How I Got My New Zealand Visitor Visa

How I Got My New Zealand Visitor Visa!

Hi there folks! Once again I’m gonna share with you another visa application story I’ve just experienced earlier this year. This time it’s about getting a New Zealand visitor visa. Last year, I was planning to travel to New Zealand and explore key cities such as Auckland and Queenstown. Also, not to mention the place where The Lord of the Rings was filmed in! And that is none other than the Middle Earth’s Hobbiton! But there’s a caveat, as a Philippine passport holder, we are required to obtain a visitor visa to enter New Zealand. In short, we are not part of visa waiver countries and territories. With this in mind, let’s hope and pray that someday, New Zealand will open its door to us visa-free!

This post is all about getting an NZ visitor visa. On the other hand, for other visa options, please visit Immigration New Zealand’s website here.

So without further ado, please see the guide below to apply for an NZ visitor visa. With a Visitor visa, you can stay for a maximum of 9 months.

Steps to Apply for Visitor Visa

First of all, VFS Global is the partner of the New Zealand embassy that receives visa applications.

There are three types of visa application:
1.) Walk-in or via representative (provided the representative has authorisation letter)
2.) Send via courier
3.) Online application

Because I am a busy person, I chose the online application because it saves time. Please see step by step guide to accomplish online application form:

Step 1

1.) To begin with, go to Immigration NZ website here: https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zealand-visas
On the upper right-hand corner of the site, click Login.

Step 2

2.) A dropdown will display a list of visas, look for Visitor Visa and then click Login and Create Account button.

Step 3

3.) After clicking Create Your RealMe Login button, it will redirect you to a page that asks basic information about you. Once completed, tick I accept the RealMe terms of use checkbox and click Continue button.

Step 4

4.) After clicking the Continue button, a pop-up window will be shown. Click Accept to continue.

Step 5

5.) On the next page, you will need to add your Display name and email address. It is optional to receive news from Immigration New Zealand. Once done, click Agree and continue button.

Step 6

6.) Now you will be prompted to a new page with a title that says: “Nearly there…“. This tells you that it has sent a confirmation email to your email address. By now you should receive it and click the link to verify your application.

Step 7

7.) Once done, subsequently, you will be redirected to your account’s page. Click Visitor visa button to start filling up your application.

Step 8

8.) This page will ask if you have chosen the correct form. Please check below the options I chose. Do you have a MasterCard, Visa or UnionPay card to pay for this application?* field, I selected Yes because as a Filipino and as long as your travel will be less than 59 days, we DO NOT need to pay for a visa fee. Finally, click Start My Application.

Step 9

9.) The next pages will basically ask information about your identity, and contact details, visit details, health details, work history, other contacts, etc. Take note guys that you MUST answer the questions TRUTHFULLY. Because they will definitely do a background check and if they’d find out that you lied to immigration that will affect your future visa applications. Therefore, please read carefully and answer truthfully.

Step 10

10.) At the end of the application, you will be required to upload your documents mostly in PDF format, not more than 10MB. This is very important. However, f you upload more than the recommended size, the system will throw an exception error message.

Requirements/Documents

So I will list here the required documents you would be needing to submit online.

• Passport-sized Photo – Please refer to the acceptable photos here: https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zealand-visas/apply-for-a-visa/tools-and-information/acceptable-photos. The photo should be in .jpg format.
• Passport Bio Data Page – this can be found on page 2 of your Philippine passport.
• Financial Documents – this is the section Sufficient funds, you can submit digitised copies of your bank certificate, bank statements for the past 6 months, payslips for the last 3 months, credit card statements and limits.
  • If you have a sponsor, kindly get a signed letter from the sponsor (employer, family, friend or relative) that indicates they will be sponsoring your trip.
  • If your sponsor is a family member, friend or relative, you must submit a proof of relationship with the sponsor. Proofs can be photos together, birth certificates, etc.
• Confirmed Return Travel Tickets – this is a bit tricky since you would not know if you would be approved or not. I heard that there were applicants who provided reserved tickets and their applications were fortunately approved. In my case, my brother and I booked our return tickets via PAL and submitted the screenshot praying that we would be approved. Thanks to God that in just 4 days we received an email from them that our applications were approved 🙂 So it’s up to you if you would just provide reserved tickets. Anyway, the embassy will call you if they need the confirmed tickets from you.
• Certificate of Employment – if employed, you must provide a letter of absence from your employer.
• Other Evidences that You’re a Bonafide Applicant – this can be proof of assets such as cars, real estate properties, business titles, ITR, additional financial statements, past stamps or travel visas, or a cover letter. According to the Immigration New Zealand website, you need to provide at least NZ$1000 a month to support your trip, so it’s better to have NZ$1000 or more in your bank account. What we also did is to create a cover letter detailing that our purpose to travel to New Zealand is purely for a personal vacation to celebrate my birthday.

Finally, after accomplishing the forms and submitting completely all required documents, you may now go to VFS to submit your passport. Or you can wait for their email saying that you can now submit your passport. For this reason, you can do either way.

Submission of requirements

To submit your passport you have three (3) options:

• Submit in person – VFS is open from Mondays-Fridays, except for holidays. Operating hours are from 7:00 AM to 2:00 PM (Manila) and 7:00 AM to 1:00 PM (Cebu). You will need to pay VFS a handling fee of Php 570. Please don’t forget to keep your payment receipt as it will be needed to retrieve your passport later on.

Manila Address:
VFS Global Services Philippines Private Inc.,
Mezzanine Floor Unit M01, Ecoplaza Building,
2305 Chino Roces Avenue Extension Makati City, Metro Manila 1231

Cebu Address:
VFS Global Services Philippines Private Inc.,
9th Floor, Keppel Center, Unit 905, Samar Loop
cor. Cardinal Rosales Avenue,
Cebu Business Park, Cebu City 6000

• Submit via a Representative – provided that the representative has your signed authorisation letter and a copy of your valid ID and the representative.
• Submit via Courier – You can submit your passport via courier or via the NZVAC or New Zealand Visa Application Centre’s courier service. NZVAC can pick it up from your home for a Php 380 fee.

And there you go! Normally, the processing time takes 20 business days. Of course, this depends if you submitted completely all the documents required. Typically if you have first world visas it will be easier for you to get approved. Hence, I received the approval within 4 working days because I already have a US visa. In other words, these powerful visas, like the US, are your gateway to other first world countries.

To give you an idea of the timeline, kindly refer below:

• February 26: Submitted my online application
• February 28: Got an email to submit our passports to VFS.
• March 1: Submitted passports to VFS.
• March 7: Received an email that our applications were approved 🙂

New Zealand Visitor Visa Sample

Additional Notes

Not to mention, when I tried to call on VFS, they told me that our passports were ready for pick up last March 4. While other applicants receive their visas on an average of 3-5 working days, I got mine for almost 2 working days! I strongly believe that this was due to my US visa and other travel records and stamps on my passport. As a result, I became a happy camper 🙂

Before I forget to say, you can retrieve your passport from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM Mondays to Fridays (Manila) and from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM (Cebu). Always be early when claiming your passports as a practice. Being an early bird is such a nice trait indeed!

Do you plan to visit New Zealand someday? I highly recommend to add it to your bucket list as one of the countries to travel to. Let me know if you have any question and I’ll try my best to answer you as soon as I can. Furthermore, follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.