New Zealand Visa Application in Singapore – Part 1

The process of applying for a New Zealand visa is neither very complicated nor very difficult. But you should be utmost careful with your visa application to ensure that it’s not rejected. I had applied online for a tourist visa for my upcoming New Zealand trip in April 2017. My very first tourist visa application was rejected (in Singapore). However, I applied again, and the tourist visa was approved. I will share all the crucial details about New Zealand visa application in Singapore through my articles.

You can find the entire New Zealand visa application related official information by following the VFS GLOBAL’s official page.  In this post, I will be sharing additional information from my own adventures. Please note that I have an Indian passport, and I had applied for a tourist visa.

I will divide my experiences in three broad, interconnected parts-

1. My first New Zealand visa application, and rejection
2. Why my New Zealand Visa was rejected? A critical analysis
3. My second New Zealand visa application, and visa approval

In this post I will share details about the first part – visa application and its rejection. However, I strongly urge you to go through all the three parts to ensure that you get a complete picture. I sincerely wish that you get your visa approved in your very first attempt.

Let’s begin!

New Zealand Visa application online or offline?

You can apply for a New Zealand visa either online or offline. But I would recommend an online application, as it’s really simple, and convenient. The fee also seems to be lesser for an online application.

Where to apply for a New Zealand visa is Singapore?

First, you need to apply online. Secondly, you need to visit the New Zealand Visa Application Centre (which is basically VFS GLOBAL) to submit an online receipt and your passport.

What is the link for an online visa application?

For an online application you have to use Real Me. You need to create an account before starting a visa application. After you complete the online form, you will get a receipt. Take a printout of the receipt and submit the receipt at the VFS GLOBAL office – along with your passport, and a processing fee.

What are the documents required for online upload?

New Zealand visa document checklist- click here! You must prepare the following:

1. Bank statement– Before a visa application form’s online submission, you need to upload some reliable evidence to show that how you will support your expenses when you are in New Zealand. I had submitted my Bank statement (of February’2017- just the printout without my bank’s official seal).
2. New Zealand visa application itineraries – To apply for a New Zealand visa, you need to upload your flight itinerary (along with the visa application form online). Officially, you are not expected to book flights until your visa is approved. You can find (and free download) itinerary details with example files on my Australian visa application page.
3. Letter of certification – If you are a student, do submit a letter of certification from your institute clearly indicating your student status. I had summited my student status certificate. The certificate had the official stamp from my institute.
4. Photo, passport copy, etc.

Documents to submit at VFS GLOBAL

Please note that the aforementioned documents are to be uploaded online. You don’t need to carry them to the VFS GLOBAL. For example, you don’t need to bring your photo or bank statement to the VFS GLOBAL office. In fact, at VFS GLOBAL you only need to submit the online from submission receipt, original passport, and a processing fee of SG $32.

 

Address of the VFS GLOBAL in Singapore

•  New Zealand Visa Application Centre, 135 Cecil Street, #08-01 MYP Plaza, Singapore 069536.

How to reach VFS GLOBAL office in Singapore?

1. GPS Location of the New Zealand Visa Application Centre, Singapore – click here!
2. Nearest MRT –Tanjong Pagar, Take Exit G, then walk 4-5 minutes.

Timings for VFS GLOBAL

1. Submission Timings: 08:00 to 14:00 (Monday-Friday)
2. Passport and documents retrieval timing: 14:00 to 16:00 (Monday-Friday)

Application form scrutiny

When you reach the VFS GLOBAL office, there will be a security person who will ask you to show the relevant documents. Once he/she finds that everything is in order, you will be given a queue number. Then you can sit down and wait for your turn.

Submission at VFS GLOBAL

Once it’s your turn, you need to produce the completed online application form receipt and passport. Please bring your original passport to the visa application centre. Once the person at New Zealand Visa Application Centre counter has checked your passport and receipt, you will be asked to pay the processing fee of SG$ 32.

New Zealand Visa Fee

The total fee for a New Zealand visa (for an Indian Passport holder) is NZ $165 +SG$ 32. NZ $165 is basically a tourist visa fee that you will pay online. I paid NZ $165 online -using my credit card.  SG $32 is an application processing fee that will be paid at the VFS Global.  I paid SG $32 by cash at the VFS GLOBAL office. Please note that you can pay the SG $32 at the VFS GLOBAL office by NETS/Credit card as well.

Biometric data collection

Biometric data was not collected for a New Zealand visa (tourist).

They do keep your passport

For a New Zealand visa application in Singapore, the visa application processing happens in Bangkok. So when you submit the online application form receipt, passport, and processing fee (SG $32) to VFS GLOBAL, they will keep your passport. It will be sent to the Bangkok for evaluating your application. Officially, it takes 7 working days for you to get the passport back. I had submitted my passport on 18^th April 2017, and I got it back on 25^th April 2017 (in the evening). A VFS GLOBAL official basically called me (by phone) to collect the passport at the VFS GLOBAL office. The collection timings are strictly from 2.00 PM to 4.00 PM. When I collected my passport there was no information yet about visa status (approval or rejection).

How to check your visa status online?

Just login to your Real Me account, and you will be able to see your New Zealand visa status.

Apply for more than one country’s visa in one visit

The same visa centre, VFS GLOBAL also accepts visa for several other countries, including Russia, New Zealand, UK, Canada, etc. Of course, there are separate counter for each country’s visa application. But they are all located nearby – on the #08-01 floor of the MYP Plaza. That means, if you are planning to go to both New Zealand, and Australia, you can apply for the two visas in just one visit of the VFS GLOBAL. Remember that during Australian visa application – they return your passport once the application is lodged and the biometric data have been collected.

I didn’t realise this (my mistake) as I was not sure about the passport being returned. I only applied for the Australian visa when I visited VFS GLOBAL for the first time. That means I had to come for a second time to apply for the New Zealand visa. 🙁 But you can optimise your time – during one visit itself, you can first complete formalities for the Australian visa, and collect your passport. Subsequently, then submit your passport for a New Zealand visa.

Duration for visa approval/rejection

How much time it takes for a New Zealand tourist visa approval? It can take (officially) 15 working days to get the New Zealand visa. Here is the timeline of what happened in my case-

1. I submitted my online application form on 17^th April 2017,
2. Next day, I submitted my passport at the VFS office (on 18^th April 2017),
3. I got my passport back on 25th April 2017,
4. I got the visa status update via email on 26^th April 2017. After going through the email I realised that my visa was basically rejected.

That’s it for this post. I will be writing my next post about why my visa was rejected.

I have also written an article about Australian visa application in Singapore. In future I will write separate posts for the Chinese Visa, Malaysian Visa, etc.!

You can also check out my posts about my New Zealand trip, or the other countries, or the complete navigation list. You can also find more about me.

Hope it helps!

Happy wandering!

PS – The process of applying for a New Zealand tourist visa is a bit similar (but definitely not the same) to the Australian visa application process. You will notice some overlapping information (sorry about this) if you have read both the articles.  But this is to ensure that those who just read only one of the pages don’t miss out any information.

Last updated: Tuesday, September 5, 2017