© 2026 NZeTA - New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority. All Rights Reserved.
Republic of Vanuatu → Aotearoa New Zealand
Vanuatu is on New Zealand’s visa-waiver list. Apply online from Port Vila — no embassy required. Direct flights VLI→AKL in under 4 hours. Approved within 72 hours, valid 2 years.
The Republic of Vanuatu is a sovereign Melanesian archipelago nation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, located approximately 1,750 km northeast of Sydney and 1,900 km northwest of Auckland. Comprising 83 islands (65 inhabited) stretching across 1,300 km from north to south, Vanuatu covers a land area of approximately 12,189 km² with a population of around 350,000. Vanuatu is officially trilingual: Bislama (a Creole-based lingua franca), English, and French are all national languages — a legacy of its joint French-British colonial administration as the New Hebrides Condominium until independence in 1980. The country is also the world’s most linguistically dense nation per capita, with approximately 113 distinct indigenous languages spoken across the island chain.
Vanuatu and New Zealand maintain a close bilateral relationship through Pacific community ties, the RSE seasonal work programme, and New Zealand’s development assistance. The RSE scheme connects thousands of Ni-Vanuatu workers annually to New Zealand horticulture and viticulture businesses. New Zealand is also one of Vanuatu’s primary disaster-response partners — critical given Vanuatu’s position on the Pacific Ring of Fire and its exposure to cyclones, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. Cyclone Pam (2015) and Tropical Cyclone Harold (2020) prompted significant New Zealand humanitarian assistance.
Vanuatu is on New Zealand’s visa-waiver list. Citizens holding a valid Vanuatuan biometric passport must obtain an approved NZeTA before travelling to New Zealand for tourism, business visits, or transit. RSE workers travel on a separate work visa.
Four documents are required to complete the NZeTA application online from Port Vila or anywhere in Vanuatu.
Complete your NZeTA application online from Port Vila in under 10 minutes — no embassy, no queues.
The NZeTA covers a range of short-stay purposes. Work and long-term study require a separate New Zealand visa.
Vanuatu’s proximity to New Zealand makes it one of the Pacific’s most direct connections — under 4 hours on direct service.
Vanuatu’s islands form a distinctive Y-shaped chain — each region offering a unique cultural and natural environment.
Espiritu Santo (the largest island in Vanuatu) and Malekula define the northern arm of Vanuatu’s Y-shaped archipelago. Espiritu Santo — home to the Mele Cascades and the SS President Coolidge wreck-dive site — was a major Allied military base during WWII. Malekula is home to some of Vanuatu’s most culturally complex kastom societies, including the Small Nambas and Big Nambas peoples whose ceremonial traditions have continued for millennia.
Efate is Vanuatu’s most developed island and home to Port Vila, the national capital, parliament, and main international airport (VLI). Port Vila is a compact, walkable South Pacific town with a vibrant market culture, French-English bilingual signage, and some of the Pacific’s best snorkelling on the Mele-Maat Cascades reef. Efate is also home to Iririki Island Resort and the Ekasup Cultural Village, which preserves traditional kastom knowledge for visitors.
Pentecost Island is the birthplace of land diving (Naghol) — the practice from which modern bungee jumping is derived. Every April and May, men on the southern tip of Pentecost build high wooden towers and dive headfirst with only vines around their ankles, the vine length calculated to allow the diver’s head to brush the earth. The ritual is tied to the yam harvest and spiritual communion. Ambrym Island hosts two active volcanoes — Benbow and Marum — and is a global centre for traditional sand-drawing art (Rom dance masks).
Tanna is Vanuatu’s most visited island for ecotourism, famous for Mount Yasur — one of the world’s most accessible active volcanoes, offering nightly fireworks-like eruptions viewed from just 200 metres. Tanna is also home to the John Frum cargo cult movement and the Prince Philip Movement (whose followers venerated the late Duke of Edinburgh). Aneityum (Anatom) is the southernmost inhabited island of Vanuatu and one of the Pacific’s success stories in reef regeneration and sustainable fisheries management through a marine protected area (MPA) programme.
Apply for your NZeTA online — approved within 72 hours, valid 2 years, multiple entries. Direct flights VLI→AKL in under 4 hours.
Apply for NZeTA Now — Vanuatuan Passport© 2026 NZeTA - New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority. All Rights Reserved.