eVisas and VisaView coming soon

From 7 December, eVisas (passport-free applications and label-less visas) will be available for many students who apply online, joining the one thousand applicants who are applying for visas electronically every week through Immigration ONLINE.

At the same time, New Zealand education providers will become able to use Immigration New Zealand’s VisaView service to check whether a non-New Zealand student can study with them.

eVisas

INZ will extend eVisas to the following online applicants:

• People applying in New Zealand to renew their Work, Visitor and Student visas (except Chinese nationals)*

• People from visa-waiver countries applying outside New Zealand for a Work, Visitor or Student visa (citizens of visa-waiver countries do not need a visa to travel to New Zealand as a tourist for less than three months).

These applicants will not have to send in their passports to INZ when they submit their applications online. The visa holder will receive their visa approval notification through their Immigration ONLINE account, and may print their visa record from their account. This notification contains visa details, including travel and other visa conditions.

Visa holders are advised to carry their visa approval notification when they travel. Online systems allow airlines to confirm that a person can travel to New Zealand, but the visa approval notification can be used as an additional confirmation if requested.

Further information about eVisas is available at www.immigration.govt.nz/eVisas

Visa transfer to new passports

Because visa details are linked to passports, people who obtain a new passport after being granted their visa need to transfer their visa details to their new passport. There is potentially a greater risk with eVisas that visa holders may neglect to transfer visa details to their new passports. For explanation of how to transfer visa details, see here. 

VisaView

VisaView is an online visa enquiry system that is being extended to education providers from 7 December 2015. It will enable providers to check whether a non-New Zealand citizen can study with them.

VisaView is currently used by employers to check migrants’ eligibility to work in New Zealand.

What happens next?

We will email education providers when VisaView is launched, with a link inviting them to register for a VisaView account. A detailed user guide will be available.

There will be some opportunities for education providers to attend face to face training sessions in a few centres during December and early February.

* INZ is liaising with Chinese authorities and plans to implement eVisas for Chinese nationals during 2016.