Marshall Islands is on New Zealand's transit visa waiver list. An NZeTA covers transit through Auckland — but visiting New Zealand requires a Visitor Visa applied for before you travel.
Transit only
What the NZeTA covers
2 years
NZeTA validity
24 hours
Maximum layover
Under 72 hrs
Typical decision time
100% online
No embassy visit
Overview
The Marshall Islands is a North Pacific state with a Compact of Free Association with the United States, which shapes most of its external migration and travel. Its relationship with New Zealand runs through the Pacific Islands Forum, climate diplomacy — the Marshall Islands is among the most exposed countries in the world to sea level rise — and regional cooperation.
The Marshall Islands is on New Zealand's transit visa waiver list rather than the full visa waiver list. An NZeTA covers a change of planes at Auckland; it does not permit entry into New Zealand.
For a visit of any kind you need a Visitor Visa granted before travel. The Compact with the United States confers no rights in New Zealand.
At a glance
Eligibility
An NZeTA covers transit through Auckland only — changing planes and departing within 24 hours without leaving the terminal. Entering New Zealand for any purpose requires a Visitor Visa applied for before travel.
The Compact of Free Association gives Marshallese citizens particular rights in the United States, including to live and work there. It has no equivalent effect in New Zealand, and travellers accustomed to that freedom should not assume anything comparable applies.
Employment requires an employer-supported work visa and study of any length requires a student visa. Climate policy, conference and official travel is usually covered by a Visitor Visa, but it still must be granted in advance.
Stay & validity
The transit concession is narrow: Auckland International Airport only, a maximum of 24 hours, and you remain airside throughout.
A Visitor Visa is granted for a specified period with conditions attached and is assessed on whether you intend to leave at the end of the visit.
Your passport must be valid for at least three months beyond your departure from New Zealand, and on a transit you need a confirmed onward ticket plus any visa your onward destination requires.
An NZeTA lasts two years and covers repeated transits, but never becomes permission to enter New Zealand.
Pricing
Live fees for Marshallese 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 Marshall Islands
Requirements
Everything Marshallese 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.
An NZeTA for transit is usually approved within minutes, though the rarity of the Marshallese passport makes manual review somewhat more likely. Allow the full 72 hours.
A Visitor Visa takes several weeks and is assessed individually with supporting documents. For official and conference travel, a letter from the host organisation setting out the purpose and dates is the most useful document to include.
Transit conditions
Transit without a visa is a narrow permission with hard limits. Read these before you book a connection through Auckland — a routing that breaks any one of them needs a different authorisation.
Transit without a visa is available at Auckland International Airport and nowhere else in New Zealand. You cannot transit through Wellington, Christchurch or Queenstown on this basis.
You must depart within 24 hours of arriving. Overnight connections that exceed that window need a Transit Visa or a Visitor Visa instead.
You remain in the international transit area for the whole layover. You cannot clear immigration, collect checked luggage, leave the terminal or spend the night in an off-airport hotel.
You need a confirmed ticket to your next destination and, where that destination requires one, a valid visa for it. Airlines verify both before boarding.
Getting there
Majuro connects to Honolulu, Guam and other Micronesian ports on the island-hopper network, and from there routes to New Zealand run through Honolulu, Nadi or an Australian hub. Journeys are long and involve multiple connections.
Best time to go
For a genuine transit the season is irrelevant. For a visit on a Visitor Visa, New Zealand's summer of December to February gives the best conditions and is peak season.
For conference and official travel, February to November covers the New Zealand working year — many organisations run reduced schedules over the December and January holidays.
New Zealand is on the same side of the date line as the Marshall Islands, with a time difference of an hour or so depending on daylight saving.
Avoid these
Declines are rare, and almost always technical rather than substantive. These are the problems that come up most often on requests from Marshall Islands — we check for every one of them before submitting.
The Compact of Free Association gives Marshallese citizens the right to live and work in the United States. It confers nothing in New Zealand, where the Marshall Islands sits on the transit waiver list and a visit requires a Visitor Visa granted in advance.
An NZeTA covers transit only. Arriving in Auckland intending to stay results in refusal and return at your own cost — a serious problem given how long and complex the journey is.
Conference and official visits built around fixed dates need the Visitor Visa process started weeks ahead, with a supporting letter from the host organisation.
Flights from Majuro are infrequent and subject to disruption. Journeys to New Zealand involve two or more connections, so documentation must be settled well before departure.
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
New Zealand maintains a presence in Majuro, with regional support from Suva. Neither issues NZeTAs, which are handled online, but they are the right starting point for the Visitor Visa and work visa routes that Marshallese travellers to New Zealand actually need.
FAQs
The questions Marshallese passport holders ask most often about travelling to New Zealand.
Yes, for a visit. The Marshall Islands is on New Zealand's transit visa waiver list, not the full visa waiver list. An NZeTA only covers changing planes at Auckland within 24 hours. To enter New Zealand you need a Visitor Visa applied for before you travel.
No. The Compact gives Marshallese citizens the right to live and work in the United States. It has no equivalent effect in New Zealand, where you are assessed as a Marshall Islands passport holder under the transit visa waiver.
A Visitor Visa, applied for well in advance. A supporting letter from the host organisation setting out the purpose and dates of the visit is the most useful document to include, and it materially strengthens the application.
No. Under the transit waiver you remain airside for the entire layover, which cannot exceed 24 hours. To leave the airport you would need a Transit Visa or a Visitor Visa arranged in advance.
Over 20 hours with two or more connections, typically via Honolulu, Nadi, Guam or an Australian hub. The island-hopper network is infrequent, so allow generous margins.
Several weeks, assessed individually with supporting documents. Start well before booking, particularly if the trip is built around a fixed conference or meeting date.
Your nationality is already set to Marshall Islands. 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.
