Chile is on New Zealand's visa waiver list, so no visitor visa is required — but an NZeTA must be approved before boarding. Santiago has the main South American nonstop link to Auckland.
90 days
Maximum stay per visit
2 years
NZeTA validity
Multiple
Entries permitted
Under 72 hrs
Typical decision time
100% online
No embassy visit
Overview
Santiago is South America's principal gateway to New Zealand. LATAM flies the trans-Pacific route to Auckland nonstop, which makes Chile the natural connecting point for the whole continent and puts New Zealand within a single flight of Santiago.
Chile and New Zealand have a great deal in common — long thin countries at similar latitudes, both seismically active, both major wine and salmon producers, both with mountains running the length of them. Chilean travellers head for the Southern Alps and Fiordland with a familiarity that few other visitors bring.
Chile is on New Zealand's visa waiver list, so there is no visitor visa to apply for. Since October 2019 every traveller needs an NZeTA — an online authorisation held against your passport number and checked by the airline at Santiago before departure.
At a glance
Eligibility
No visa, but an NZeTA is required. Chilean citizens can enter New Zealand for tourism, visiting family, business meetings, conferences or transit for up to 90 days under the visa waiver.
New Zealand operates a working holiday scheme with Chile, subject to an annual quota and an age band. It is a separate visa granted before you travel — an NZeTA gives no right to work, including in the wine and agricultural sectors where Chilean expertise is in demand.
The waiver does not cover study beyond three months. A semester or degree programme requires a student visa applied for in advance of travel.
Stay & validity
Chilean passport holders may stay up to 90 days per visit. The NZeTA lasts two years from approval and permits unlimited entries in that period, so the cap applies to each individual stay.
The nonstop link makes repeat travel practical, and the two-year validity covers several trips on one authorisation — useful for the technical and agricultural business travel that moves between the two countries.
The authorisation is bound to one passport number for two years. Chilean passports are issued for five or ten years, and the shorter option makes a renewal inside the window likely.
New Zealand requires three months of passport validity beyond your departure. The Santiago nonstop avoids any transit country requirements entirely, which is one of its practical advantages.
Pricing
Live fees for Chilean passport holders, shown all-in — the government charge, the tourism levy where it applies, and our service fee, with nothing added later.
Your nationality is pre-selected as Chile
Requirements
Everything Chilean passport holders need before starting a request. The first five items apply to every applicant; the rest are specific to your nationality.
Passport bio-data page — a clear colour scan or photo showing your photograph, full name, date of birth, passport number and expiry date
Recent passport-style photograph — full face visible against a plain light background, taken within the last six months, no headwear other than for religious reasons
A valid email address, which is where the approval is sent and which you should keep accessible while travelling
A credit or debit card to pay the NZeTA request fee and the International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy together
Your onward or return ticket details — border officers can ask to see evidence that you intend to leave
Simple process
Four steps, entirely online, with our team checking every field before anything reaches Immigration New Zealand.
Enter your passport details exactly as printed, answer the health and character questions, and upload your photo. Most people finish in under ten minutes.
Our team checks your photo dimensions, passport number, name spelling and declarations before anything is submitted to Immigration New Zealand.
Your request goes to Immigration New Zealand together with the International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy, and we track it until a decision is issued.
There is no sticker or label — the authorisation is held electronically against your passport number. We explain exactly what to show at check-in.
Chilean requests are approved automatically in most cases, often within minutes. Immigration New Zealand advises allowing up to 72 hours because a proportion are referred to an officer, usually over a photograph the automated check cannot read.
Apply at least a week before departure. The Santiago nonstop is a single sector, so a refusal at check-in does not cascade through connecting flights — but it still means missing the trip, and there is no way to obtain an NZeTA at the airport.
Getting there
LATAM flies Santiago to Auckland nonstop across the South Pacific, taking around twelve to thirteen hours. It is the principal South American link to New Zealand and avoids US transit entirely, which is why travellers from across the continent route through it.
Best time to go
Chile and New Zealand share the same seasons, so December to February is summer in both. It is peak season in New Zealand with the best conditions for the Great Walks and the Southern Alps.
The parallels are close enough to be genuinely useful for planning: the New Zealand walking season runs the same months as the Chilean one, and the wine harvest falls at the same time — February to April — which matters for the technical travel that moves between the two industries.
March to May and September to November are the value windows. New Zealand is 15 to 16 hours ahead of Santiago depending on daylight saving in both countries.
Avoid these
Declines are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the problems that come up most often on requests from Chile — we check for every one of them before submitting.
Chilean passports carry both paternal and maternal surnames. The NZeTA must match the machine-readable zone exactly, and entering only the first or reversing the order produces a mismatch at Santiago check-in.
Chilean viticultural expertise is genuinely sought in Marlborough and Central Otago, and the seasons complement each other perfectly. Paid work still requires a work visa or a working holiday visa granted before travel — working a vintage on a visitor entry is actively checked.
Santiago is the connecting point for much of South America, and passengers arriving from Peru, Colombia, Ecuador or Bolivia are assessed on their own nationality. Several of those countries are only on New Zealand's transit waiver list, which does not permit a visit.
Chilean passports are issued for five or ten years, and a five-year document is likely to be replaced inside an NZeTA's two-year life. The authorisation does not transfer to the new number.
Passport number mistyped
By far the most common problem. The authorisation is attached to the number you enter, so a single wrong character produces an NZeTA that does not exist as far as the airline is concerned.
An undeclared conviction
Immigration New Zealand asks about convictions, deportations and previous refusals. Undisclosed history found later is treated far more seriously than the original offence.
A photograph that fails the check
Shadows across the face, glasses, a busy background or a cropped chin all cause the automated check to reject an image, which turns an instant approval into a manual review.
Conditions
These conditions are set by Immigration New Zealand and do not vary by nationality. Two of them — the passport-linking rule and the cruise rule — catch out a lot of otherwise well-planned trips.
Your authorisation is held electronically against the passport number you entered. There is no label in your passport and nothing to print for immigration. If you renew or replace that passport, the NZeTA does not transfer — you must request a new one.
Every person travelling needs their own NZeTA, including newborns and children. A child cannot be added to a parent's request, and each one needs their own valid passport.
An approved NZeTA lasts two years from the date it is issued and can be used for any number of trips in that period, provided your passport remains valid. It cannot be extended — when it expires you simply request a new one.
The International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy funds conservation and tourism infrastructure and is charged alongside the NZeTA request. It currently stands at NZD 100 and is payable once per NZeTA, not once per trip.
An NZeTA lets you board. The decision to admit you is made by a border officer at Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch or Queenstown, who can ask about your funds, your accommodation and your intended departure.
Since October 2019 every cruise passenger arriving in New Zealand by sea needs an NZeTA or a visa, regardless of nationality — including passengers whose nationality would otherwise be exempt.
Consular services
The Embassy in Santiago plays no part in an NZeTA request, which is completed entirely online with no appointment and no passport submission. It handles work visas, student visas, residence applications and consular services for New Zealanders in Chile, and is the main New Zealand mission for much of the region.
FAQs
The questions Chilean passport holders ask most often about travelling to New Zealand.
No visitor visa is required — Chile is on New Zealand's visa waiver list. You need an NZeTA, requested online before departure and checked by LATAM at Santiago. It covers stays of up to 90 days.
Yes. LATAM flies the trans-Pacific route nonstop in around twelve to thirteen hours. It is South America's principal link to New Zealand and avoids US transit entirely, which is why travellers from across the continent connect through Santiago.
Up to 90 days per visit. The NZeTA lasts two years and allows unlimited entries in that period, but each individual stay is capped at 90 days.
Include both, in the exact order and spelling shown in the machine-readable zone at the bottom of your passport photo page. Omitting the maternal surname or reversing the order is a common cause of a mismatch at check-in.
No. Chilean and New Zealand harvests fall at the same time of year and Chilean expertise is in demand, but paid work requires a work visa or a working holiday visa granted before you travel. Seasonal work is actively checked in Marlborough and Central Otago.
Only if your own nationality is on New Zealand's visa waiver list. Several South American countries — including Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia — appear only on the transit waiver list, which permits a layover at Auckland but not a visit. Check your own passport's status.
The cost is the government request fee plus the International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy, currently NZD 100, both charged together. The pricing panel on this page loads the live all-in figure for Chilean passport holders including our service fee.
Your nationality is already set to Chile. Complete the form in under ten minutes, and our team will check every detail before it reaches Immigration New Zealand.
Other nationalities
Stay limits, entry conditions and levy rules differ by passport. Here are the guides for other nationalities.
