For the second year in a row, I’m flying out of the States at 11 PM on December 31st and arriving in New Zealand on the afternoon of January 2nd (due to the time difference). Which means that for the second year in a row, I’m completely missing January 1st. But 2024 is a leap year, so now I’ll only be one day behind for the rest of my life as opposed to two!
This time I’m flying from Los Angeles to Tahiti to New Zealand (I’m posting a map is because I personally had no idea where Tahiti was). I was ecstatic to find out that Los Angeles to Tahiti is only 8 hours, and Tahiti to Auckland is only 5.5. Usually the first leg is 12-13 hours and the second one is 3. This is so much better.
Last year, my absolutely ridiculous flight pattern was Boston–>Toronto–>Vancouver–>Auckland. Yes, you’re readying that correctly: I went north, flew aaaaaaallthe way across Canada, and then flew aaaaaaall the way south to NZ. It was the cheapest flight I could find, for obvious reasons, though I did get two New Years, one while flying over Canada and one somewhere over the Pacific. (Whenever I book a flight, I always think about comedian Mike Birbiglia’s bit where he’s on a flight and the PA system comes on and says “Thank you for choosing Delta!.” And Mike says “I didn’t choose Delta. If it had been five cents cheaper I would have flown on a kite”).
I’ll be celebrating New Year’s somewhere over the Pacific in a few hours. Wherever you’re celebrating, be it on land, at sea, or in the air, and whether or not you’re even staying up til midnight, Happy New Year’s to all and to all a good night. May 2024 have wonderful things in store for all of us!
Onwards and upwards (literally), lotsa love, and talk to you all on the flip side,
Best $5.97 you’ll ever spend. Seriously. She covers everything from immigration to healthcare to banking and finances to dealing with homesickness to the cost of living to whether or not you can and should bring your pets with you…..you name it. And she’s a terrific writer, so it’s entertaining as well as informative.
I’ll likely be sprinkling in references to this book as I chronicle my visa journey on this blog. Cheers, Melissa, for penning such a comprehensive and highly enjoyable resource!
(As the author states throughout the book, she is not a licensed immigration or financial or what-have-you advisor. She’s just an American woman who moved to NZ ten years ago and took really, really good notes).
The United States is on New Zealand’s “visa waiver country” list, which means that as an American tourist you can stay for up to 90 days without needing to apply for any special visa ahead of time* (<–yes, that’s an asterisk. Don’t worry; it probably won’t pertain to those of you planning a regular old-fashioned New Zealand “bucket list” vacation).
Although you’re exempt from having to apply for a special visitor’s visa, there are a few things you need to do that are mandatory in order to enter New Zealand.
First things first: they will not allow you to enter NZ if your passport is expiring within six months, which is actually true for traveling to a number of different countries. Make sure to check your passport way before you book your tickets.
In order to enter New Zealand, you will need two things (besides your not-expiring-within-six-months passport):
The NZeTA app
1: An NZeTA, which is short for “New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority” and an IVL (“International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy”). When you apply for your NZeTA you are simultaneously applying for your IVL, which makes it easy. (Note: the NZeTA was implemented in 2019, so this will be new to those of you who haven’t traveled to NZ since then).
Here’s how to get it: download the app–literally just called “NZeTA”–and follow the extremely easy directions. You will need to upload a photo of yourself and a photo of your passport, as well as enter some very basic details. The whole thing will take you less than five minutes. The total cost is $52 NZD, or approximately $33 USD (the NZeTA is $17 NZD and the IVL is $35 NZD, but they combine them into one fee). A good portion of that money goes towards protecting New Zealand’s natural environment, so it’s really a small price to pay to enter this gorgeous country. It says it can take up to 72 hours for your NZeTA to be approved, though both times I’ve done it, I was approved within a few hours. Once approved, your NZeTA is good for two years. Keep the app on your phone to show Customs upon your arrival.
EDIT (January 9, 2024): When I originally wrote this blog post in late December, I stated that you need to complete a New Zealand Travellers Declaration and that you will be asked to fill out a Passenger Arrival Card just before you land. As of January 2, 2024, you only need to complete the Travellers Declaration; it seems that the NZTD and the Arrival Card are the same thing. But I am going to leave the information for both of them, as it changes back and forth; when I first came to NZ in March 2020, we only had to complete the arrival card on the plane. Then in July 2022, I had to do something new called the NZTD. Then they got rid of the NZTD and it was back to the arrival card in January 2023, but then they reinstated the NZTD at some point last year. If it lets you do the NZTD, complete that and then just to be on the safe side, ask the airline stewards if you need to also complete the arrival card.
2: A completed New Zealand Travellers Declaration. As with the NZeTA, the NZTD has an app (I use the apps since it’s easier to pull up the information when you need it). The NZTD needs to completed no earlier (earlier! Not later!) than 24 hours before your flight to NZ departs. Please read over this page, specifically the part about layovers, to make sure you’re in the correct 24 hour window. You should set a reminder in your phone to make sure you remember to do it, since your mind will likely be on other things. You can, however, start the process whenever you want, since after you input your name and email address they will email you a reference number so that you can go back in and edit/add details later. The NZTD is free and pretty easy to fill out (passport details, recent travel history, contact details, etc).
A few things to note about the New Zealand Travellers Declaration:
A. When it asks you from which airport you are flying, make sure you enter the airport you’ll be flying out of when you head directly to New Zealand. That is, if you have a flight from Los Angeles–>Fiji–>Auckland, you would enter “Fiji” as the departing airpot, not Los Angeles.
B. When entering the date of your arrival, make sure you do it in proper NZ format, which is DD-MM-YYYY (i.e. April 3, 2024 would be entered as 03-04-2024).
*Ha! You forgot about that asterisk, didn’t you?
Americans can automatically stay in New Zealand for 90 days as a tourist, BUT: you cannot exceed 270 days in the country within an 18 month window. Wait, what? Yes, that’s correct: to directly quote the Immigration NZ website, “You can visit New Zealand as a genuine tourist for up to 9 months in an 18-month period. The 18-month period is calculated backwards from the last day you intend to be in New Zealand. If the last day you’ll be here is 1 December, then your 18-month period will begin on 1 June of the year before.” I know; it’s confusing. And it likely won’t apply to the majority of people reading this, but I still wanted to mention it.
FLYING INTO NEW ZEALAND
Shortly before your flight lands in New Zealand, you will be asked to complete a Passenger Arrival Card, so make sure you have a pen on you. It’s a little two-sided card that asks you to fill out some basic info–your name, passport number, the dates of your trip—as well as more in depth information. Be prepared to specify other countries you’ve lived in and/or visited in the past five years, as well as any “wilderness areas” you’ve been to in the last 30 days. They will want to know if you are bringing in soil, wildlife, golfing or beekeeping equipment…the questions may start to sound weird, but New Zealand is *extremely strict* about what you can and absolutely cannot bring into the country. One piece of foreign matter can quickly become a major biosecurity hazard for this little island nation; they’re strict for a good reason. Answer the questions honestly, and if you’re in doubt about whether or not you should declare something, declare it (even something as benign as a lavender satchel may be problematic). I once brought unopened Rx nutrition bars with me, one of the ingredients of which was “eggs,” and I declared on the form that I was “carrying eggs” (in retrospect: really, Hilary? Pretty sure they meant actual eggs). The woman at Customs laughed me through but thanked me for being so thorough. Err on the side of total honesty. There are hefty fines if you’re caught lying.
Take a look at the form here so you know what to expect, and check here to see a list of what you can and can’t bring into the country.
Once you’ve filled out your Passenger Arrival Card on the plane, slip it into your passport. They will take it from you at Customs.
Make sure all of the footwear you are bringing with you is clean. Someone I know had to remove their hiking shoes upon entry and Customs examined them with a magnifying glass and a pair of tweezers and pulled out a single seed. They don’t mess around. Either get new shoes or wash your old ones before you go.
HERE ARE SOME PRACTICAL THINGS YOU CAN DO BEFORE YOUR TRIP
The “Currency” app
Download the “Currency” app. It’s free, and it gives you the up-to-the-minute exchange rate. At this moment, $1 United States Dollar is worth $1.588 New Zealand Dollars.
Speaking of apps, you should create a “Travel” folder on your phone so that you can keep everything in one place. The Currency app, your NZeTA app, the NZTD app, the apps for each airline you’re flying, the Mobile Passport app (if you use it), etc.
Seriously. Their money is gorgeous!
Call me old-fashioned, but I like to travel with cash on hand. Paying in cash makes me more aware of how much I’m spending, and I also try to avoid making small businesses pay credit card transaction fees (they also sometimes charge *you* a fee for using an overseas card). And dear lord New Zealand money is just so beautiful to look at!
I set an exchange rate alert so that I know when I’m getting the most bang for my (U.S.) buck; you can set it to email you if the exchange rate goes over a certain threshold. When it reaches a really good rate, I hop on down to my local AAA office. AAA will exchange any foreign currency for free if you’re a member, and it only takes a few days for the currency to come in. Your bank may be able to convert foreign currency for free as well.
You don’t need to bring cash to AAA—you can exchange currency via credit or debit card–but I prefer to squirrel away any extra cash I have on hand and use that for currency conversion. I know it’s six of one/half dozen of the other whether you buy foreign currency with a debit card or cash, but it feels so much thriftier when you use squirreled away cash.
Everyone knows this, but just as a reminder, whenever you travel out of the country you should tell your credit card companies and your banks so they don’t think your card has been stolen. You can usually do it right through your credit card or banking app. I just did this a few days ago and was surprised to discover that my credit cards no longer care to know the dates and places I’ll be traveling because they “carefully monitor [my] account for suspicious activity!”, which in and of itself sounds suspicious to me, but whatever.
(A PARTIAL LIST OF) WHAT TO BRING WITH YOU TO NEW ZEALAND(WHICH I WILL ELABORATE UPON IN A FUTURE POST)
Photocopies of your passport, driver’s license, and credit/debit cards, as well as a printout of your NZeTA and NZ Travelers Declaration….and for the love of god, don’t keep them *with* your actual passport, driver’s license, and credit/debit cards. Stash them somewhere in a completely different bag. These are to be used in the hopefully unlikely event that your passport or cards are stolen or lost.
A physical (not a note in your phone!!!) list of important phone numbers. My phone was stolen at the San Francisco airport on my way to New Zealand in 2022–which was just the beginning of a harrowing travel story which I’ll recount for you all at some point–and when I finally found a free “courtesy” phone in the airport, I realized I didn’t know my partner’s phone number beyond the +64 country code, which meant that I had to call my sister, who had to hop on Facebook to message Stewart to tell him about my phone being stolen, and then he replied to Gillian and after a prearranged ten minutes, I called her back and she relayed his message to me, and around and around we went. Trust me: carry a list of numbers you might need. Your emergency contact, your BFF, the hotel or Air BnB you’re staying in when you get there…anyone you might need to reach in the (hopefully extremely unlikely because IT REALLY SUCKS) event that you find yourself sans mobile telephone.
A plug adapter. You can get a three-pack for $12.99. I also bring a portable charging bank to make sure my phone stays charged on day hikes. NZ uses 220v while the U.S. uses 110, so double check any electronic devices to be sure that they will accept that voltage. Otherwise, you’ll need to buy a power converter, or step-down transformer, so you don’t ruin whatever 110v thingie you’re bringing.
Sunscreen. There is a hole in the ozone layer directly above NZ (which some say was made worse by the 2019 volcanic eruption) and the sun there is no joke; you can get very sunburned in less than ten minutes. They do sell sunscreen everywhere, but it’s expensive, so I recommend bringing your own. Also, I’ve never laid eyes on a sunscreen in NZ with an SPF higher than 50. I guess the jury’s out on whether or not anything over 50 even does anything extra, but I like to bring 100 SPF with me to protect all of my beautiful tattoos (and avoid getting skin cancer).
Layers. Much like my home region of New England in the States, the weather in New Zealand can change on a dime. So bring layers, and definitely pack a raincoat and waterproof shoes. I bring quick-dry hiking pants in case I’m caught in the rain. New Zealand style is very casual, so you can go absolutely anywhere dressed in REI-ish outdoor gear and fit right in. While we’re talking clothes, NZ has some of the best thrift shops I’ve ever been to. They call them “op shops”–short for “opportunity shops”–and I definitely recommend checking them out!
A small backpack for little excursions/day hikes. I recommend getting a waterproof one.
Here’s something you don’t need for NZ: any sort of special driver’s license. The first time I went there, I ordered a $25 “international driver’s license” online which I then found out is not required in NZ. You can drive for up to one year there on a U.S. driver’s license. A friend warned me that AAA may try and upsell you on a special license, but again, you don’t need one for New Zealand. I should know, since I got pulled over for speeding last February in Tairua 😬 and the fact that I was driving with a U.S. license didn’t give the policeman pause at all.
I super appreciate that the FBI says in bold that just because I don’t have a record with them does not mean I am not a wanted felon on the state and/or local levels. Cheers, guys. Thanks for that.
My FBI background check came back clean! 🕵🏼
One of the things New Zealand Immigration requires you to submit with your visa application is a “police certificate,” which in the States means an “Identity History Summary” from the FBI, which you can order here. It cost $18 and took two weeks to process. You have to fill out and print off the form and mail it along with your fingerprints, which I had taken at my local police department The whole thing was thrilling and I would be lying to you if I said that I didn’t picture Clarice Starling or Fox Mulder opening my application.
Mulder and Scully making some calls about my rap sheet. PS: This is literally the best photoshopping I’ve ever done.
I had no idea, until I floated a list of possible blog name ideas on social media last month, that the term “washashore” is unique to Cape Cod. A washashore is anyone who has moved to the Cape from somewhere else, as opposed to someone born on the Cape (a native Cape Codder). I’ve heard the word washashore my entire life and never knew how specific and local it was. I love learning surprising new things.
And while we’re on the subject of funny words in my blog’s subtitle, “Kiwiland” is not an actual nickname for New Zealand. I made it up because it’s whimsical…like “washashore.”
I’m making this its own post since a lot of people have asked me what my plans are. Here is a synopsis of the hopeful trajectory of my life for the next few years. I’m going to emphasize that none of this is guaranteed.
I land in Auckland on January 2, 2024. As an American, I’m allowed to stay for 90 days on a tourist visa.
Towards the end of those three months, I will apply for a Partner of a New Zealander Work Visa. The reason I’m not applying for the visa immediately is so that I can establish a paper trail (of sorts) to submit as evidence that my Kiwi partner and I are in a committed and lasting relationship. Stuff like opening a bank account together, adding my name to the lease, and receiving official mail at my NZ address.
When I submit my Partner of a New Zealander Work Visa application, it will be reviewed to ensure that it has all of the required documents, which takes about a week. Because I will be submitting it a few weeks before my 90-day Visitor Visa is set to expire, I need to stay on top of things to made sure my Interim Visa is issued before my Visitor Visa expires or else I will be here without a valid visa.
If my application is deemed satisfactory, I will be issued an Interim Visa, which is good for six months or until they make a decision, whichever comes first. In the unlikely event that they have not made a decision within six months, I can apply for an Interim Visa extension.
If I leave NZ while on my Interim Visa, it becomes null and void and I’d have to start all over again (which means paying the application fee all over again).
The turnaround time to process work visas is currently 11 weeks. So I’ll apply for the work visa in late March 2024 and should hear back from Immigration early to mid June 2024. If approved for a work visa, it’s good for 1-2 years depending on how long you’ve been living with your partner. For me, based on how long we will have lived together, my work visa would be good for one year.
Towards the end of my one-year work visa (which in theory would be around June 2025) I’ll apply for a Partner of a New Zealander Resident Visa, which lasts for two years. After that, I will apply for a Permanent Resident Visa. The difference between the two is that Resident Visas have travel conditions that only allow you to re-enter New Zealand as a resident for those two years, whereas a Permanent Resident Visa allows indefinite re-entry to New Zealand. If I am granted a Permanent Resident Visa it will, as the name suggests, allow me to live and work in NZ forever, which is my goal. 😊
After five years of being in NZ on the Permanent Resident Visa–so long as I have spent 240 days of each of those five years living in NZ–I am eligible to apply for Citizenship, which would give me a NZ passport. The US allows dual citizenship, so I will still legally be American and won’t have to surrender my passport.
As I mentioned at the top of this post, no part of this well-laid plan of mine is a guarantee. It all depends on whether or not Immigration NZ thinks I have a viable case. And it also depends on any unforeseen circumstances that may arise, like (god forbid) another pandemic. I do know that being very organized and very determined go a long way with immigration, and I’ve got organization and determination in spades. So fingers crossed.🤞🏼
Here are all of the clothes I plan on bringing with me to New Zealand. Huge thank you to my sister Gillian for sitting there while I tried on every single piece of clothing I own to help decide what I’m bringing, what I’m leaving, what I’m donating, and what needs to be thrown away immediately.
I was planning on starting this blog when I actually arrived in New Zealand, since who the heck wants to read a blog chronicling some American’s wild adventures in another country while they’re still in the States. But since I created this blog with the intention of chronicling *all* of my adventures, I wanted to start now. Because preparing to move to another country is absolutely bananas and I want to share the experience with you.
I am a very organized and efficient human being. I rarely forget to do something I need to do, or do it later than I’m supposed to. I have a good memory and I am constantly making to-do lists. But holy cow you guys. I’ve never used the “exploding brain emoji” as much as I have these last few months.
I have also never, ever had this many reminders constantly popping up in my iPhone calendar. A few examples, and please excuse the AGGRESSIVE CAPS LOCK and excessive use of !!!! but that’s exactly how I put these my phone:
“GET FBI BACKGROUND CHECK!!” “CALL T-MOBILE/DBL CHECK OVERSEAS PLAN??” “PICK UP NZ$ @ AAA!!” “MAKE SURE AIR TAHITI FLIGHT INCLUDES CHECKED BAG????” “HAVE I RECEIVED FBI BACKGROUND CHECK??” “ORDER COMPRESSION BAG THINGIES FOR PACKING???” “PUT ETSY SHOP ON VACATION MODE!!” “GET CAR INSPECTED!!” “DOWNGRADE CAR INSURANCE??” “GET TAX STUFF READY FOR HAZEL!!!” “SEND INT’L STAMPS/NZ ADDRESS TO PENPALS!!!” “MED REFILLS MID-DECEMBER!!!”
And I keep a notepad and pen on the passenger seat of my car since every few days I think of even more things I have to do.
It’s a lot. Preparing to move abroad is a lot. There’s the practical side of it, such as what to do with my car (I’m keeping it because I love it) and what to do with everything I’m not bringing with me (neatly packing up and storing it in my parents’ attic). Then there’s the fact that I need to see as many of my friends as I possibly can, knowing that I won’t be seeing them again for another 6-7 months, which means going off Cape nearly every weekend but I’m still working full time so I’m just exhausted when I come home to start my work week. And then there are all of my AGGRESSIVE CAPS LOCK phone reminders and the scrawled notes on my passenger seat notepad. Yeesh.
I truly don’t know how people with real jobs, families, homes, pets, and all of those other grownup things move to another country. I really don’t. I’m overwhelmed, and I don’t own property, I have no kids or pets, I have a seasonal landscaping job that doesn’t require me to train a replacement or transfer all of my files over or attend exit interviews or whatever the heck other stuff happens when you leave a “real job”, and I don’t own anything that needs to be shipped overseas.
On top of all of that, there’s quite a lot of things I’ve had to do this year to prepare to submit my first visa application. I needed to order an original copy of my birth certificate. I needed to get updated passport photos. I needed to get what Immigration NZ calls a “Police Certificate,” which meant getting fingerprinted at my local police station (oooooo!) and then ordering my official background check from the FBI (it was VERY exciting to order my own rap sheet and I can’t wait to see what kind of dirt the Feds dig up on me!). Then, because I am hyper-organized and somewhat neurotic, I also got copies of my contact lens and eyeglasses prescription, a letter from my PCP stating that I’m in good health, and the past ten years of my medical records in case Immigration needs to see them. And yes, I went out and bought a bunch of international postage stamps to send to all of my penpals (I’m a lifelong avid letter-writer).
But all in all, I’m fine. A little “exploding head emoji,” but fine. I’m all packed and ready to go, though I will inevitably unpack and repack at least three times because…..I don’t know; just because I tend to do that. I have two more weeks left of work. I only have a few little things I need to buy before I go. I managed to see a boatload of my friends this year. I got a haircut. I think I’m good to go. 🙂
