Tougher border rules to improve efficiency and safety
Tess Brunton
Visitors will be unable to travel to New Zealand without a new Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) as tougher border rules went live on October 1, 2019.
Up to 1.7 million travellers from 60 countries who previously did not need a visa will now be required to declare their passport details and any criminal history before they can travel.
The government has spent $5 million on a domestic and international marketing campaign to make sure people are not stopped at the gates.
Routine chore
Board of Airline Representatives New Zealand Executive Director Justin Tighe-Umbers said that about 4000 to 5000 travellers would need an ETA each day.
“The key risk is passengers going to the airport without an ETA. Look, we have all been there travelling, looking forward to your flight and then to find out you have not got a critical piece of documentation can be really stressful,” Mr Tighe-Umbers said.
“Obviously, that is not a great impact for visitor experience to New Zealand so this really does come down to the success of the comms campaign.”
Tourism Industry Aotearoa Chief Executive Chris Roberts said that getting an ETA was becoming a routine chore for international travellers.
Travellers from UK
“We are seeing other countries introducing ETA; so, it will become more common. But for markets like the UK, who have always been able to jump on a plane and come to New Zealand, there would be a little bit more planning required, you have to pay up front – essentially get permission to come to New Zealand now – so that will take a little bit of time to get used to, but we certainly hope it comes in as smoothly as possible.”
The tourism industry had been working with Immigration New Zealand to minimise any disruption, he said.
New Zealand and Australian citizens, some transit passengers and valid visa holders don’t need an electronic travel authority – everyone else does.
Travellers can request an ETA online for a fee of $12 or through a free app for $9.
Risk assessment
Immigration New Zealand (INZ) Director of Policy Integration Nick Aldous said that the new system brought the country’s border control into line with international best practice.
The $20 million project means travellers will be screened much earlier.
“At the moment, a lot of visa free travellers are only screened immediately at check in and that gives our border officers very little time to assess risk.”
But under the new process, that information would be made available when an ETA request was made, he said.
The government was taking no chances and will have about 30 Immigration NZ staff stationed around major international airports to help passengers and airline staff for the next month, Mr Aldous said.
Mr Tighe-Umbers welcomed the added help.
“For airlines, it can be an expensive process repatriating people who are not allowed to cross the border from New Zealand so the benefit there is; it is clear that it’s going to cut down on the number of incidences where that occurs,” he said.
Quick approval
An ETA request can take as little as ten minutes, but INZ recommends allowing up to 72 hours for processing.
So far, 196,000 requests have been made with almost all gaining quick approval – that’s nearly double the number of people expected to need one this month.
While the uptake in most countries has been good, Mr Aldous said it had been slower in Japan, South Korea and Malaysia.
“We picked up on that quite early and have been focusing a lot of our marketing and communications efforts in those markets. Over the last three or four weeks, those numbers have really picked up, they’re in the process of catching up at the moment,” Mr Aldous said.
“Being aware of that’s been very good for us cos that’s enabled us to put staff on the ground and they should be able to manage any non compliance.”
There is hope it will be a smooth process, but the government and industry say they won’t know until people start to check in.
Tess Brunton is Tourism Reporter at Radio New Zealand. The above Report and Picture have been published under a Special Arrangement with www.rnz.co.nz
*
RNZ Photo: 123rf.com
