Immigration New Zealand is concerned about the number of unauthorised third party visa websites overcharging visitors to New Zealand.
A growing number of companies that have no connection with INZ or the New Zealand Government are operating under potentially misleading names such as official-newzealand-eta.org and newzealand-eta-gov.org and charging visitors up to 10 times the official price to request an NZeTA.
INZ’s general manager Stephen Dunstan is encouraging visitors to ensure they are using the official government website (www.immigration.govt.nz/nzeta) or official NZeTA mobile apps (available via the Apple Store or Google Play), to avoid unnecessary charges.
“We are seeing a growing number of third parties charging visitors for something they can very quickly and easily do themselves and that’s concerning,” Stephen says.
“An NZeTA costs just NZD$12 using the website or NZD$9 using the mobile apps and only takes a matter of minutes to complete.
“Travellers shouldn’t need to fork out more money than the official cost and should make sure that they aren’t being misled into paying more.
“Some third parties are also claiming to be able to provide an expedited service. However, an expedited service is not available and third parties are only able to submit the traveller’s information to INZ using the same web form or mobile app travellers can use themselves.
“In some cases, these third parties are also collecting additional information from travellers, which isn’t actually required as part of the NZeTA request.”
Stephen says INZ is working hard to ensure that travellers know to use the official government website through its global marketing campaign.
“Our global digital marketing campaign, which links directly to the INZ website, is helping to ensure travellers use the official channels to request their NZeTA. We’re also working closely with airlines, travel agents and cruise operators to make sure they’re directing travellers to the official government website or mobile app,” he says.
