© 2026 NZeTA - New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority. All Rights Reserved.
República de Chile → Aotearoa New Zealand
Chile holds a NZeTA visa-waiver agreement with New Zealand. No embassy. No appointment. Apply online — approved within 72 hours, valid 2 years with multiple entries.
Apply for NZeTA — Chilean PassportChile is an extraordinary geographic anomaly — 4,300 km long and an average of only 175 km wide, running the entire length of South America's Pacific coast from the bone-dry Atacama Desert to the glaciers and fiords of Patagonia. It spans virtually every climate zone on earth within a single national border.
The Atacama Desert — the driest non-polar desert on earth — sits in Chile's far north. Some Atacama weather stations have recorded no rainfall in recorded history. Yet the region draws travellers worldwide for San Pedro de Atacama: night-sky observation at 2,400m elevation with near-permanent clear skies, Valle de la Luna, and the flamingo lagoons of Salar de Atacama.
Easter Island (Rapa Nui), administered by Chile 3,700 km off the coast, is the most remote inhabited island on earth and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Santiago — Chile's capital with 8 million people — sits at 520m in the Valle Central with the Andes visible on clear days. This is Chile's wine heartland: Maipo, Colchagua, Casablanca, and Maule valleys produce wines with direct parallels to New Zealand's Marlborough and Hawke's Bay regions.
Valparaíso, 120 km from Santiago, is Chile's UNESCO-listed port city — a city of open-air murals, funicular railways, and one of South America's most distinctive urban cultures. Arturo Merino Benítez Airport (SCL) — Chile's main international hub — sits 15 km west of the capital.
Chilean Patagonia is the closest landscape on earth to New Zealand's Fiordland in terms of wilderness scale and weather intensity. Torres del Paine National Park's W Trek and Circuit attract long-distance walkers worldwide. The Carretera Austral — a 1,240 km highway carved through southern Patagonia — is one of the world's great road journeys.
The Chilean Lake District (Lagos region) — with active volcanoes, ancient araucaria forests, and glacial lakes — sits between the wine country and Patagonia and has direct landscape parallels with New Zealand's Central Plateau and Rotorua region.
Have all four items ready before opening the NZeTA application form. All details must match your Chilean passport exactly.
Must be biometric (standard for all Chilean passports issued since 2013) and valid for at least 3 months beyond your planned departure from New Zealand. The NZeTA is electronically linked to your specific passport number — renewing your passport before travel requires a new NZeTA application. Only biometric Chilean passports are accepted under the visa-waiver programme.
A passport-style photo taken within the last 6 months. Plain light background, no sunglasses, no headwear except for religious reasons, full face clearly visible and centred. The photo is uploaded directly into the online form — no printed photograph is required at any stage of the NZeTA process.
Your NZeTA approval is delivered by email. Keep this address accessible at check-in at Santiago Arturo Merino Benítez Airport (SCL) and on arrival in New Zealand. The NZeTA is electronically verified at the border — no printed document is issued or required from the traveller.
A credit or debit card to pay the NZeTA processing fee and the mandatory New Zealand government International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL) in one secure online transaction. Non-refundable. Your bank will convert CLP to NZD at the prevailing exchange rate at the time of payment.
No embassy visit. No appointment. Apply from Santiago or anywhere in Chile at our NZeTA application page. Apply at least 3 days before your SCL departure.
Full legal name, date of birth, Chilean passport number, and expiry date — exactly as printed. A single error in the passport number will delay processing and must be corrected before approval proceeds.
Upload your digital face photo and truthfully answer all health and character declaration questions. Required by NZ immigration law — inaccurate answers may result in rejection and affect future entry to New Zealand.
The NZeTA service fee and the New Zealand government IVL levy are paid together in one secure card transaction. Non-refundable. Instant confirmation is issued and your application enters processing.
Approved within 72 hours. Electronically linked to your Chilean passport — no printing needed. Airline check-in at SCL and New Zealand border officers verify it automatically on your arrival.
The NZeTA authorises short-term visits only. See the tourist visa, business visa, and transit visa pages for activities requiring a separate visa.
Santiago's Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL) is one of the few airports in the world with a direct air link to Auckland — making Chile's route to New Zealand among the most convenient from any South American city.
As South America's largest airline and Chile's flag carrier, LATAM operates the SCL–AKL direct service with multiple weekly frequencies. Flight time is approximately 11 hours. Santiago is LATAM's primary hub, making onward connections from within Chile straightforward.
~11 hours · Non-stopAir New Zealand operates on the SCL–AKL route — confirm current schedules and frequency at time of booking, as seasonal service patterns vary. On arrival in Auckland, Air New Zealand's domestic network provides seamless onward connections to Christchurch, Wellington, Queenstown, and Dunedin.
~11 hours · Non-stopSCL → SYD via LATAM or Qantas (approximately 13 hours), then SYD → AKL via Qantas or Air New Zealand (approximately 3.5 hours). Total travel time: 18–20 hours including connection. Ideal for travellers combining New Zealand with Australia — Sydney allows a stopover in either direction.
1 stop · ~18–20 hrs totalSCL → LAX via LATAM (approximately 10 hours), then LAX → AKL via Air New Zealand (approximately 12.5 hours). Total travel time: 25–28 hours including connection. The LAX hub provides a US stopover option and access to Air New Zealand's direct trans-Pacific service.
1 stop · ~25–28 hrs totalChile uses the Chilean Peso (CLP). New Zealand uses NZD. Contactless card payment is universal across New Zealand. An open-jaw itinerary — flying into Auckland (AKL) and out of Christchurch (CHC) — allows full coverage of both the North and South Islands without backtracking.
Chile and New Zealand share an extraordinary geographic coincidence: both stretch across similar Southern Hemisphere latitudes, both face the Pacific Ocean on their western coast, both are defined by long narrow shapes squeezed between ocean and high peaks — and both are among the world's most dramatic combinations of desert, wine country, and Patagonian wilderness within a single national border.
| Chile — Region & Character | Latitude | New Zealand Equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| San Pedro de Atacama Driest desert, volcanic altiplano, flamingo lagoons |
23°S | No direct NZ equivalent — New Zealand's northernmost point sits at 34°S. Atacama's aridity and high-altitude clarity have no Southern Hemisphere twin. Travellers seeking remoteness should note Northland's subtropical coast as the closest in warmth. |
| Santiago / Maipo Valley Capital, Mediterranean climate, Cabernet Sauvignon |
33°S | Northland / Auckland region — NZ's warmest region, closest climate parallel. Karikari Peninsula, Bay of Islands, and Northland's subtropical coast approximate Santiago's seasonal warmth. Auckland is Chile's entry point into New Zealand — the two capitals share a similar latitude relationship with their respective countries. |
| Araucanía / Lakes District Araucaria forests, active volcanoes, glacial lakes |
38–40°S | Hawke's Bay / Gisborne / Bay of Plenty — NZ's prime wine and orchard belt. Similar temperate coastal climate with mountains inland. Hawke's Bay Syrahs and Chardonnays draw direct comparisons to Chilean Lake District reds. The volcanic plateau of the Central North Island (Tongariro) parallels the Araucanía's volcano landscape. |
| Torres del Paine / Puerto Natales Granite towers, glaciers, Patagonian steppe |
51°S | Fiordland / Stewart Island — NZ's closest wilderness parallel: ancient beech forest, deep glacial fiords, and terrain accessible only on foot or by boat. Milford Sound, Doubtful Sound, and the Routeburn Track are frequently cited by W Trek veterans as the most comparable walking experience in the world. |
Chilean wine travellers heading to New Zealand typically make Marlborough their first stop — the Sauvignon Blanc capital of the world, at 41°S. The Wairau Valley's aromatic, high-acid whites sit at a different end of the style spectrum from Chile's Carménère-dominant reds, making New Zealand a genuinely complementary wine destination. Hawke's Bay Cabernet blends and Central Otago Pinot Noir are the most direct Chilean-style references.
Torres del Paine walkers frequently describe Queenstown and the Routeburn Track as the closest New Zealand equivalent in spirit — not identical landscapes (NZ beech forest versus Patagonian steppe and granite) but the same combination of physical preparation, multi-day logistics, and reward proportional to effort. Queenstown's bungee jumping, skydiving, and jet boating are unmatched — Chile has no equivalent adventure-sport hub concentrated in one location.
100% online from Santiago or anywhere in Chile. Approved within 72 hours. Valid 2 years with multiple entries to New Zealand.
Start NZeTA Application — Chilean Passport© 2026 NZeTA - New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority. All Rights Reserved.