New Zealand Visa-Waiver: 60 Countries Whose Citizens Can Enter With NZeTA Instead of Visa

• New Zealand announced a visa waiver programme allowing citizens of about 60 countries to enter without a traditional visa
• Eligible travellers from these countries are required to obtain a New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority (NZeTA) before arriving
• African countries are largely absent from the list, with only Mauritius and Seychelles making the cut among the continent's nations

New Zealand has opened its doors wider to international travellers through a visa waiver programme that covers citizens of roughly 60 countries, allowing them to bypass the traditional visa application process entirely.

According to information published on New Zealand's official immigration website, the country maintains visa waiver agreements with several nations built on long-standing diplomatic and bilateral relationships.

Countries covered by the New Zealand visa waiver

Rather than applying for a full visa, eligible passport holders can instead obtain a New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority, commonly known as the NZeTA, before making their trip.

The full list of visa waiver countries and territories includes

1. Andorra
2. Argentina
3. Austria
4. Bahrain
5. Belgium
6. Brazil
7. Brunei
8. Bulgaria
9. Canada
10. Chile
11. Croatia
12. Cyprus
13. the Czech Republic
14. Denmark
15. Estonia (citizens only)
16. Finland
17. France
18. Germany
19. Greece (only for passports issued on or after 1 January 2006)
20. Hong Kong (residents travelling on HKSAR or British National–Overseas passports only)
21. Hungary
22. Iceland
23. Ireland
24. Israel
25. Italy
26. Japan
27. South Korea
28. Kuwait
29. Latvia (citizens only)
30. Liechtenstein
31. Lithuania (citizens only)
32. Luxembourg
33. Macau (residents travelling on Macau Special Administrative Region passports)
34. Malaysia
35. Malta
36. Mauritius
37. Mexico
38. Monaco
39. the Netherlands
40. Norway
41. Oman
42. Poland
43. Portugal (passport holders who have the right to live permanently in Portugal)
44. Qatar
45. Romania
46. San Marino
47. Saudi Arabia
48. Seychelles
49. Singapore
50. the Slovak Republic
51. Slovenia
52. Spain
53. Sweden
54. Switzerland
55. Taiwan (permanent residents travelling on Taiwan passports)
56. The United Arab Emirates
57. the United Kingdom (citizens and other British passport holders who have the right to reside permanently in the UK)
58. The United States of America, including US nationals
59. Uruguay
60. Vatican City.

NZeTA: What African travellers need to know

For travellers from across the African continent, the list offers limited options. Only two African nations appear: Mauritius and Seychelles. Citizens of major African economies such as Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Egypt do not feature on the waiver list, meaning they must continue to apply through the standard New Zealand visa route.

The NZeTA system is designed to streamline entry for nationals from countries that New Zealand considers to have established trust and reciprocal arrangements, making the absence of most African nations a continued point of note for those on the continent hoping to travel to the Pacific nation.

UK names 82 countries eligible for ETA

Meanwhile, Legit.ng recently reported that the UK government released the full list of 82 nationalities whose citizens can travel to Britain with an Electronic Travel Authorisation instead of a visa.

Mauritius and Seychelles are the only African countries on the list, which also includes nations from Europe, Asia, the Americas and the Gulf region.