Ireland is on New Zealand's visa waiver list, so no visitor visa is needed — but an NZeTA must be approved before you board. 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
Ireland sends more people to New Zealand per head of population than almost any country in Europe. The connection runs through emigration, the working holiday scheme and sport, and it produces a travel pattern dominated by long stays and visits to friends and relatives rather than short package holidays.
There is no nonstop flight from Dublin. Every Irish routing involves at least one connection — usually through a Gulf hub, London or a US west coast city — with total journey times of 27 to 32 hours.
Ireland is on New Zealand's visa waiver list, so there is no visitor visa and no appointment at the Embassy in Dublin. Since October 2019, though, every traveller needs an NZeTA: an online authorisation held against your passport number and checked by the airline before departure.
At a glance
Eligibility
No visa is required, but an NZeTA is. Irish citizens can enter New Zealand for tourism, visiting family and friends, business meetings, conferences or transit for up to 90 days under the visa waiver.
The waiver covers visiting, not working. Ireland's Working Holiday arrangement with New Zealand is one of the most generous available — open to applicants aged 18 to 30 and lasting twelve months, with a well-trodden path into seasonal and hospitality work. It is a separate visa applied for before departure and cannot be created from an NZeTA once you are in the country.
One point specific to Irish travellers: British and Irish passports are not interchangeable here. British citizens get six months per visit; Irish citizens get 90 days. If you hold both, the passport you request the NZeTA on and travel on determines which allowance applies, and it is worth using the British one if you plan a long stay.
Stay & validity
Irish 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 90-day cap applies to each individual stay.
Because Irish trips to New Zealand are so often extended visits to family, the 90-day limit is a genuine constraint rather than a formality. It cannot be extended from an NZeTA automatically — a longer stay needs a Visitor Visa applied for from inside New Zealand before your existing permission expires.
The authorisation is tied to a single passport number for two years. Irish passports run for ten years for adults and five for children, so families travelling twice within the window are quite likely to hit a renewal, which voids the NZeTA with no transfer available.
New Zealand asks for three months of passport validity beyond your departure from the country. Irish itineraries connecting through Dubai, Doha, Singapore or the United States may face stricter rules in the transit country, so plan against the strictest requirement on the route.
Pricing
Live fees for Irish 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 Ireland
Requirements
Everything Irish 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.
Irish requests are approved automatically in the large majority of cases, often within minutes. Immigration New Zealand advises allowing up to 72 hours because a minority are referred to an officer, usually over a photograph the automated check cannot read.
Apply at least a week before departure. Irish routings always involve at least one connection and often two, so a problem discovered at Dublin check-in ends the whole itinerary rather than a single sector.
Getting there
There is no direct service between Ireland and New Zealand, and Dublin's long-haul network means most journeys involve two connections. The Gulf carriers via London or a European hub are the most common option, with a US west coast routing a practical alternative given Dublin's transatlantic strength.
Best time to go
New Zealand's summer of December to February is the inverse of the Irish winter and the obvious time to travel, particularly for anyone visiting family over Christmas. It is peak season, so fares out of Dublin over the December period are at their highest and Queenstown accommodation books out months ahead.
March to May gives settled autumn weather, warm sea into March and considerably lower fares. September to November is the spring equivalent, with lambing across Canterbury and long daylight returning.
The Irish summer of June to August falls in the New Zealand winter — good for skiing at Queenstown and Wanaka, quiet elsewhere, but short on daylight. New Zealand is 11 to 13 hours ahead of Ireland depending on daylight saving, so you land two calendar days after leaving Dublin.
Avoid these
Declines are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the problems that come up most often on requests from Ireland — we check for every one of them before submitting.
Six months per visit is a British citizen entitlement. Irish citizens receive 90 days like every other waiver nationality. Dual nationals planning a long stay should request the NZeTA on the British passport and travel on it consistently, because the airline and the border officer both work from the document you present.
The Ireland–New Zealand Working Holiday Scheme is heavily used, and the mistake is treating it as something to arrange after landing. It must be granted before you travel and has its own funds and health requirements. Working on a visitor entry can end in removal and a re-entry ban.
Irish passports may show a name in Irish, in English, or both. Enter it exactly as the machine-readable zone renders it, because that is the version airline systems compare your NZeTA against at check-in.
There is no way to obtain an NZeTA at Dublin Airport, and airlines are fined for boarding passengers without one. Because Irish journeys involve multiple connections, being turned away at the first desk collapses the entire booking.
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 has no role 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 Ireland. Working Holiday Visa applications are also made online through Immigration New Zealand.
FAQs
The questions Irish passport holders ask most often about travelling to New Zealand.
No visitor visa is required — Ireland is on New Zealand's visa waiver list. You do need an NZeTA, requested online before departure and checked by the airline at Dublin. It covers tourism, family visits, business meetings and transit for stays of up to 90 days.
Up to 90 days per visit. Unlike British citizens, who receive six months, Irish citizens get the standard 90-day allowance. The NZeTA itself lasts two years and allows unlimited entries in that period.
If you plan to stay longer than 90 days, travel on the British passport — British citizens are the only nationality granted six months per visit. Request the NZeTA on whichever passport you will actually present at check-in and use it consistently throughout the trip.
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 Irish passport holders including our service fee.
No. Irish citizens aged 18 to 30 can apply for the Working Holiday Scheme, giving twelve months with the right to work, but it is a separate visa that must be granted before you travel. An NZeTA confers no right to work.
No. Every routing involves at least one connection, and often two — typically London plus a Gulf hub, or a transatlantic leg to San Francisco or Los Angeles with Air New Zealand onward. Total journey time is around 27 to 32 hours.
Yes, every traveller does, including infants. Each child needs their own valid Irish passport and their own request. Irish children's passports run for five years, so check expiry dates before requesting — a renewal voids the NZeTA linked to the old number.
Your nationality is already set to Ireland. 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.
