From 24 September 2026, new applications for most NZ visitor visas can only be made in INZ's enhanced Immigration Online system. Draft applications in the old system are deleted after 8 October. What changes, who is excluded, and the deadlines that matter.
Written by the ProVisas Editorial Team. ProVisas is a licensed New Zealand immigration advisory firm (IAA Licence 201301110).
From 24 September 2026, new applications for most New Zealand visitor visas can only be started in Immigration New Zealand’s enhanced Immigration Online system; the old online system stops accepting fresh applications for the affected categories (immigration.govt.nz). If you already have a draft sitting in the old system, the deadline that matters is 8 October 2026: drafts not submitted by then are deleted, and you start again in the new system. Applications already submitted are unaffected and will be processed to a decision. Here is what moves, what does not, and how to avoid losing work.
Nineteen visitor visa categories move on 24 September 2026, including the general Visitor Visa, the Business Visitor Visa, the Parent and Grandparent Visitor Visa, the Medical Treatment Visitor Visa and the Sports Events Visitor Visa; INZ’s announcement carries the full list (immigration.govt.nz). Two categories went early: the Group Visitor Visa and Tour Escort Visitor Visa moved to the enhanced system on 24 August 2026.
Two categories stay put for now: the Partner of a New Zealander Visitor Visa and the Child of a New Zealander Visitor Visa continue in the old system, so partnership-based visitor applicants change nothing about how they apply. The Trafficking Child Victim Visitor Visa becomes paper only.
Three dates carry the whole change:
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 24 September 2026 | New applications for the affected categories can only be started in enhanced Immigration Online |
| 8 October 2026 | Last day to complete and submit a draft sitting in the old system |
| After 8 October 2026 | Unsubmitted drafts are deleted; you restart in the enhanced system |
Anything already submitted keeps moving: INZ will still accept document uploads and send correspondence on lodged applications until they are decided. The risk sits entirely with half-finished drafts, so if yours is close to ready, submit it before 8 October rather than re-entering everything later.
For most applicants the change is administrative, and mildly positive: the enhanced system is the same platform INZ has been moving categories to through 2026, including family of temporary visa holder applications in June and student categories before that. You create an account in the enhanced system if you do not already have one; an old-system login does not carry over your drafts.
The people who need to act this month are those mid-application: agents and family members preparing Parent and Grandparent Visitor Visa applications with long supporting document sets, and anyone who started a visitor application weeks ago and parked it. Fifteen minutes to submit now beats rebuilding the application in October. Processing times themselves are unaffected; the current figures for every visitor category are in our processing times tracker, with visitor visas averaging 1 week as at early September 2026.
From that date, new applications for most visitor visa categories, 19 in total including the general Visitor Visa, Business Visitor Visa and Parent and Grandparent Visitor Visa, can only be started in INZ’s enhanced Immigration Online system. The old online system stops accepting fresh applications for those categories, though applications already submitted continue to a decision.
You can complete and submit it in the old system until 8 October 2026. After that date, unsubmitted drafts are deleted and the application must be started again in the enhanced Immigration Online system. Drafts do not transfer between systems, so a nearly finished application is worth submitting before the deadline.
The Partner of a New Zealander Visitor Visa and the Child of a New Zealander Visitor Visa remain in the old online system for now, so applicants in those categories apply exactly as before. The Trafficking Child Victim Visitor Visa moves to paper only.
No. The change is about where applications are lodged, not how they are assessed. As at early September 2026, standard visitor visas average 1 week to process with 80% decided within 2 weeks, and INZ refreshes its published wait times weekly.
If you have not used the enhanced system before, you create an account when you first apply there. Old-system logins and drafts do not carry over, which is exactly why INZ’s 8 October 2026 cutoff for old-system drafts matters: after it, the enhanced system is the only route for the affected categories.
We track every INZ system and policy change as it lands; the immigration news page carries the running record, and the visitor visa guide covers the visa itself.
Current as at 4 September 2026, based on Immigration New Zealand policy. For advice on your own situation, talk to a ProVisas Licensed Immigration Adviser (IAA Licence 201301110).
Last reviewed . Information may have changed since this article was reviewed. For your specific case, talk to a licensed immigration adviser.
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