A Visa Waiver Waives Only the Visa You Travel On - Everyone Still Applies for Two Things at the Border
This replaces the general rule for you
Australian Citizens: No Electronic Travel Authority, No Levy, No Time Limit and No Exclusion for Coming to See a Doctor
Item 1 of Schedule 2 Part 1 to the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 covers 'Citizens of Australia and people who hold a current permanent residence visa (including a resident return visa) issued by the Government of Australia', and it is the only item in Part 1 that attaches no conditions at all. Every other item limits the visa that may be sought to three or six months and excludes visits for medical consultation or treatment; item 1 does neither. Regulation 23E then exempts a citizen of Australia from the Electronic Travel Authority that regulation 23D makes a condition of every other waiver, and because the $100 international visitor conservation and tourism levy is imposed by regulation 26AAD on a traveller ETA request, no ETA means no levy. An Australian permanent resident who is not an Australian citizen is in a different position on both counts: regulation 23E names only citizens, so a permanent resident needs the ETA, and is relieved of the levy separately by regulation 26AAE(2)(b) rather than by not needing an ETA. The deeper difference is what is applied for on arrival. Regulation 18(2) makes every visa-waiver traveller apply at the border for a visa and for entry permission; for most of them the visa is a visitor visa under regulation 11, but for an Australian citizen or permanent resident regulation 8 makes it an application for a resident visa. So the Australian arrival is not a visit with a longer clock - it is a different application with a different outcome, and the length-of-stay instructions at V2.5 do not apply to it at all.
New Zealand's visa waiver is narrower than the phrase suggests, and the regulation that creates it says so in its own words. Regulation 18(1) of the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 waives the requirement to hold a visa permitting travel to New Zealand for the people described in Schedule 2; regulation 18(2) then says that to enter and stay, such a person must on arrival still apply for a visa and for entry permission. These are two separate decisions. The Immigration Act 2009 puts the first in the officer's discretion - section 45(1) reads 'No person is entitled to a visa as of right' - and keeps the second separate: section 46(1) says the granting of a visa does not of itself entitle the holder to be granted entry permission, and the instructions add that the grant of entry permission has no effect unless the person also holds a visa. Schedule 2 Part 1 sets out who the waiver covers and on what terms: Australian citizens and holders of a current Australian permanent residence or resident return visa, with no limit of length or purpose; British citizens and British passport holders with the right to reside permanently in the United Kingdom, for a temporary visa current for no more than six months; residents of Hong Kong, Macau and permanent residents of Taiwan on their own passports for no more than three months; and the citizens of 56 named countries and territories, also for no more than three months. Every one of those except the Australians carries the same two conditions: the visa sought must be a temporary one of the stated length, and 'the purpose of the visit does not include medical consultation or treatment'. Since 3 November 2025 two further items reach people who hold no qualifying passport at all - Pacific and Chinese passport holders travelling from Australia on one of the Australian visa subclasses tabulated in Schedule 2 Part 2. Part 4A then adds a document in front of all of it: regulation 23D makes it a condition of the waiver that the traveller hold a traveller ETA before travelling, and regulation 23E exempts only citizens of Australia, Antarctic programme travellers and visiting forces. An Australian permanent resident who is not an Australian citizen is therefore inside the waiver and outside the ETA exemption, and so needs an ETA that an Australian citizen does not. The ETA request carries the levy: regulation 26AAD imposes an international visitor conservation and tourism levy of $100 on a traveller ETA request and on a temporary entry class visa application made anywhere but at the border. What the border then grants is a matter of instructions rather than regulation. V2.5.1 caps a visitor visa at nine months and says it should allow no more than nine months in the eighteen before expiry - but a visa granted at the border to someone who did not need one to travel is capped at six months in the twelve before expiry, which is the number that applies to almost everyone arriving under the waiver.
At a glance
- What the waiver actually waives
- Only the requirement to hold a visa before travelling - the visa and entry permission are both applied for on arrival
Regulation 18(1) and 18(2) of the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010.
- Countries and territories on the general waiver list
- 56, in item 8 of Schedule 2 Part 1, each for a temporary visa of no more than 3 months
Item 8 numbers its entries 1 to 54 with three lettered insertions (10A Croatia, 32A Mauritius, 43A Seychelles) and one revocation at 47, leaving 56 live entries. Australia, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan sit in separate items and are not among the 56.
- Stay the waiver allows for a British citizen
- A temporary visa current for no more than 6 months
Item 2 of Schedule 2 Part 1, which also requires that the purpose of the visit not include medical consultation or treatment.
- Maximum a visitor visa granted at the border allows
- 6 months in the 12-month period before the visa expires
Instruction V2.5.1(d), effective 18/02/2021. The general visitor cap in V2.5.1(a) and (b) is nine months, and nine months in the preceding eighteen.
- Electronic Travel Authority
- Required of everyone travelling under the waiver except citizens of Australia
Regulation 23D imposes it as a condition of the waiver; regulation 23E lists the exceptions, and the only nationality among them is Australian citizenship. An Australian permanent resident who is not an Australian citizen needs one.
- International visitor conservation and tourism levy
- $100, on a traveller ETA request or on a temporary entry class visa application not made at the border
Regulation 26AAD(1). Regulation 26AAE(2)(b) exempts a holder of a current Australian permanent residence or resident return visa, and regulation 26AAE(2)(a) exempts the citizens listed in regulation 4A(3)(b), who are the Pacific states and Australia.
- Funds a visitor must show
- NZ$1,000 a month, or NZ$400 a month if accommodation is prepaid, or a sponsor
Instruction V2.20, effective 31/01/2022. A pregnant applicant due to give birth in New Zealand needs a further NZ$9,000 for maternity services, sponsorship covering them, or eligibility for publicly funded ones.
- Medical treatment as a purpose
- Outside the waiver for every item except the Australian one
Items 2, 5, 5A, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 of Schedule 2 Part 1 each end with the condition that the purpose of the visit does not include medical consultation or treatment. Item 1, the Australian item, carries no such condition.
Requirements
- A passport or certificate of identity of a kind the instructions accept
- For everyone under the waiver except Australian citizens: a valid traveller ETA, requested before travelling, with the $100 international visitor conservation and tourism levy
- An application on arrival for a visitor visa and a separate application for entry permission
- Funds of at least NZ$1,000 a month, or NZ$400 a month where accommodation is prepaid, or a sponsor who meets the generic sponsorship requirements
- The means to leave New Zealand
- A lawful purpose that is not employment and not a programme of study or training beyond short-term study
- Health and character requirements under instructions A4 and A5
In detail
Why the waiver list is in a regulation and not in the Act
The Immigration Act 2009 contains no list of countries and no mention of any. Section 69(1) hands the whole question to regulations, and section 69(3) tells the regulation-maker how it may sort people: by nationality, by the country they are travelling from, by where they are going next, and by what travel documents they hold. All four of those appear in Schedule 2 as it now stands - nationality in item 8, departure from Australia in items 9 and 10, destination nowhere, and documents in the Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan items, which turn on which passport is carried rather than on where the holder lives. The practical consequence for a reader is that the list moves by Order in Council and not by Act of Parliament: three of the items in Schedule 2 were inserted on 3 November 2025.
Two things are granted at the border, and they can come apart
A traveller under the waiver is making two applications in one conversation with an officer, and the law keeps them separate on purpose. The visa is what lets you be in New Zealand; entry permission is what lets you enter. Section 46(1) says granting the first does not entitle you to the second. Going the other way, the instruction at Y3.1 says the grant of entry permission has no effect unless the person also holds a visa. The instructions then list, at Y4, the grounds on which entry permission must be refused even to someone holding a perfectly good visa: expired or absent travel documents, insufficient funds and no sponsorship, no outward ticket, a previous refusal of entry permission, failing the bona fide applicant test, failing character requirements, or no longer meeting the purpose of the visa held.
The condition that is easiest to miss
Every item of Schedule 2 Part 1 except the Australian one ends with the same words: the purpose of the visit must not include medical consultation or treatment. It is not a caveat about paying for care - it removes the waiver altogether, so a British or Japanese or American traveller coming to New Zealand for a consultation is outside the waiver and needs a visa obtained before travelling. The instructions carry the matching route: V3.40 covers entry for the purpose of medical treatment or consultation, which was not read for this record.
Nine months, or six
Two caps run at once and they are not the same number. V2.5.1 sets the general limit at nine months on a visitor visa, and adds that a visitor visa should allow no more than nine months in the eighteen before it expires. But V2.5.1(d) overrides that for a visa granted at the border to a person who did not need one to travel - which is every arrival under the waiver - and caps that person at six months in the twelve before expiry. A reader who finds 'nine months' on a visitor-visa page and arrives under the waiver has read the wrong line.
What applies to you
Australian Citizens: No Electronic Travel Authority, No Levy, No Time Limit and No Exclusion for Coming to See a Doctor
Item 1 of Schedule 2 Part 1 to the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 covers 'Citizens of Australia and people who hold a current permanent residence visa (including a resident return visa) issued by the Government of Australia', and it is the only item in Part 1 that attaches no conditions at all. Every other item limits the visa that may be sought to three or six months and excludes visits for medical consultation or treatment; item 1 does neither. Regulation 23E then exempts a citizen of Australia from the Electronic Travel Authority that regulation 23D makes a condition of every other waiver, and because the $100 international visitor conservation and tourism levy is imposed by regulation 26AAD on a traveller ETA request, no ETA means no levy. An Australian permanent resident who is not an Australian citizen is in a different position on both counts: regulation 23E names only citizens, so a permanent resident needs the ETA, and is relieved of the levy separately by regulation 26AAE(2)(b) rather than by not needing an ETA. The deeper difference is what is applied for on arrival. Regulation 18(2) makes every visa-waiver traveller apply at the border for a visa and for entry permission; for most of them the visa is a visitor visa under regulation 11, but for an Australian citizen or permanent resident regulation 8 makes it an application for a resident visa. So the Australian arrival is not a visit with a longer clock - it is a different application with a different outcome, and the length-of-stay instructions at V2.5 do not apply to it at all.
- An Australian passport, or a passport carrying a current Australian permanent residence or resident return visa
- An Electronic Travel Authority, for a permanent resident who is not a citizen
- An application at the border, on the approved form, for a resident visa under regulation 8 and for entry permission
What the law says
«Regulations made under section 400 may waive the requirement to hold a visa permitting travel to New Zealand in relation to any class of persons, and provide for any conditions of such a waiver.»The Act delegates the whole visa-waiver question to regulations and names no country anywhere. Section 69(6) adds that a waiver does not of itself entitle the person to be granted entry permission.
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The Parliamentary Counsel Office publishes New Zealand's Acts and secondary legislation here, and the Legislation Act 2019 gives what it publishes a legal status most publishers in this corpus do not have. Section 78(1) lets the PCO publish official electronic versions; section 79(1)(b) says that an official version that is a consolidation 'is taken to correctly state, as at its stated date, the law enacted or made by the legislation consolidated and by the amendments', and section 79(3) adds that the presumptions apply 'unless the contrary is shown'. Each Act carries its own 'as at' date on the page: the Immigration Act 2009 read on 11 October 2026 is as at 10 July 2026. A `whole.html` address returns the entire instrument in one document, which is what makes an exhaustive negative claim possible here.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The 'as at' date is a cut-off and the page states it without calling it one, so every citation of a consolidated text needs `consolidatedAsOf`. Worse, some pages carry the line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated' - the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 did on 11 October 2026 - and that is a consolidation gap stated by the publisher itself. Section 79A says the PCO's own publication notes, legislative history and machine-readable links do not form part of the official text, so the amendment notes under each section are not law. It cannot be cited for immigration instructions: those are not legislation and are not published here at all.
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«No person is entitled to a visa as of right.»About this source
The Parliamentary Counsel Office publishes New Zealand's Acts and secondary legislation here, and the Legislation Act 2019 gives what it publishes a legal status most publishers in this corpus do not have. Section 78(1) lets the PCO publish official electronic versions; section 79(1)(b) says that an official version that is a consolidation 'is taken to correctly state, as at its stated date, the law enacted or made by the legislation consolidated and by the amendments', and section 79(3) adds that the presumptions apply 'unless the contrary is shown'. Each Act carries its own 'as at' date on the page: the Immigration Act 2009 read on 11 October 2026 is as at 10 July 2026. A `whole.html` address returns the entire instrument in one document, which is what makes an exhaustive negative claim possible here.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The 'as at' date is a cut-off and the page states it without calling it one, so every citation of a consolidated text needs `consolidatedAsOf`. Worse, some pages carry the line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated' - the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 did on 11 October 2026 - and that is a consolidation gap stated by the publisher itself. Section 79A says the PCO's own publication notes, legislative history and machine-readable links do not form part of the official text, so the amendment notes under each section are not law. It cannot be cited for immigration instructions: those are not legislation and are not published here at all.
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«To avoid doubt, in order to enter and stay in New Zealand a person to whom this regulation applies must, on arrival, still apply for—»Known to be out of date. The page prints 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated' above the text, so anything made after 1 June 2026 is not in the version read.
The two things it then lists are a visa, under regulation 7, 8 or 11, and entry permission, under regulation 24.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Parliamentary Counsel Office publishes New Zealand's Acts and secondary legislation here, and the Legislation Act 2019 gives what it publishes a legal status most publishers in this corpus do not have. Section 78(1) lets the PCO publish official electronic versions; section 79(1)(b) says that an official version that is a consolidation 'is taken to correctly state, as at its stated date, the law enacted or made by the legislation consolidated and by the amendments', and section 79(3) adds that the presumptions apply 'unless the contrary is shown'. Each Act carries its own 'as at' date on the page: the Immigration Act 2009 read on 11 October 2026 is as at 10 July 2026. A `whole.html` address returns the entire instrument in one document, which is what makes an exhaustive negative claim possible here.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The 'as at' date is a cut-off and the page states it without calling it one, so every citation of a consolidated text needs `consolidatedAsOf`. Worse, some pages carry the line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated' - the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 did on 11 October 2026 - and that is a consolidation gap stated by the publisher itself. Section 79A says the PCO's own publication notes, legislative history and machine-readable links do not form part of the official text, so the amendment notes under each section are not law. It cannot be cited for immigration instructions: those are not legislation and are not published here at all.
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«Citizens of the following countries, but only if the person concerned is seeking entry permission and a temporary visa that is current for no more than 3 months and the purpose of the visit does not include medical consultation or treatment:»Fifty-six entries follow, from Andorra to the State of the Vatican City, with entry 47 revoked on 21 November 2016.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Parliamentary Counsel Office publishes New Zealand's Acts and secondary legislation here, and the Legislation Act 2019 gives what it publishes a legal status most publishers in this corpus do not have. Section 78(1) lets the PCO publish official electronic versions; section 79(1)(b) says that an official version that is a consolidation 'is taken to correctly state, as at its stated date, the law enacted or made by the legislation consolidated and by the amendments', and section 79(3) adds that the presumptions apply 'unless the contrary is shown'. Each Act carries its own 'as at' date on the page: the Immigration Act 2009 read on 11 October 2026 is as at 10 July 2026. A `whole.html` address returns the entire instrument in one document, which is what makes an exhaustive negative claim possible here.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The 'as at' date is a cut-off and the page states it without calling it one, so every citation of a consolidated text needs `consolidatedAsOf`. Worse, some pages carry the line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated' - the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 did on 11 October 2026 - and that is a consolidation gap stated by the publisher itself. Section 79A says the PCO's own publication notes, legislative history and machine-readable links do not form part of the official text, so the amendment notes under each section are not law. It cannot be cited for immigration instructions: those are not legislation and are not published here at all.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«British citizens and British passport holders who produce evidence of the right to reside permanently in the United Kingdom, but only if—»The two conditions that follow are a temporary visa current for no more than 6 months, and a purpose that does not include medical consultation or treatment.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Parliamentary Counsel Office publishes New Zealand's Acts and secondary legislation here, and the Legislation Act 2019 gives what it publishes a legal status most publishers in this corpus do not have. Section 78(1) lets the PCO publish official electronic versions; section 79(1)(b) says that an official version that is a consolidation 'is taken to correctly state, as at its stated date, the law enacted or made by the legislation consolidated and by the amendments', and section 79(3) adds that the presumptions apply 'unless the contrary is shown'. Each Act carries its own 'as at' date on the page: the Immigration Act 2009 read on 11 October 2026 is as at 10 July 2026. A `whole.html` address returns the entire instrument in one document, which is what makes an exhaustive negative claim possible here.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The 'as at' date is a cut-off and the page states it without calling it one, so every citation of a consolidated text needs `consolidatedAsOf`. Worse, some pages carry the line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated' - the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 did on 11 October 2026 - and that is a consolidation gap stated by the publisher itself. Section 79A says the PCO's own publication notes, legislative history and machine-readable links do not form part of the official text, so the amendment notes under each section are not law. It cannot be cited for immigration instructions: those are not legislation and are not published here at all.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Unless regulation 23C applies, it is a condition of a visa waiver under regulation 18 that the person hold a traveller ETA before travelling to New Zealand.»About this source
The Parliamentary Counsel Office publishes New Zealand's Acts and secondary legislation here, and the Legislation Act 2019 gives what it publishes a legal status most publishers in this corpus do not have. Section 78(1) lets the PCO publish official electronic versions; section 79(1)(b) says that an official version that is a consolidation 'is taken to correctly state, as at its stated date, the law enacted or made by the legislation consolidated and by the amendments', and section 79(3) adds that the presumptions apply 'unless the contrary is shown'. Each Act carries its own 'as at' date on the page: the Immigration Act 2009 read on 11 October 2026 is as at 10 July 2026. A `whole.html` address returns the entire instrument in one document, which is what makes an exhaustive negative claim possible here.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The 'as at' date is a cut-off and the page states it without calling it one, so every citation of a consolidated text needs `consolidatedAsOf`. Worse, some pages carry the line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated' - the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 did on 11 October 2026 - and that is a consolidation gap stated by the publisher itself. Section 79A says the PCO's own publication notes, legislative history and machine-readable links do not form part of the official text, so the amendment notes under each section are not law. It cannot be cited for immigration instructions: those are not legislation and are not published here at all.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Regulations 23B to 23D do not apply to—»The three exceptions are a citizen of Australia, a person described in item 6 or 7 of Schedule 1, and a person described in item 3 or 4 of Schedule 2 - the Antarctic Treaty travellers and the visiting forces. An Australian permanent resident is not among them.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Parliamentary Counsel Office publishes New Zealand's Acts and secondary legislation here, and the Legislation Act 2019 gives what it publishes a legal status most publishers in this corpus do not have. Section 78(1) lets the PCO publish official electronic versions; section 79(1)(b) says that an official version that is a consolidation 'is taken to correctly state, as at its stated date, the law enacted or made by the legislation consolidated and by the amendments', and section 79(3) adds that the presumptions apply 'unless the contrary is shown'. Each Act carries its own 'as at' date on the page: the Immigration Act 2009 read on 11 October 2026 is as at 10 July 2026. A `whole.html` address returns the entire instrument in one document, which is what makes an exhaustive negative claim possible here.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The 'as at' date is a cut-off and the page states it without calling it one, so every citation of a consolidated text needs `consolidatedAsOf`. Worse, some pages carry the line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated' - the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 did on 11 October 2026 - and that is a consolidation gap stated by the publisher itself. Section 79A says the PCO's own publication notes, legislative history and machine-readable links do not form part of the official text, so the amendment notes under each section are not law. It cannot be cited for immigration instructions: those are not legislation and are not published here at all.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«An international visitor conservation and tourism levy of $100 is imposed on a person who—»The levy rose to $100 on 1 October 2024 by regulation 4 of the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Amendment Regulations (No 3) 2024 (SL 2024/182).
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Parliamentary Counsel Office publishes New Zealand's Acts and secondary legislation here, and the Legislation Act 2019 gives what it publishes a legal status most publishers in this corpus do not have. Section 78(1) lets the PCO publish official electronic versions; section 79(1)(b) says that an official version that is a consolidation 'is taken to correctly state, as at its stated date, the law enacted or made by the legislation consolidated and by the amendments', and section 79(3) adds that the presumptions apply 'unless the contrary is shown'. Each Act carries its own 'as at' date on the page: the Immigration Act 2009 read on 11 October 2026 is as at 10 July 2026. A `whole.html` address returns the entire instrument in one document, which is what makes an exhaustive negative claim possible here.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The 'as at' date is a cut-off and the page states it without calling it one, so every citation of a consolidated text needs `consolidatedAsOf`. Worse, some pages carry the line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated' - the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 did on 11 October 2026 - and that is a consolidation gap stated by the publisher itself. Section 79A says the PCO's own publication notes, legislative history and machine-readable links do not form part of the official text, so the amendment notes under each section are not law. It cannot be cited for immigration instructions: those are not legislation and are not published here at all.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«A visa waiver means a waiver of the requirement to hold a visa permitting travel to New Zealand in relation to any class of persons.»The instruction opens its list with citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia and holders of a current Australian permanent residence or resident return visa, and says the list 'is not limited to' what it contains.
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The Operational Manual is where New Zealand's immigration instructions are actually published, and publishing them here is a statutory duty rather than a courtesy: section 25(1) of the Immigration Act 2009 says 'The chief executive must publish immigration instructions', and the Manual's own first page says 'By publishing the Operational Manual, INZ meets its requirements under section 25 of the Immigration Act 2009 to publish Government instructions on granting visas.' Instructions are certified by the Minister under section 22; section 22(8) says they 'are statements of Government policy', and section 72(1) makes a residence decision one that 'must be made in terms of the residence instructions applicable at the time the application was made'. Each instruction topic carries its own 'Effective DD/MM/YYYY' date and, where it has been replaced, a list of the previous instructions under 'PREVIOUS IMMIGRATION INSTRUCTIONS'.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Policy, not law. The Manual says so itself: it 'is not ... a replacement for the legislation that governs INZ operations', the summaries of statute inside it 'are declaratory only', and where a summary conflicts with the legislation 'the interpretation of the legislation is decisive'. It also warns that 'some chapters of these sections do not constitute Government immigration instructions as described in section 22' - that disclaimer covers the Border Entry, Compliance, Refugees and Protection, Administration and Appendices sections, so a Y-, D-, C- or A-coded page may be an internal operational instruction rather than a certified instruction. It is not evidence of what the Immigration Act says, only of what the Minister has certified and the chief executive has published. The address matters. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/ and /opsmanual/index.htm are a JavaScript shell and return 208 characters of 'Loading...' to any fetcher. The readable table of contents is https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/toc.htm (340,787 characters), which links every instruction topic as its own small page at /opsmanual/<number>.htm. Firecrawl returned HTTP 500 for those numbered pages on 11 October 2026; `pnpm sources:fetch --direct` read every one of them first time.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«The grant of entry permission has no effect unless the person also holds a visa.»Effective 02/02/2015. The same instruction says entry permission is granted by being entered and retained in the Ministry's records and may, but need not, be evidenced by an endorsement in a passport.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Operational Manual is where New Zealand's immigration instructions are actually published, and publishing them here is a statutory duty rather than a courtesy: section 25(1) of the Immigration Act 2009 says 'The chief executive must publish immigration instructions', and the Manual's own first page says 'By publishing the Operational Manual, INZ meets its requirements under section 25 of the Immigration Act 2009 to publish Government instructions on granting visas.' Instructions are certified by the Minister under section 22; section 22(8) says they 'are statements of Government policy', and section 72(1) makes a residence decision one that 'must be made in terms of the residence instructions applicable at the time the application was made'. Each instruction topic carries its own 'Effective DD/MM/YYYY' date and, where it has been replaced, a list of the previous instructions under 'PREVIOUS IMMIGRATION INSTRUCTIONS'.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Policy, not law. The Manual says so itself: it 'is not ... a replacement for the legislation that governs INZ operations', the summaries of statute inside it 'are declaratory only', and where a summary conflicts with the legislation 'the interpretation of the legislation is decisive'. It also warns that 'some chapters of these sections do not constitute Government immigration instructions as described in section 22' - that disclaimer covers the Border Entry, Compliance, Refugees and Protection, Administration and Appendices sections, so a Y-, D-, C- or A-coded page may be an internal operational instruction rather than a certified instruction. It is not evidence of what the Immigration Act says, only of what the Minister has certified and the chief executive has published. The address matters. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/ and /opsmanual/index.htm are a JavaScript shell and return 208 characters of 'Loading...' to any fetcher. The readable table of contents is https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/toc.htm (340,787 characters), which links every instruction topic as its own small page at /opsmanual/<number>.htm. Firecrawl returned HTTP 500 for those numbered pages on 11 October 2026; `pnpm sources:fetch --direct` read every one of them first time.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«Despite (b) above, a visitor visa granted at the border to a person who does not need a visa for travel to New Zealand should allow the applicant to stay in New Zealand for a total of no more than six months in the 12-month period before the proposed expiry date of the visa»Effective 18/02/2021.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Operational Manual is where New Zealand's immigration instructions are actually published, and publishing them here is a statutory duty rather than a courtesy: section 25(1) of the Immigration Act 2009 says 'The chief executive must publish immigration instructions', and the Manual's own first page says 'By publishing the Operational Manual, INZ meets its requirements under section 25 of the Immigration Act 2009 to publish Government instructions on granting visas.' Instructions are certified by the Minister under section 22; section 22(8) says they 'are statements of Government policy', and section 72(1) makes a residence decision one that 'must be made in terms of the residence instructions applicable at the time the application was made'. Each instruction topic carries its own 'Effective DD/MM/YYYY' date and, where it has been replaced, a list of the previous instructions under 'PREVIOUS IMMIGRATION INSTRUCTIONS'.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Policy, not law. The Manual says so itself: it 'is not ... a replacement for the legislation that governs INZ operations', the summaries of statute inside it 'are declaratory only', and where a summary conflicts with the legislation 'the interpretation of the legislation is decisive'. It also warns that 'some chapters of these sections do not constitute Government immigration instructions as described in section 22' - that disclaimer covers the Border Entry, Compliance, Refugees and Protection, Administration and Appendices sections, so a Y-, D-, C- or A-coded page may be an internal operational instruction rather than a certified instruction. It is not evidence of what the Immigration Act says, only of what the Minister has certified and the chief executive has published. The address matters. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/ and /opsmanual/index.htm are a JavaScript shell and return 208 characters of 'Loading...' to any fetcher. The readable table of contents is https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/toc.htm (340,787 characters), which links every instruction topic as its own small page at /opsmanual/<number>.htm. Firecrawl returned HTTP 500 for those numbered pages on 11 October 2026; `pnpm sources:fetch --direct` read every one of them first time.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«Visitors to New Zealand are limited to a maximum stay on a visitor visa of nine months unless they:»The exceptions that follow are a genuine tourist needing up to three further months to finish an itinerary, a special category of visitor instruction allowing longer, circumstances beyond the visitor's control, and a first residence application accepted for consideration.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Operational Manual is where New Zealand's immigration instructions are actually published, and publishing them here is a statutory duty rather than a courtesy: section 25(1) of the Immigration Act 2009 says 'The chief executive must publish immigration instructions', and the Manual's own first page says 'By publishing the Operational Manual, INZ meets its requirements under section 25 of the Immigration Act 2009 to publish Government instructions on granting visas.' Instructions are certified by the Minister under section 22; section 22(8) says they 'are statements of Government policy', and section 72(1) makes a residence decision one that 'must be made in terms of the residence instructions applicable at the time the application was made'. Each instruction topic carries its own 'Effective DD/MM/YYYY' date and, where it has been replaced, a list of the previous instructions under 'PREVIOUS IMMIGRATION INSTRUCTIONS'.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Policy, not law. The Manual says so itself: it 'is not ... a replacement for the legislation that governs INZ operations', the summaries of statute inside it 'are declaratory only', and where a summary conflicts with the legislation 'the interpretation of the legislation is decisive'. It also warns that 'some chapters of these sections do not constitute Government immigration instructions as described in section 22' - that disclaimer covers the Border Entry, Compliance, Refugees and Protection, Administration and Appendices sections, so a Y-, D-, C- or A-coded page may be an internal operational instruction rather than a certified instruction. It is not evidence of what the Immigration Act says, only of what the Minister has certified and the chief executive has published. The address matters. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/ and /opsmanual/index.htm are a JavaScript shell and return 208 characters of 'Loading...' to any fetcher. The readable table of contents is https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/toc.htm (340,787 characters), which links every instruction topic as its own small page at /opsmanual/<number>.htm. Firecrawl returned HTTP 500 for those numbered pages on 11 October 2026; `pnpm sources:fetch --direct` read every one of them first time.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«funds that will be genuinely available to the applicant for the duration of their visa to New Zealand of at least NZ$1000 per month for maintenance and accommodation, or NZ$400 per month if the accommodation has been prepaid»Effective 31/01/2022. The alternative is sponsorship meeting the generic requirements at E6.5.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Operational Manual is where New Zealand's immigration instructions are actually published, and publishing them here is a statutory duty rather than a courtesy: section 25(1) of the Immigration Act 2009 says 'The chief executive must publish immigration instructions', and the Manual's own first page says 'By publishing the Operational Manual, INZ meets its requirements under section 25 of the Immigration Act 2009 to publish Government instructions on granting visas.' Instructions are certified by the Minister under section 22; section 22(8) says they 'are statements of Government policy', and section 72(1) makes a residence decision one that 'must be made in terms of the residence instructions applicable at the time the application was made'. Each instruction topic carries its own 'Effective DD/MM/YYYY' date and, where it has been replaced, a list of the previous instructions under 'PREVIOUS IMMIGRATION INSTRUCTIONS'.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Policy, not law. The Manual says so itself: it 'is not ... a replacement for the legislation that governs INZ operations', the summaries of statute inside it 'are declaratory only', and where a summary conflicts with the legislation 'the interpretation of the legislation is decisive'. It also warns that 'some chapters of these sections do not constitute Government immigration instructions as described in section 22' - that disclaimer covers the Border Entry, Compliance, Refugees and Protection, Administration and Appendices sections, so a Y-, D-, C- or A-coded page may be an internal operational instruction rather than a certified instruction. It is not evidence of what the Immigration Act says, only of what the Minister has certified and the chief executive has published. The address matters. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/ and /opsmanual/index.htm are a JavaScript shell and return 208 characters of 'Loading...' to any fetcher. The readable table of contents is https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/toc.htm (340,787 characters), which links every instruction topic as its own small page at /opsmanual/<number>.htm. Firecrawl returned HTTP 500 for those numbered pages on 11 October 2026; `pnpm sources:fetch --direct` read every one of them first time.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«Applicants for a visitor visa are required to have the means to leave New Zealand.»Effective 25/08/2014. A ticket is one way of showing it and the instruction lists four others.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Operational Manual is where New Zealand's immigration instructions are actually published, and publishing them here is a statutory duty rather than a courtesy: section 25(1) of the Immigration Act 2009 says 'The chief executive must publish immigration instructions', and the Manual's own first page says 'By publishing the Operational Manual, INZ meets its requirements under section 25 of the Immigration Act 2009 to publish Government instructions on granting visas.' Instructions are certified by the Minister under section 22; section 22(8) says they 'are statements of Government policy', and section 72(1) makes a residence decision one that 'must be made in terms of the residence instructions applicable at the time the application was made'. Each instruction topic carries its own 'Effective DD/MM/YYYY' date and, where it has been replaced, a list of the previous instructions under 'PREVIOUS IMMIGRATION INSTRUCTIONS'.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Policy, not law. The Manual says so itself: it 'is not ... a replacement for the legislation that governs INZ operations', the summaries of statute inside it 'are declaratory only', and where a summary conflicts with the legislation 'the interpretation of the legislation is decisive'. It also warns that 'some chapters of these sections do not constitute Government immigration instructions as described in section 22' - that disclaimer covers the Border Entry, Compliance, Refugees and Protection, Administration and Appendices sections, so a Y-, D-, C- or A-coded page may be an internal operational instruction rather than a certified instruction. It is not evidence of what the Immigration Act says, only of what the Minister has certified and the chief executive has published. The address matters. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/ and /opsmanual/index.htm are a JavaScript shell and return 208 characters of 'Loading...' to any fetcher. The readable table of contents is https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/toc.htm (340,787 characters), which links every instruction topic as its own small page at /opsmanual/<number>.htm. Firecrawl returned HTTP 500 for those numbered pages on 11 October 2026; `pnpm sources:fetch --direct` read every one of them first time.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
Practical notes
The 56 entries in item 8 were counted from the stored reading of Schedule 2 and the entry revoked at 47 was excluded. The separate items for Australia, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, United Nations laissez-passer holders, cruise and cargo passengers and crew, aircraft crew, Antarctic travellers and visiting forces are not in that count.
The Regulations were read in the version the publisher dates 1 June 2026, and that page prints 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated'. The warning is the publisher's own and it is why the citations here carry a consolidation gap rather than only a date.
Instruction V3.40, the route for someone whose purpose is medical consultation or treatment, was not read. Nothing here says what that route requires.
The ETA request process in regulations 23H to 23N, and the grounds on which an ETA may be refused, were not read.
Nothing published on the public-facing pages of immigration.govt.nz outside the Operational Manual was read for this record.
- consolidatesImmigration Act 2009, version as at 10 July 2026
New Zealand Legislation, Parliamentary Counsel Office · consolidated to 2026-07-10
About this source
The Parliamentary Counsel Office publishes New Zealand's Acts and secondary legislation here, and the Legislation Act 2019 gives what it publishes a legal status most publishers in this corpus do not have. Section 78(1) lets the PCO publish official electronic versions; section 79(1)(b) says that an official version that is a consolidation 'is taken to correctly state, as at its stated date, the law enacted or made by the legislation consolidated and by the amendments', and section 79(3) adds that the presumptions apply 'unless the contrary is shown'. Each Act carries its own 'as at' date on the page: the Immigration Act 2009 read on 11 October 2026 is as at 10 July 2026. A `whole.html` address returns the entire instrument in one document, which is what makes an exhaustive negative claim possible here.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The 'as at' date is a cut-off and the page states it without calling it one, so every citation of a consolidated text needs `consolidatedAsOf`. Worse, some pages carry the line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated' - the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 did on 11 October 2026 - and that is a consolidation gap stated by the publisher itself. Section 79A says the PCO's own publication notes, legislative history and machine-readable links do not form part of the official text, so the amendment notes under each section are not law. It cannot be cited for immigration instructions: those are not legislation and are not published here at all.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
- consolidatesImmigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010, version as at 1 June 2026
New Zealand Legislation, Parliamentary Counsel Office · consolidated to 2026-06-01
Known to be out of date. The page prints 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated' above the text.
About this source
The Parliamentary Counsel Office publishes New Zealand's Acts and secondary legislation here, and the Legislation Act 2019 gives what it publishes a legal status most publishers in this corpus do not have. Section 78(1) lets the PCO publish official electronic versions; section 79(1)(b) says that an official version that is a consolidation 'is taken to correctly state, as at its stated date, the law enacted or made by the legislation consolidated and by the amendments', and section 79(3) adds that the presumptions apply 'unless the contrary is shown'. Each Act carries its own 'as at' date on the page: the Immigration Act 2009 read on 11 October 2026 is as at 10 July 2026. A `whole.html` address returns the entire instrument in one document, which is what makes an exhaustive negative claim possible here.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The 'as at' date is a cut-off and the page states it without calling it one, so every citation of a consolidated text needs `consolidatedAsOf`. Worse, some pages carry the line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated' - the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 did on 11 October 2026 - and that is a consolidation gap stated by the publisher itself. Section 79A says the PCO's own publication notes, legislative history and machine-readable links do not form part of the official text, so the amendment notes under each section are not law. It cannot be cited for immigration instructions: those are not legislation and are not published here at all.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
- issuesINZ Operational Manual, E2.1 People to whom a visa waiver applies
Immigration New Zealand, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
About this source
The Operational Manual is where New Zealand's immigration instructions are actually published, and publishing them here is a statutory duty rather than a courtesy: section 25(1) of the Immigration Act 2009 says 'The chief executive must publish immigration instructions', and the Manual's own first page says 'By publishing the Operational Manual, INZ meets its requirements under section 25 of the Immigration Act 2009 to publish Government instructions on granting visas.' Instructions are certified by the Minister under section 22; section 22(8) says they 'are statements of Government policy', and section 72(1) makes a residence decision one that 'must be made in terms of the residence instructions applicable at the time the application was made'. Each instruction topic carries its own 'Effective DD/MM/YYYY' date and, where it has been replaced, a list of the previous instructions under 'PREVIOUS IMMIGRATION INSTRUCTIONS'.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Policy, not law. The Manual says so itself: it 'is not ... a replacement for the legislation that governs INZ operations', the summaries of statute inside it 'are declaratory only', and where a summary conflicts with the legislation 'the interpretation of the legislation is decisive'. It also warns that 'some chapters of these sections do not constitute Government immigration instructions as described in section 22' - that disclaimer covers the Border Entry, Compliance, Refugees and Protection, Administration and Appendices sections, so a Y-, D-, C- or A-coded page may be an internal operational instruction rather than a certified instruction. It is not evidence of what the Immigration Act says, only of what the Minister has certified and the chief executive has published. The address matters. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/ and /opsmanual/index.htm are a JavaScript shell and return 208 characters of 'Loading...' to any fetcher. The readable table of contents is https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/toc.htm (340,787 characters), which links every instruction topic as its own small page at /opsmanual/<number>.htm. Firecrawl returned HTTP 500 for those numbered pages on 11 October 2026; `pnpm sources:fetch --direct` read every one of them first time.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
- issuesINZ Operational Manual, V2.5 Length of permitted stay
Immigration New Zealand, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
About this source
The Operational Manual is where New Zealand's immigration instructions are actually published, and publishing them here is a statutory duty rather than a courtesy: section 25(1) of the Immigration Act 2009 says 'The chief executive must publish immigration instructions', and the Manual's own first page says 'By publishing the Operational Manual, INZ meets its requirements under section 25 of the Immigration Act 2009 to publish Government instructions on granting visas.' Instructions are certified by the Minister under section 22; section 22(8) says they 'are statements of Government policy', and section 72(1) makes a residence decision one that 'must be made in terms of the residence instructions applicable at the time the application was made'. Each instruction topic carries its own 'Effective DD/MM/YYYY' date and, where it has been replaced, a list of the previous instructions under 'PREVIOUS IMMIGRATION INSTRUCTIONS'.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Policy, not law. The Manual says so itself: it 'is not ... a replacement for the legislation that governs INZ operations', the summaries of statute inside it 'are declaratory only', and where a summary conflicts with the legislation 'the interpretation of the legislation is decisive'. It also warns that 'some chapters of these sections do not constitute Government immigration instructions as described in section 22' - that disclaimer covers the Border Entry, Compliance, Refugees and Protection, Administration and Appendices sections, so a Y-, D-, C- or A-coded page may be an internal operational instruction rather than a certified instruction. It is not evidence of what the Immigration Act says, only of what the Minister has certified and the chief executive has published. The address matters. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/ and /opsmanual/index.htm are a JavaScript shell and return 208 characters of 'Loading...' to any fetcher. The readable table of contents is https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/toc.htm (340,787 characters), which links every instruction topic as its own small page at /opsmanual/<number>.htm. Firecrawl returned HTTP 500 for those numbered pages on 11 October 2026; `pnpm sources:fetch --direct` read every one of them first time.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
- issuesINZ Operational Manual, V2.20 Funds or sponsorship requirements
Immigration New Zealand, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
About this source
The Operational Manual is where New Zealand's immigration instructions are actually published, and publishing them here is a statutory duty rather than a courtesy: section 25(1) of the Immigration Act 2009 says 'The chief executive must publish immigration instructions', and the Manual's own first page says 'By publishing the Operational Manual, INZ meets its requirements under section 25 of the Immigration Act 2009 to publish Government instructions on granting visas.' Instructions are certified by the Minister under section 22; section 22(8) says they 'are statements of Government policy', and section 72(1) makes a residence decision one that 'must be made in terms of the residence instructions applicable at the time the application was made'. Each instruction topic carries its own 'Effective DD/MM/YYYY' date and, where it has been replaced, a list of the previous instructions under 'PREVIOUS IMMIGRATION INSTRUCTIONS'.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Policy, not law. The Manual says so itself: it 'is not ... a replacement for the legislation that governs INZ operations', the summaries of statute inside it 'are declaratory only', and where a summary conflicts with the legislation 'the interpretation of the legislation is decisive'. It also warns that 'some chapters of these sections do not constitute Government immigration instructions as described in section 22' - that disclaimer covers the Border Entry, Compliance, Refugees and Protection, Administration and Appendices sections, so a Y-, D-, C- or A-coded page may be an internal operational instruction rather than a certified instruction. It is not evidence of what the Immigration Act says, only of what the Minister has certified and the chief executive has published. The address matters. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/ and /opsmanual/index.htm are a JavaScript shell and return 208 characters of 'Loading...' to any fetcher. The readable table of contents is https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/toc.htm (340,787 characters), which links every instruction topic as its own small page at /opsmanual/<number>.htm. Firecrawl returned HTTP 500 for those numbered pages on 11 October 2026; `pnpm sources:fetch --direct` read every one of them first time.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
- issuesINZ Operational Manual, V2.25 Onward travel requirements
Immigration New Zealand, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
About this source
The Operational Manual is where New Zealand's immigration instructions are actually published, and publishing them here is a statutory duty rather than a courtesy: section 25(1) of the Immigration Act 2009 says 'The chief executive must publish immigration instructions', and the Manual's own first page says 'By publishing the Operational Manual, INZ meets its requirements under section 25 of the Immigration Act 2009 to publish Government instructions on granting visas.' Instructions are certified by the Minister under section 22; section 22(8) says they 'are statements of Government policy', and section 72(1) makes a residence decision one that 'must be made in terms of the residence instructions applicable at the time the application was made'. Each instruction topic carries its own 'Effective DD/MM/YYYY' date and, where it has been replaced, a list of the previous instructions under 'PREVIOUS IMMIGRATION INSTRUCTIONS'.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Policy, not law. The Manual says so itself: it 'is not ... a replacement for the legislation that governs INZ operations', the summaries of statute inside it 'are declaratory only', and where a summary conflicts with the legislation 'the interpretation of the legislation is decisive'. It also warns that 'some chapters of these sections do not constitute Government immigration instructions as described in section 22' - that disclaimer covers the Border Entry, Compliance, Refugees and Protection, Administration and Appendices sections, so a Y-, D-, C- or A-coded page may be an internal operational instruction rather than a certified instruction. It is not evidence of what the Immigration Act says, only of what the Minister has certified and the chief executive has published. The address matters. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/ and /opsmanual/index.htm are a JavaScript shell and return 208 characters of 'Loading...' to any fetcher. The readable table of contents is https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/toc.htm (340,787 characters), which links every instruction topic as its own small page at /opsmanual/<number>.htm. Firecrawl returned HTTP 500 for those numbered pages on 11 October 2026; `pnpm sources:fetch --direct` read every one of them first time.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
- issuesINZ Operational Manual, Y3.1 Definition and meaning of entry permission
Immigration New Zealand, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
About this source
The Operational Manual is where New Zealand's immigration instructions are actually published, and publishing them here is a statutory duty rather than a courtesy: section 25(1) of the Immigration Act 2009 says 'The chief executive must publish immigration instructions', and the Manual's own first page says 'By publishing the Operational Manual, INZ meets its requirements under section 25 of the Immigration Act 2009 to publish Government instructions on granting visas.' Instructions are certified by the Minister under section 22; section 22(8) says they 'are statements of Government policy', and section 72(1) makes a residence decision one that 'must be made in terms of the residence instructions applicable at the time the application was made'. Each instruction topic carries its own 'Effective DD/MM/YYYY' date and, where it has been replaced, a list of the previous instructions under 'PREVIOUS IMMIGRATION INSTRUCTIONS'.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Policy, not law. The Manual says so itself: it 'is not ... a replacement for the legislation that governs INZ operations', the summaries of statute inside it 'are declaratory only', and where a summary conflicts with the legislation 'the interpretation of the legislation is decisive'. It also warns that 'some chapters of these sections do not constitute Government immigration instructions as described in section 22' - that disclaimer covers the Border Entry, Compliance, Refugees and Protection, Administration and Appendices sections, so a Y-, D-, C- or A-coded page may be an internal operational instruction rather than a certified instruction. It is not evidence of what the Immigration Act says, only of what the Minister has certified and the chief executive has published. The address matters. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/ and /opsmanual/index.htm are a JavaScript shell and return 208 characters of 'Loading...' to any fetcher. The readable table of contents is https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/toc.htm (340,787 characters), which links every instruction topic as its own small page at /opsmanual/<number>.htm. Firecrawl returned HTTP 500 for those numbered pages on 11 October 2026; `pnpm sources:fetch --direct` read every one of them first time.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
- issuesINZ Operational Manual, V2.1 Visitor visa requirements
Immigration New Zealand, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
About this source
The Operational Manual is where New Zealand's immigration instructions are actually published, and publishing them here is a statutory duty rather than a courtesy: section 25(1) of the Immigration Act 2009 says 'The chief executive must publish immigration instructions', and the Manual's own first page says 'By publishing the Operational Manual, INZ meets its requirements under section 25 of the Immigration Act 2009 to publish Government instructions on granting visas.' Instructions are certified by the Minister under section 22; section 22(8) says they 'are statements of Government policy', and section 72(1) makes a residence decision one that 'must be made in terms of the residence instructions applicable at the time the application was made'. Each instruction topic carries its own 'Effective DD/MM/YYYY' date and, where it has been replaced, a list of the previous instructions under 'PREVIOUS IMMIGRATION INSTRUCTIONS'.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Policy, not law. The Manual says so itself: it 'is not ... a replacement for the legislation that governs INZ operations', the summaries of statute inside it 'are declaratory only', and where a summary conflicts with the legislation 'the interpretation of the legislation is decisive'. It also warns that 'some chapters of these sections do not constitute Government immigration instructions as described in section 22' - that disclaimer covers the Border Entry, Compliance, Refugees and Protection, Administration and Appendices sections, so a Y-, D-, C- or A-coded page may be an internal operational instruction rather than a certified instruction. It is not evidence of what the Immigration Act says, only of what the Minister has certified and the chief executive has published. The address matters. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/ and /opsmanual/index.htm are a JavaScript shell and return 208 characters of 'Loading...' to any fetcher. The readable table of contents is https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/toc.htm (340,787 characters), which links every instruction topic as its own small page at /opsmanual/<number>.htm. Firecrawl returned HTTP 500 for those numbered pages on 11 October 2026; `pnpm sources:fetch --direct` read every one of them first time.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source