By Ben Groundwater
All aboard for New Zealand. Well, not quite 'all' aboard - many restrictions remain in place on who will be able to enter the country.Credit: AP
What just happened?
The New Zealand government on Thursday announced its new roadmap to reopening to the world after two years of COVID-19-related border restrictions. It's a five-step plan that will culminate in a widespread reopening by October this year, beginning with access for New Zealanders based in Australia from 11:59pm (New Zealand time) on February 27.
Who can visit from 27 February?
Fully vaccinated New Zealanders will be eligible to enter New Zealand from Australia (provided they have spent the last 14 days here), and will then have to do 10 days of self-isolation before being free to move within the community.
Unvaccinated Kiwis will still have to do managed isolation and quarantine (what New Zealand call "MIQ" – essentially, hotel quarantine). Australians will also be able to enter New Zealand, though only with special permission, which means having a "critical purpose reason" to enter: these reasons include being a partner or dependent child of a New Zealand citizen or resident, and having compassionate grounds to enter.
Is there still pre-departure testing?
Yes, travellers hoping to enter New Zealand will need to return a negative PCR or RT-PCR test within 48 hours of the scheduled departure of their first international flight. On arrival, visitors will be handed three rapid-antigen tests (RATs), one of which will be used on day zero or one of self-isolation, and one on day five or six. The third test is a spare. If either of those RATs are positive, arrivals will be asked to get a follow-up PCR test at a community testing station.
So, when can Australians visit as tourists?
Hold on, that's Step 4. We still have to get through Step 2 – when fully vaccinated New Zealanders can enter the country from anywhere in the world, beginning March 13 – and Step 3, when offshore temporary visa holders and international students can begin entering New Zealand, from April 12.
As it stands right now, fully vaccinated travellers from Australia will be able to enter New Zealand by July this year (exact date unspecified), though still with the requirement to self-isolate for 10 days, or whatever the prescribed period is by that point in time.
Will you have to be vaccinated?
Yes.
What are the self-isolation requirements?
The New Zealand government instructs arrivals to "stay home or at your accommodation" for 10 days, which means you don't need to own a home, or know someone who does, to enter and complete your isolation. It doesn't need to be a free-standing home either – an apartment or multi-unit dwelling is also fine. These dwellings can even be shared with others, though the government advises you to limit your contact with those people, and not to have visitors to the home. Food and other essential items will have to be delivered to your dwelling by someone else.
Will anyone else be allowed to enter in July?
Yes, visitors from other "visa waiver" countries will be allowed to enter New Zealand during Step 4. Those countries include the UK, US, Japan, South Korea, Canada and Taiwan.
When will Australians be able to holiday in New Zealand without having to isolate first?
Great question! For which we have no answer. Even by October this year, when all visitor and student visas to countries around the world are reopened, arriving passengers will still have to self-isolate for the same amount of time that close contacts of COVID-19 cases in New Zealand are required to lock themselves away for at that point in time. Permitted unvaccinated arrivals, meanwhile, will still have to use MIQ for 14 days.
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