Monaco 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
Monaco has one of the smallest citizen populations on New Zealand's visa waiver list — fewer than ten thousand Monégasques hold the passport — but the entitlement is identical to that of any other waiver country. Travellers depart through Nice, twenty minutes away, which is well connected to the Gulf hubs serving Auckland.
Monégasque travel to New Zealand is a small but distinct market, weighted towards extended leisure travel, sailing and yachting connections — New Zealand's marine industry and the Auckland regatta scene draw a steady stream of visitors from the principality.
Monaco is on the 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 before departure.
At a glance
Eligibility
No visa, but an NZeTA is required. Monégasque citizens can enter New Zealand for tourism, visiting family, business meetings, conferences or transit for up to 90 days under the visa waiver.
The waiver covers visiting only. Employment requires a work visa granted before travel, and study beyond three months requires a student visa. Crew positions on vessels in New Zealand waters have their own requirements and are not covered by an NZeTA.
Eligibility follows the passport, not residence in Monaco. The principality's resident population is overwhelmingly foreign, and residents holding French, Italian or British passports are covered on those documents, while residents on non-waiver passports need a New Zealand Visitor Visa arranged well in advance.
Stay & validity
Monégasque passport holders may stay up to 90 days per visit. The NZeTA lasts two years from approval and permits unlimited entries, so the cap applies to each individual stay.
Extending beyond 90 days requires a Visitor Visa applied for from within New Zealand before your permission expires, assessed on its merits rather than granted automatically.
The authorisation is bound to a single passport number for two years, and a renewal voids it with no transfer available.
New Zealand requires three months of passport validity beyond your departure. Routings through Dubai, Doha or Singapore may apply a six-month rule of their own, and the strictest requirement on the itinerary governs.
Pricing
Live fees for Monégasque 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 Monaco
Requirements
Everything Monégasque 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.
Requests from Monaco are approved automatically in most cases, often within minutes. Immigration New Zealand advises allowing up to 72 hours, since a proportion are referred to an officer, usually over a photograph the automated check cannot read.
Apply at least a week before departure. The check happens at Nice or wherever you first board, so a problem discovered on the day of travel cannot be fixed in time.
Getting there
Monaco has no airport. Nice Côte d'Azur is the departure point, twenty minutes away by road or seven by helicopter, and connects to New Zealand through the Gulf and Asian hubs with total journey times of around 28 to 32 hours.
Best time to go
New Zealand's summer of December to February is the reverse of the Mediterranean winter and gives the best conditions for sailing, coastal touring and walking. It is peak season and prices reflect it.
For anyone travelling around the Auckland sailing calendar, the summer regatta season runs from December to March, and the Bay of Islands and Hauraki Gulf are at their best in that window.
March to May and September to November offer settled weather and far fewer visitors. New Zealand is 10 to 12 hours ahead of Monaco depending on daylight saving in both, 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 Monaco — we check for every one of them before submitting.
Monaco's resident population vastly outnumbers its citizens, and eligibility follows the passport. A resident on a French, Italian or British passport applies on that nationality; one on a non-waiver passport needs a Visitor Visa arranged weeks in advance.
The NZeTA is a visitor authorisation. Joining a vessel as paid crew in New Zealand waters, or working on a boat during a refit in Auckland, requires the appropriate work visa arranged in advance.
There is no way to obtain an NZeTA at Nice, and airlines will not board a passenger without one. A problem found at the desk cannot be resolved before the flight leaves.
The authorisation sits against one passport number for two years and does not survive a renewal. There is no transfer process.
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 does not maintain a mission in Monaco — the Paris Embassy is accredited to the principality. Neither is involved in an NZeTA request, which is completed entirely online. They handle work visas, student visas, residence applications and consular assistance for New Zealanders in the region.
FAQs
The questions Monégasque passport holders ask most often about travelling to New Zealand.
No visitor visa is required — Monaco is on New Zealand's visa waiver list. You do need an NZeTA, requested online before departure and checked by the airline at Nice or wherever you first board. 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.
Apply on the passport you will actually travel with. France is also on the visa waiver list, so the outcome is the same 90-day allowance, but the NZeTA is issued against one specific passport number and must match the document you present at check-in.
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 Monégasque passport holders including our service fee.
No. Paid crew work in New Zealand waters requires an appropriate work visa arranged before travel. The NZeTA is a visitor authorisation only, and marine industry work in Auckland is specifically outside what it permits.
Yes, every traveller does, including infants. Each child needs their own valid passport and their own request.
Your nationality is already set to Monaco. 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.
