New Zealand travel advice: when will country open borders to UK visitors - and Covid restrictions explained

New Zealand has announced plans for a phased reopening of its borders as the country gradually eases its Covid restrictions.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern warned that the country will not be open to everyone for many months, but tourists will be welcomed back over the course of this year.

New Zealand has faced some of the strictest Covid rules and has kept its borders shut for almost two years due to the pandemic.

The country, which has a population of five million people, has had around 17,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases and recorded 53 deaths, which is significantly low compared to the rest of the world.

The strict border policies have been a big part of this success, but it has also drawn criticism for keeping many New Zealand citizens overseas locked out of their own country.

Over the past six months, citizens have only been able to return home by securing a place in hotel isolation via a government-run lottery, or by qualifying for an emergency place via a small number of categories.

When will New Zealand reopen its borders?

New Zealand will reopen its borders in five stages, with vaccinated citizens in Australia the first to be allowed back later this month.

Giving a speech in Auckland on Thursday (3 February), Ms Ardern said: “Opening back up in this managed way balances inflows of travellers so people can reunite and fill our workforce shortages, while also ensuring our healthcare system can manage an increase in cases.”

The Prime Minister said there was "life before" the virus but "there will be life after Covid too".

She added: “We are well on our way to reaching that destination. But we are not quite there yet.”

The key dates in New Zealand’s phased border reopening are as follows:

27 February

Fully vaccinated New Zealanders from Australia can return home without having to quarantine.

13 March

Fully vaccinated New Zealanders arriving from all other countries in the world can enter without quarantine.

This will also apply to some critical and skilled foreign workers.

12 April

Up to 5,000 international students will be allowed to enter the country.

July

New Zealand is expected to open to non-citizens who can normally travel visa-free to the country, including Australia, the USA and the UK.

October

Travellers from the rest of the world who normally require a visa to enter will not be invited to visit New Zealand until October, when Ms Ardern intends to fully open the country’s borders.

What are the Covid restrictions in New Zealand?

Face masks are required to be worn by law on all New Zealand domestic flights and Air New Zealand requires all passengers to wear a covering on international flights.

For domestic flights within New Zealand, you must either be fully vaccinated, or have a negative COVID-19 test result from a test administered no more than 72 hours before your flight.

From 1 February 2022, Air New Zealand will require customers aged 18 and over travelling anywhere on its international network to be fully vaccinated.

Air New Zealand also requires all travellers aged 12 years and 3 months or older on domestic flights between 14 December 2021 and 31 March 2022 to provide proof of full vaccination or a negative pre-departure test.

Wearing a face mask on all public transport in New Zealand is also legally required and social distancing is recommended in public places.

The government also requires people to keep track of their movements and who they have seen to help with contact tracing.

The NZ Covid-19 Tracer app is available to download for this purpose and all shops and businesses display their QR codes for scanning.

Proof of vaccination may be required to enter some businesses and venues in New Zealand.

Under the Covid-19 Protection Framework, those who are fully vaccinated can expect greater freedoms in New Zealand, but public health measures may still include:

• Mandatory record keeping
• Restrictions on the numbers of people at non-work gatherings, in shops, cafes, restaurants and other places of public gathering, and on visitors to private residences, both indoors and outdoors. Numbers and settings may depend on the use of vaccination certificates.
• Social distancing of two metres from people you do not know when in public or in retail stores, and one metre distancing in controlled environments, such as workplaces, where practicable
• Restrictions on domestic transport, inter regional travel and use of public transport
• Restrictions on schools, business, and recreational activities
• Face masks on public transport and in high risk, crowded areas

A message from the editor:

Thank you for reading. NationalWorld is a new national news brand, produced by a team of journalists, editors, video producers and designers who live and work across the UK. Find out more about who’s who in the team, and our editorial values. We want to start a community among our readers, so please follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and keep the conversation going. You can also sign up to our newsletters and get a curated selection of our best reads to your inbox every day.