Samoa is on New Zealand's transit visa waiver list. An NZeTA covers transit through Auckland — but visiting New Zealand requires a Visitor Visa, and there are dedicated Samoan work and residence pathways worth knowing about.
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 relationship between Samoa and New Zealand is closer than almost any other on this list. New Zealand administered Samoa until 1962, the Treaty of Friendship binds the two countries, and the Samoan community in Auckland is larger than the population of many Samoan villages. Family travel between the two is constant.
Despite that, Samoa is on New Zealand's transit visa waiver list rather than the full visa waiver list. Air New Zealand flies Apia to Auckland directly in around four hours, but a direct flight does not mean visa-free entry — a Samoan passport holder travelling to visit family in Auckland needs a Visitor Visa granted before departure.
What Samoa does have, uniquely, are dedicated pathways: the Samoan Quota Scheme for residence and the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme for horticultural work. For many Samoan travellers those matter far more than the NZeTA, and they are covered below.
At a glance
Eligibility
An NZeTA covers transit through Auckland only — changing planes and departing within 24 hours without leaving the terminal. For a visit of any kind, including seeing family, you need a New Zealand Visitor Visa applied for before you travel.
The Samoan Quota Scheme is a residence ballot, open to Samoan citizens within a set age range who meet English language, health, character and employment offer requirements. A fixed number of places are granted each year. It is a residence pathway rather than a visitor route, and applications run on an annual cycle.
The Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme is how most Samoan seasonal work in New Zealand happens. It is employer-led: an accredited New Zealand grower recruits you, and the work visa follows from that. You cannot come on a Visitor Visa and look for work — that is a breach of your conditions and affects future applications, including under the Quota.
Stay & validity
The transit concession is narrow: Auckland International Airport only, a maximum of 24 hours, and you remain in the international transit area throughout. Given that Apia to Auckland is usually a direct flight, this applies mainly to travellers connecting onward to Australia or elsewhere.
A Visitor Visa, which is what most Samoan travellers actually need, is granted for a specified period with conditions attached. Multiple-entry visas are available and are worth requesting if you visit family regularly, since they save repeating the application.
Your passport must be valid for at least three months beyond your departure from New Zealand.
An RSE work visa is tied to the employer who recruited you and to a defined season. It does not permit working for a different employer, and it does not convert into residence.
Pricing
Live fees for Samoan 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 Samoa
Requirements
Everything Samoan 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. A Visitor Visa takes considerably longer — allow several weeks, and longer around Christmas and major family events, when application volumes from Samoa rise sharply.
Family visit applications are assessed on whether the officer is satisfied you intend to leave at the end of the visit. Strong evidence of ties in Samoa — employment, land, dependants, a return ticket — makes a material difference. A well-prepared sponsorship form from your New Zealand host also helps.
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
Apia has direct services to Auckland with Air New Zealand and to Sydney and Nadi with regional carriers. Auckland is also the main hub for onward travel from Samoa to the rest of the world, which is where the transit case arises.
Best time to go
Samoa and New Zealand are both in the southern hemisphere, so seasons broadly align. December to February is the Samoan wet season and the New Zealand summer — the busiest time for family travel, and when Visitor Visa processing queues are longest.
The RSE season runs broadly from the New Zealand spring through autumn, with picking and packing work concentrated between roughly October and May depending on the crop and region.
New Zealand is on the same side of the date line as Samoa following Samoa's 2011 change, and the time difference is minimal — usually an hour or two 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 Samoa — we check for every one of them before submitting.
Apia to Auckland is a four-hour direct flight and the two countries are deeply connected, which makes it counterintuitive that a visa is required. It is. Samoa is on the transit waiver list, and entering New Zealand needs a Visitor Visa granted before departure.
Seasonal work must be arranged through the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme before you travel, with an accredited employer recruiting you. Working on a visitor entry is a breach that can end in removal and will count against you in any future application, including the Samoan Quota.
Visitor Visa applications are assessed on whether you will leave at the end of the visit. Applications with little evidence of employment, land, dependants or other commitments in Samoa are more likely to be declined. Prepare that evidence properly rather than relying on the family relationship alone.
The Quota operates on an annual ballot cycle with a fixed registration period. Missing it means waiting a full year. If residence is your goal, track the opening dates rather than checking occasionally.
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 High Commission in Apia matters a great deal more here than the equivalent office does for visa waiver countries, because most Samoan travellers need a Visitor Visa, an RSE work visa or a Quota residence application rather than an NZeTA. Immigration New Zealand maintains a presence in Apia and is the right starting point for all of those.
FAQs
The questions Samoan passport holders ask most often about travelling to New Zealand.
Yes. Samoa 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 visit New Zealand — including to see family — you need a Visitor Visa applied for before you travel.
A direct flight is a commercial arrangement, not an immigration one. Samoa's place on the transit waiver list rather than the visa waiver list is what determines your entry requirement, and it applies regardless of how you arrive.
A residence ballot open only to Samoan citizens, with a fixed number of places granted each year. Applicants must meet age, English language, health, character and employment offer requirements. It operates on an annual registration cycle — missing the window means waiting a year.
Through the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme, which is employer-led. An accredited New Zealand grower recruits you and the work visa follows. You cannot come on a Visitor Visa and look for work — that is a breach that will count against future applications, including under the Quota.
Several weeks, and longer around Christmas when application volumes rise. Strong evidence of your ties to Samoa — employment, land, dependants, a return ticket — and a properly completed sponsorship form from your New Zealand host both help.
Yes, and it is worth requesting if you visit family regularly. A multiple-entry visa valid for a longer period saves repeating the whole application for each trip, though each individual stay is still limited by the conditions attached.
Your nationality is already set to Samoa. 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.
