Do New Zealanders need a visa for Australia?

There's no online application and no fee. You apply for the Special Category Visa (subclass 444) simply by arriving on your New Zealand passport, and the Department of Home Affairs grants it if you meet the criteria. The Incoming Passenger Card you fill in on the plane also serves as your visa application.

If you're a New Zealand citizen travelling on a different passport, the Special Category Visa process is different. Check the Department of Home Affairs page for your situation before you fly.

Most passengers arriving in Australia complete an Incoming Passenger Card. It asks for your passport details, flight, address in Australia, and customs, biosecurity and health declarations. It must be completed in English, and you sign and date it.

Australia is trialling a digital version, the Australia Travel Declaration, with Qantas. Passengers on Qantas flights into Brisbane, and selected flights into Sydney and Melbourne, may be invited to complete it in the Qantas app up to 72 hours before departure. Everyone else uses the paper card handed out on the plane.

A parent or guardian can complete the Incoming Passenger Card on behalf of a child they're travelling with. Each traveller still needs their own card, so a family of four fills in four cards on the way there and four New Zealand Traveller Declarations on the way home.

Australia's biosecurity rules are strict. Declare all food, plant material and animal products on your card, or put them in the amnesty bins at the airport. Penalties apply for items you don't declare.