Unfinished NZ visitor visa drafts in the old online system will be deleted tomorrow
Anyone with an unfinished visitor visa application in Immigration New Zealand's old online system has until the end of today, 7 October, to submit it. Tomorrow, 8 October, those forms close and any remaining drafts are deleted, INZ says. Applicants who still want to apply will have to start again in enhanced Immigration Online.
INZ says it will be contacting people with drafts. Don't wait for that contact. If you began an application for a parent's December visit and never pressed submit, finish it today or plan to re-enter everything.
People who have already applied don't need to resubmit, INZ says. Applicants can still use the old system to upload documents and answer INZ's requests until they hear INZ's decision.
How the switch has unfolded
INZ launched enhanced Immigration Online in 2021 and has been moving visas onto it in stages. The current round began on 24 August 2026, when the Approved Destination Status (ADS) Group, Group and Tour Escort visitor visas moved across, according to INZ. In the new system the Group Visitor Visa replaces the separate MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) and Foreign Affairs Official categories.
From 24 September, new applications for most visitor visas could no longer be started in the old system, a change also reported by the immigration services firm Envoy Global. Drafts already there could still be finished, which is the window that closes tonight.
Paper forms went next. From 1 October, INZ stopped accepting paper applications for the general Visitor Visa, the Business Visitor Visa, the Parent and Grandparent Visitor Visa and most other visitor and transit visas, except in exceptional circumstances agreed with INZ, NRI Information reports. Paper applications lodged before that date are processed as normal. The same site says twenty visitor visa types are on INZ's closure list for the old online system.
Partners and children of students and workers aren't affected
The Partner and Child of a Student, Worker and Military visitor visas moved to the enhanced system in June 2026 and are not affected by this change, INZ's notice says. INZ says applications for those visas made through the enhanced system get priority for assessment.
Partners and children of New Zealanders: a date, but not from INZ yet
INZ's page says only that the Partner of a New Zealander and Child of a New Zealander visitor visa forms are unchanged and will stay in the old system until they are moved.
NRI Information gives a date: 16 November 2026. It reports that new applications for those two visas will move to enhanced Immigration Online that day, along with the Partner of a New Zealander Work Visa and the Child of a New Zealander Student Visa. It also reports that the maximum stay on a visitor visa for a child of a New Zealand citizen or resident will rise from 9 to 12 months on the same date. INZ hasn't yet said whether paper forms will stop for these four visas or what will happen to drafts left in the old system, according to the site.
Check INZ's site before relying on that date.
Parents coming for summer
Many New Zealanders use these visas to bring parents over for Christmas and the summer holidays. NRI Information describes the switch as an administrative change; eligibility rules are the same.
The Parent and Grandparent Visitor Visa is a multiple-entry visa. It allows stays of up to six months at a time and up to 18 months in total over three years, NRI Information says. Citizens of countries without visa-free entry need it or another visitor visa. Indian citizens, for example, are not on New Zealand's visa-waiver list and can't use the NZeTA.
The new system uses a RealMe login and a form that changes its questions to fit each applicant. It asks for a medical certificate only when a case needs one, and it has a dashboard for tracking applications and a passport reader, according to the same source.
INZ's Visitor Visa page lists a cost of NZD 441, NRI Information says. That's made up of the NZD 341 visa charge (a NZD 300 application fee plus a NZD 41 immigration levy) and the NZD 100 International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy. The tourism levy has applied since 1 October 2024 and isn't refunded if the visa is declined.