NEW ZEALAND: Arrival cards out, digital Traveller Declaration in!
Change, change, change! New Zealand is updating its entry processing with the digital New Zealand Traveller Declaration (NZTD), nationwide. The new system has been trialled at the airports at Christchurch, Queenstown and the seat of government, Wellington. It’s now been extended to Auckland, where most international travellers enter the country.
Web or App?
You can access the system either via web, or as an App on Apple iPhone, or Google Android. I’ll confirm that it takes around 10 minutes to complete, when I fill it in for my upcoming trip to the South Island. If you use the App, you can take a photo of the appropriate passport page while completing the form. If you use the web based version, better have an image you took earlier at the ready.
Don’t worry if you forget to download the App, or complete the form on the web. They will still distribute the paper versions on your flight, or you can pick one up at the airport.
Fine Print
If you do decide to go digital, then don’t fill out the form too early. You can only submit it within 24 hours of starting your journey to the land of the long white cloud. Oh, and remember that the digital New Zealand Traveller Declaration doesn’t replace the New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority (NZeTA) visa waiver. Holders of Australian Passports don’t normally need a visa, but if you are a permanent Resident, then you may qualify for the Visa Waiver program.
Check out what visa you do/don’t need by completing the online questionnaire.
2PAXfly Takeout
I love digital, except when my phone dies, which happened to me on the last night of my recent visit to New Zealand. Luckily I had a bunch of other digital devices I could use to validate passwords and two-factor authentication. It was still a pain.
I’ll be trying this out on my next trip to New Zealand
Usually electronic declarations means that there will be no passport stamp. That is terrible.
Singapore already has required electronic declarations. I am in the United States. That is easy to do at home. In Singapore, on the return, that is easy. However, if one is transiting Singapore from certain countries, sometimes hotels don’t have business centres. I found it needed special planning to get an electronic declaration on the return. I needed one because I wanted to eat at a delicious non-airport restaurant during the 5 hours I had in Singapore.
With fewer passport stamps now, I have begun the next best thing. I started a spreadsheet with the country, entry and exit dates, and other details. I also stamp little sheets of paper if I see a stamp at a museum or train station. Maybe I will get a small notebook to be my unofficial passport?
Hi Derek. I admire your travel romanticism. I like a passport stamp too. However, can I suggest that you move to something like Kayak, TripCase, or Tripit to record your travel, or at least the flight and hotel bookings? There are other options, too. I have used these apps for the last 10 or more years, and they have proved good at recording my travel, even travel planned and cancelled, which happened a lot during the height of the pandemic.