Travellers to New Zealand urged to submit visa applications ASAP
South Africans heading to New Zealand over the December period are encouraged to submit their tourist visa applications as soon as they can.
New Zealand warns of visa application backlog
South African travellers who have plans to visit New Zealand over their Christmas break will need to be aware of a visa application backlog at the New Zealand Immigration Department.
According to reports, the New Zealand Immigration Department has said that travellers who don’t submit tourist visa applications by 15 October may not receive their visas on time.
The depart also said that it was expecting to receive over 260 000 tourist visa applications during this peak processing period alone.
“We are asking that anyone who plans to travel to New Zealand for Christmas to submit their application no later than 15 October 2024. Anyone travelling in the New Year, including Chinese Lunar New Year, should submit their application no later than 15 November 2024,” said Immigration New Zealand (INZ) Director, Jock Gilray.
Visa price hike also set for October
Travellers to the Oceania nation will also need to be aware of the scheduled visa price hike set to happen this October.
New Zealand is set to increase the cost of tourist visas by 60% next month.
The price of a visitor visa will now increase steeply from NZD211 (+/-R2 300) to NZD341 (+/-R3 700).
The increase will apply from 1 October and will affect all visa categories, including temporary visas, residence visas, student visas and tourist visas.
Student visa fees, in particular, will see a substantial hike, doubling from NZ$375 to NZ$750.
Why the need for an increase?
The increase was decided on by the government in order to create a more sustainable immigration system by shifting the financial burden from taxpayers to visa applicants.
The changes to these prices are expected to give back more than NZD563 million (R6,17 billion) to the New Zealand government over the next four years.
“Until now, our immigration system has been heavily subsidised by taxpayers. The changes we are making are shifting the cost to those benefiting from the system. We’re ensuring it is self-funding and more efficient,” Immigration Minister Erica Stanford said in a statement, as per Travel News.
“The charges remain competitive in comparison to countries like Australia and the United Kingdom, so we are confident New Zealand will continue to be an attractive destination,” Stanford added.