travelling to NZ with an eVisa has not been transferred to the new passport

[Okada]

Hi mates,

Has anyone recently have experience with travelling into NZ recently with an eVisa that has not been transferred to the new passport?

I am on a Resident visa and I have renewed my passport in my home country yesterday. My ticket to travelling back to NZ is next Thursday and I don't have enough time to apply for transferring my evisa to the new passport.

I called INZ this morning and they said that I still "need to transfer the eVisa before taking the flight. Then if it could not completed in time, I may not be allowed to enter the country at the border".

Thank you,

[sarah219]

Hi mates,

Has anyone recently have experience with travelling into NZ recently with an eVisa that has not been transferred to the new passport?

I am on a Resident visa and I have renewed my passport in my home country yesterday. My ticket to travelling back to NZ is next Thursday and I don't have enough time to apply for transferring my evisa to the new passport.

I called INZ this morning and they said that I still "need to transfer the eVisa before taking the flight. Then if it could not completed in time, I may not be allowed to enter the country at the border".

Thank you,

I haven't been in this situation, but I would listen to what INZ have said. They've instructed that you need to transfer the visa before boarding your flight. If you haven't applied for the transfer yet, it might be a good idea to start looking into it - you might be pleasantly surprised and get a transfer before your flight. Otherwise, you might have to wait a few days or weeks for the transfer.

Airlines also have a responsibility to check visas and passports during the check in process - if they see that your visa doesn't match your passport number, they're generally obligated to refuse you on to the flight. If they did let you on without the proper documentation, they could be fined on arrival to the border and you could be turned back around to your home country.

Personally, I wouldn't risk not having the proper paperwork in order before attempting to travel - especially if INZ already told me I need to transfer the visa.

[Okada]

Thank you Sarah219,

In my new passport, it is an observation statement that this new passport replaces the old passport with the number .... So everything is linked logically. I just wonder there is a better solution....

[param912003]

Hi there, my partner was in the same situation albeit with a visitor Visa. He had his passport renewed in his home country and didn't have time to transfer the visitor visa from old to new passport. However, he did not have any trouble at the border, he even transited through Singapore and Australia and it was all fine. Everything does seem to be linked in their systems, but please don't rely on my example completely as I am not sure if things are still the same. This was back in 2016.

[Okada]

Thank you Param912003 for your info.
I will update my case later.

[derekleegh]

Happened to my case in Malaysia. I didn't manage to trasfer my visa to new passport as the timeframe is too tight. This happened on August 2019

In Malaysia it was all good. Just remember to bring your old passport and new passport!

But in Singapore transit, the border officer made a call to Immigration NZ to verify this issue and they ended up letting us through.. Tho we get a "warning" that we must do it. .

We just explain that the timeline is too tight and we will do it when we are back in Nz.

Back in New Zealand, my spend time in border counter is less than 3minutes. No explanation needed. Guess they updated their system.

[Bonito]

I was in the same situation a month ago with a work visa. The airline called my name at the counter before boarding to collect details from my old passport, new passport and the visa that was not yet transferred. There was a hold up for about 30 mins when they were contacting NZ immigration to confirm my details.

Back in New Zealand, the officer just reminded me to transfer as soon as possible, with no other troubles.

[Carey]

So how do you transfer a citizen endorsement from an old to a new passport (British)? Or is it electronically linked? There is nothing showing that it is in my new passport so I need to know for sure. It seems unclear on NZ Immigration website;

An endorsement may be a label in your foreign passport or an electronic record linked to your foreign passport. An endorsement lasts as long as the foreign passport it is endorsed in (or linked to, if electronic only).

Can anyone clarify?

[JandM]

I think you'll have to ask INZ this. In your place, rather than telephone (as we know that uncommon questions can confuse the call-answerers), I would use the option to email the query - that way, it can be referred to a manager if necessary. (See the Ask us a question section here https://www.immigration.govt.nz/contact - once you've done a useless search, you get the email option.)

[Kelerei]

So how do you transfer a citizen endorsement from an old to a new passport (British)? Or is it electronically linked? There is nothing showing that it is in my new passport so I need to know for sure. It seems unclear on NZ Immigration website;

An endorsement may be a label in your foreign passport or an electronic record linked to your foreign passport. An endorsement lasts as long as the foreign passport it is endorsed in (or linked to, if electronic only).

Can anyone clarify?

New Zealand Citizen Endorsements expire when the passport that they are linked to does.

You must complete a new New Zealand Citizen Endorsement Application (there is a question on the INZ 1174 form that asks if you are applying for a second or subsequent endorsement). You can only enter New Zealand on a foreign passport as a New Zealand citizen if that specific passport contains a New Zealand Citizen Endorsement (either a physical label or an eVisa-style letter).