Italy 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, lasts two years, and covers 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
Italian travel to New Zealand has grown steadily and skews strongly towards the outdoors — trekking, climbing, cycling and the Great Walks — alongside a working holiday cohort that has expanded considerably since the bilateral scheme was widened. Italians tend to travel for longer than the European average and to spend more of that time on the South Island.
There is no nonstop flight, so every Italian itinerary runs through a Gulf or Asian hub, with Rome and Milan both well served. Total journey time is around 26 to 30 hours, which for most travellers means treating the outbound stopover as part of the trip rather than an inconvenience.
Italy is on New Zealand's visa waiver list, so there is no visitor visa and no appointment at the Embassy in Rome. Since October 2019 every traveller needs an NZeTA — an online authorisation held against the passport number and verified by the airline at Fiumicino or Malpensa before departure.
At a glance
Eligibility
No visa, but an NZeTA is required. Italian citizens can enter New Zealand for tourism, visiting friends and family, business meetings, conferences or transit for up to 90 days under the visa waiver. The NZeTA replaced the visitor visa for waiver nationalities in 2019.
The waiver covers visiting rather than working. Italy has a Working Holiday agreement with New Zealand open to applicants aged 18 to 30, granting twelve months with the right to work, subject to an annual quota. It is a separate visa applied for before travel and cannot be created from an NZeTA once you have arrived.
Eligibility follows the passport, not residence. Residents of Italy travelling on Albanian, Moroccan, Ukrainian or Nigerian passports are not covered by the Italian waiver and need a New Zealand Visitor Visa. Italian citizens by descent — a substantial group, given how many Italian passports are held by people living in Argentina, Brazil and Australia — are fully covered wherever they live, since it is the passport that counts.
Stay & validity
Italian passport holders may stay up to 90 days per visit. The NZeTA lasts two years from approval and permits unlimited entries in that window, so the 90-day cap applies to each individual stay rather than to an annual total.
Ninety days is a meaningful constraint for the kind of trip many Italian visitors plan. A full South Island trekking season, or a combined Australia and New Zealand itinerary at an unhurried pace, can run close to the limit. Extensions require a Visitor Visa applied for from within New Zealand before your permission expires and are assessed on their merits.
The authorisation is bound to a single passport number for two years. Italian passports run for ten years for adults, five for children aged three to seventeen, and three for under-threes, so families are far more likely than solo travellers to encounter a renewal inside the window. There is no transfer mechanism.
New Zealand requires three months of passport validity beyond your departure from the country. Italian routings through Dubai, Doha, Singapore or Hong Kong may face stricter rules in the transit country, and the strictest requirement on the itinerary is the one that governs.
Pricing
Live fees for Italian 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 Italy
Requirements
Everything Italian 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.
Italian requests are approved automatically in most cases, frequently within minutes. Immigration New Zealand advises allowing up to 72 hours because a minority are referred for manual assessment, most often over a photograph the automated check cannot read.
Request the NZeTA at least a week before departure, and ideally around a month out. Italian itineraries invariably involve a connection in the Gulf or Asia, so a problem discovered at Fiumicino or Malpensa cannot be resolved before the first leg leaves — the margin is what protects the whole trip, not just the first flight.
Getting there
There is no nonstop service between Italy and New Zealand. Rome and Milan connect through the Gulf carriers and the main Asian hubs, with total journey times of roughly 26 to 30 hours. Emirates and Qatar Airways carry the largest share of the Italian market.
Best time to go
New Zealand's summer of December to February is the mirror of the Italian winter and gives the best weather, the longest days and the full run of the Great Walks. It is also peak season, overlapping with the New Zealand school holidays, so huts, campsites and Queenstown accommodation are booked out well ahead.
The Italian August holiday period falls in the New Zealand winter. Skiing at Queenstown, Wanaka and Ruapehu is good and the country is quiet, but for a trekking or cycling trip — which is what most Italian visitors come for — it is the wrong season, with short daylight and much of the high country closed.
For the outdoor trip most Italians have in mind, February to April is the strongest window: settled autumn weather, warm sea into March, thinning crowds and available huts. October and November are the spring equivalent. New Zealand is 10 to 12 hours ahead of Italy depending on daylight saving in both countries, so you land two calendar days after departure.
Avoid these
Declines are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the problems that come up most often on requests from Italy — we check for every one of them before submitting.
The Italy–New Zealand Working Holiday Scheme is quota-limited and popular, and the common error is treating it as something to sort out after arrival. It must be granted before you travel and has its own funds and health requirements. Working on a visitor entry is a breach that can result in removal and a re-entry ban.
Italian names carrying accents are rendered without them in the machine-readable zone. Enter the name exactly as the machine-readable zone shows it rather than as it appears on the printed page, because the airline system compares against that version at check-in.
The Italian holiday calendar points travellers at exactly the wrong season for a New Zealand walking trip. Milford, Routeburn and Kepler are winter routes in August, requiring alpine experience and equipment, and the DOC hut services are reduced. Plan an August trip as a ski trip or shift the dates.
Italian travellers combining Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific often plan four or five months in the region. Each New Zealand stay is capped at 90 days, and time spent in Australia in between does not extend it — the limit is on the New Zealand portion, and it is enforced.
Italian passports for children run for three or five years depending on age, so families travelling twice within an NZeTA's two-year life are very likely to hit a renewal. The authorisation cannot be transferred and the mismatch appears at check-in.
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
Neither the Embassy nor the Consulate-General is involved in an NZeTA request — it is an online process with no appointment and no passport submission. They handle work visas, student visas, residence applications and consular services for New Zealanders in Italy. Working Holiday Visa applications are made online through Immigration New Zealand rather than at a counter.
FAQs
The questions Italian passport holders ask most often about travelling to New Zealand.
No visitor visa is required — Italy is on New Zealand's visa waiver list. You do need an NZeTA, requested online before departure and verified by the airline at check-in. It covers tourism, family visits, business meetings and transit for stays of up to 90 days.
Up to 90 days per visit. The NZeTA is valid for 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.
The total is the government request fee plus the International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy, currently NZD 100, both charged at the same time. The pricing panel on this page loads the live all-in figure for Italian passport holders including our service fee.
No. Italian citizens aged 18 to 30 can apply for the Working Holiday Scheme, which grants twelve months with the right to work but is subject to an annual quota and must be approved before you travel. An NZeTA gives no right to work.
Yes. Eligibility follows the passport, not your country of residence, so an Italian passport qualifies for the NZeTA wherever you live. Italian citizenship by descent is common across South America and Australia, and it makes no difference to your entitlement.
It is the New Zealand winter, which is excellent for skiing at Queenstown and Wanaka but poor for the trekking most Italian visitors come for. The Great Walks become alpine routes requiring experience and equipment, and daylight is short. If your dates are fixed to the Italian August holiday, plan a winter itinerary rather than a summer one.
Use the version shown in the machine-readable zone at the bottom of your passport photo page, which strips accents. That is what airline systems compare your NZeTA against, and a mismatch with the printed page is a frequent cause of trouble at check-in.
Yes, every traveller does, including infants. Each child needs their own valid Italian passport and their own request. Italian children's passports are valid for three or five years depending on age, so check expiry dates — a renewal voids the NZeTA attached to the old number.
Your nationality is already set to Italy. 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.
