Paper forms end tomorrow for most New Zealand visitor and transit visas

From tomorrow, 1 October 2026, Immigration New Zealand (INZ) will stop accepting paper application forms for 24 visitor visa categories and the Transit Visa, VisasNews reports. These applications will have to go through INZ's enhanced Immigration Online system.

After tomorrow, paper will be accepted only in exceptional circumstances, according to Outlook Traveller. Anyone who thinks they qualify has to contact INZ before applying.

The affected categories include the standard Visitor Visa and the Business, Group, Academic and Medical Treatment visitor visas. The Parent and Grandparent Visitor Visa is also on the list. For New Zealand households, that one matters most, because it's the visa families use to bring parents over for long stays. None of the reports say how many applicants still used paper.

Paper applications that reach INZ before 1 October will be processed under the existing system and don't need to be resubmitted, Outlook Traveller reports. A form posted today probably won't get there in time.

Three dates, easily confused

VisasNews gives the timetable:

• 24 September: applicants could no longer start new applications for most visitor categories in INZ's old Immigration Online system.
• 1 October: paper forms end for the affected categories.
• 8 October: the affected forms in the old system close, and any drafts left in it are deleted.

The third date catches people out. ProVisas, a New Zealand immigration advisory firm, has highlighted the 8 October deadline as one of the most important practical issues for applicants, according to Business Standard, because unfinished drafts in the old system won't simply transfer to the new platform. If you have a half-finished application in the old system, you have until Thursday 8 October to finish it. After that, you start again. BusinessToday reported that INZ said it would contact people with pending drafts and guide them through the switch.

The staggered dates also explain BusinessToday's 14 August headline, which said most applications would move online "starting September". That referred to the 24 September cutoff for the old online system, not to paper forms.

Group visas moved earlier still. New Group Visitor Visa and Tour Escort Visitor Visa applications have gone to the enhanced system since 24 August, VisasNews reports. BusinessToday says the Group Visitor Visa replaces the separate MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) and Foreign Affairs Official processes.

What stays the same

Some categories are left out. INZ said the Partner and Child of a New Zealander visitor visas will stay on their existing channels until further notice, according to Business Standard. The Trafficking Child Victim Visitor Visa remains paper-only for now. Outlook Traveller lists the Temporary Retirement and Refugee Claimant visitor visas as excluded too, and says INZ has indicated paper could be phased out for these later.

Reports disagree about some other visitor categories, including the Student and Worker visitor visas. Some list them as outside the paper change. Others say they've already moved to the enhanced online system. Both could be true, since one question is about paper and the other is about which online system is used. Applicants in those categories should check INZ's own page before applying.

Eligibility isn't changing, and neither are the visa categories, Business Standard reports. Only the way you apply changes. According to Wego, INZ's visa pages list fees of NZD 441 for the Visitor Visa, NZD 341 for the Business Visitor Visa, NZD 235 for the Transit Visa and NZD 441 for the Parent and Grandparent Visitor Visa, as of 18 September.

Outlook Traveller says the new system reads passport details automatically with an Identity Document Reader. Applicants can also upload documents and track progress online.

Auckland International Airport is the only New Zealand airport that takes transit passengers, Wego reports.

Who isn't affected

Travellers who don't need a visa are unaffected. Visitors from visa-waiver countries such as the US, UK and Canada still need an NZeTA, which is already online-only, VisasNews and Wego report. Australian citizens generally don't need an NZeTA.

Where this comes from

Every account of the change cited here comes from overseas outlets and aggregators repeating INZ's announcement. The only New Zealand adviser quoted is ProVisas, via Business Standard. The source document is INZ's notice "Changes to use of paper applications for some visitor and transit visas". Wego says it was published on 4 September.