Greece is on New Zealand's visa waiver list, so no visitor visa is needed — but an NZeTA must be approved before boarding. It is requested online, valid two years, with stays of up to 90 days.
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
Greece has a long-standing migration connection to New Zealand, with Greek communities established in Wellington and Auckland since the mid-twentieth century. Family visits therefore account for a larger share of Greek travel to New Zealand than the raw visitor numbers suggest.
Athens connects through the Gulf hubs, Istanbul and the major European gateways, with total journey times of around 28 to 32 hours. There is no nonstop service.
Greece is on New Zealand's visa waiver list, so there is no visitor visa and no appointment at the Embassy in Athens. Since October 2019 every traveller needs an NZeTA — an online authorisation linked to your passport number and checked by the airline before departure.
At a glance
Eligibility
No visa, but an NZeTA is required. Greek 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 Greece, subject to an annual quota. It is a separate visa granted before travel, and conditions change — check current availability rather than assuming. An NZeTA confers no right to work.
Eligibility follows the passport rather than residence. Residents of Greece holding Albanian, Georgian, Syrian or Pakistani passports are not covered by the Greek waiver and need a New Zealand Visitor Visa applied for well in advance.
Stay & validity
Greek 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.
Because Greek trips to New Zealand are often extended family visits, the 90-day limit is a genuine constraint rather than a formality. Extending requires a Visitor Visa applied for from inside New Zealand before your existing permission expires.
The authorisation is bound to one passport number for two years. Greek passports run for five years for adults and three for children, so a renewal inside the window is likely.
New Zealand requires three months of passport validity beyond your departure. Greek routings through Dubai, Doha or Istanbul may apply a six-month rule, and the strictest requirement on the itinerary governs.
Pricing
Live fees for Greek 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 Greece
Requirements
Everything Greek 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.
Greek 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. Greek passports are valid for only five years, so check whether a renewal falls inside the next two years before requesting an NZeTA — otherwise you will pay for a second one after the new passport is issued.
Getting there
There is no nonstop service between Greece and New Zealand. Athens connects through Doha, Dubai and Istanbul, with the major European hubs as alternatives. Total journey times run to around 28 to 32 hours.
Best time to go
New Zealand's summer of December to February is the reverse of the Greek winter and gives the best conditions across both islands. It coincides with the New Zealand Christmas holidays, which matters if you are visiting family.
February to April is the value window, with settled autumn weather, warm sea into March and considerably fewer visitors. September to November is the spring equivalent.
The Greek summer of July and August falls in the New Zealand winter, which suits skiing rather than touring. New Zealand is 9 to 11 hours ahead of Greece 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 Greece — we check for every one of them before submitting.
Greek names can be transliterated several ways — Georgiou or Yeoryiou, Dimitriou or Demetriou. The NZeTA must match the Roman-letter version in the machine-readable zone of the passport exactly, not the spelling you use elsewhere.
Greek passports run for five years and children's for three, so a renewal inside an NZeTA's two-year life is common. The authorisation does not transfer to the new passport number.
Having relatives in New Zealand, including citizens, does not change the 90-day limit. A longer stay needs a Visitor Visa applied for before your existing permission expires.
Eligibility follows the passport. A resident of Greece on an Albanian, Georgian or Pakistani passport needs a New Zealand Visitor Visa arranged weeks in advance.
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 Athens plays no part in an NZeTA request — the process is entirely online with no appointment and no passport submission. It handles work visas, student visas, residence applications and consular services for New Zealanders in Greece.
FAQs
The questions Greek passport holders ask most often about travelling to New Zealand.
No visitor visa is required — Greece is on New Zealand's visa waiver list. You do need an NZeTA, requested online before departure and checked by the airline at Athens. It covers stays of up to 90 days.
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. Only British citizens receive a longer allowance.
Do not transliterate it yourself. Copy the Roman-letter version exactly as it appears in the machine-readable zone at the bottom of your passport photo page, since that is what the airline system compares your NZeTA against at check-in.
Probably. Greek passports run for five years and an NZeTA lasts two years tied to one passport number. Requesting it on a passport due for replacement inside that window means paying for a second NZeTA after the renewal.
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 Greek passport holders including our service fee.
No. New Zealand operates a quota-limited working holiday scheme with Greece, but it is a separate visa that must be granted before you travel.
Your nationality is already set to Greece. 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.
