These regulations amend the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 (the principal regulations). These regulations come into force on 27 October 2025, apart from regulation 7, which comes into force on 3 November 2025.

Regulation 4 amends regulation 23I of the principal regulations, which specifies the information that a request for an electronic travel authority (an ETA) must include. The effect of the amendment is that, if requested to do so, the following people will be required to state in their ETA request whether they hold an Australian visa of a kind specified in new Part 2 of Schedule 2:

• people who are travelling from Australia to New Zealand on a passport issued by one of the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, or Vanuatu (the Pacific Islands Forum countries) (see item 9(a) of new Part 1 of Schedule 2, as inserted by regulation 7(2)); and

• people who are travelling from Australia to New Zealand on a passport issued by the People’s Republic of China (see item 10 of new Part 1 of Schedule 2, as inserted by regulation 7(2)).

Regulation 5 inserts new Part 5 into Schedule 1AA of the principal regulations. New Part 5 sets out transitional arrangements that apply to a citizen of one of the Pacific Islands Forum countries or the People’s Republic of China who is required to hold a traveller ETA in order to qualify, on or after 3 November 2025, for a visa waiver under regulation 18 of the principal regulations.

The person may, starting on 27 October 2025, request the ETA, and the principal regulations as amended by these regulations apply to the request and the issued ETA. The ETA is valid for the period starting on the date on which it is issued.

Regulation 6 amends Schedule 1 of the principal regulations to add citizens of the People’s Republic of China to the list of people for whom the requirement to hold a transit visa before travelling to New Zealand on or after 27 October 2025 is waived under regulation 16 of the principal regulations.

Regulation 7 amends Schedule 2 of the principal regulations to create 2 new Parts. New Part 1 incorporates existing items 1 to 8. It describes the people for whom the requirement to hold a visa permitting travel to New Zealand is waived under regulation 18 of the principal regulations. New items 9 and 10 provide that, on or after 3 November 2025, the requirement for a person travelling on a passport issued by one of the Pacific Islands Forum countries or by the People’s Republic of China to hold a visa permitting travel to New Zealand from Australia is waived if—

• the person holds an Australian visa of a class specified in new Part 2; and

• the visa is valid at the time at which the person checks in for departure to New Zealand; and

• the person is seeking a New Zealand temporary visa that is current for not more than 3 months; and

• the purpose of the visit to New Zealand does not include medical consultation or treatment.

New Part 2 specifies the Australian visa classes (including subclasses and descriptions) referred to in items 9 and 10 of new Part 1.

Regulation 8 amends Schedule 4 of the principal regulations. The amendment is consequential on the amendment made to Schedule 1 by regulation 6 and removes the reference to the fee required for a transit visa application.