Visa requirements for New Zealand citizens

New Zealand citizens can enter all 29 Schengen states without a visa, for up to 90 days in any 180-day period across the whole area.

Of the 198 countries whose entry rules are known in both directions, New Zealand and 61 of them let each other’s citizens in without a visa obtained in advance (visa-free, on arrival or with an ETA; an e-visa counts as a visa).

No country asks holders of the New Zealand passport for a visa beforehand while its own citizens enter New Zealand without one.

The reverse holds for 97 countries: holders of the New Zealand passport get in without a visa obtained in advance, but their citizens need one for New Zealand (Albania, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Bahamas and 92 others).

14 countries ask holders of the New Zealand passport for a visa obtained before travel from an embassy, a consulate or a visa centre. 1 of them has an embassy or consulate on record in New Zealand.

13 countries have no embassy or career consulate on record in New Zealand, so the application usually goes to one of their posts in another country. Counting the post an official diplomatic list names for New Zealand, or else the nearest one within 2,000 km, those posts are most often in Australia (2).

The United States refused 22% of visitor-visa (B1/B2) applications from citizens of New Zealand in fiscal year 2025, by the State Department’s adjusted refusal rate. 74 of the 197 nationalities with a published rate had a lower one and 122 a higher one; the middle value was 32%.

Visa-free travel with the New Zealand passport

By continent, the New Zealand passport is visa-free in 44 countries in Europe, 29 countries in the Americas, 22 countries in Asia, 13 countries in Africa and 5 countries in Oceania. The longest visa-free stays for New Zealand citizens are allowed in Georgia (360 days), Antigua and Barbuda (180 days), Armenia (180 days), Barbados (180 days), Costa Rica (180 days) and Dominica (180 days).

Visa on arrival

New Zealand citizens can get a visa at the airport or land border of Bahrain, Bangladesh, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, the Comoros, Djibouti and 30 others.

E-Visa and electronic travel authorisation

An e-Visa, applied for online before the trip, is how New Zealand citizens enter Azerbaijan, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Cuba and 19 others. Canada, Israel, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Suriname and 2 others ask instead for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA), a lighter online check than a visa.

How the passport compares

Of the 199 passports in the data, 1 can enter visa-free, 60 need an ETA, 137 need a visa from an embassy or consulate and 1 is not admitted for New Zealand.