people have a right to ask an agency for their own personal information. Agencies can refuse on set grounds, such as security, defence or the maintenance of the law. The Privacy Commissioner can issue an access direction if an agency fails to release information ¹².

INZ says travellers can ask whether it holds APP or PNR data about them, see it and ask for corrections. In some cases it may refer people to their airline or travel agent to correct PNR data ⁹. Customs says eGate information is handled under the Privacy Act 2020, or as the law authorises ⁴.

Who runs the systems

Immigration New Zealand runs the NZeTA, visas, the IVL collection and the APP and PNR programme ^1,29. New Zealand Customs runs the eGates and works with INZ on trials before new countries join ^4,5. The NZTD collects information for customs, immigration and biosecurity purposes ⁸. The Aviation Security Service (AvSec) screens passengers and bags ¹⁰. Official pages consulted for this guide do not name eGate suppliers.

Security screening on departure

AvSec screens all departing international passengers, their carry-on bags and their checked bags. At security-designated airports it screens departing domestic passengers on aircraft with 90 or more seats. International screening limits the amount of powders, liquids, aerosols and gels in cabin bags ¹⁰.

AvSec began bringing in body scanners in 2019. It says they use non-ionising millimetre-wave technology and are in use at six airports. Officers see a genderless figure that marks any detected item, and then pat down that area. AvSec says scan data and images are not saved ¹¹.

AvSec is replacing older X-ray machines with computed tomography (CT) scanners for cabin and hold bags. It says CT may allow passengers to leave large electronics and liquids in their bags, subject to final regulatory approval ¹⁰.