Renewing New Zealand Passport Online + Preparing for a trip to the US

Renewing New Zealand Passport Online

Right Everyone

So I am a New Zealand  citizen with a New Zealand passport
I have to travel to the US to sit an exam next month (have approximately a bit over a month left)
I have bought flights and now I thought I have to get my visa or other paperwork sorted.

So firstly, if you are a New Zealand  citizen with a New Zealand passport and are only travelling to the US for a short period of time (90 days or less) you DO NOT require a visa as you are eligible for the "US visa waiver program". You should visit this website and check off everything just in case you do have to apply.

https://nz.usembassy.gov/visas/visa-waiver-program/

So I check the expiry of my passport and I only have 5 months before expiry.
When you enter the US you must have a return ticket and also have a NZ electronic passport that has at least 6 months before it expires. You do not want to leave anything to chance.

I am living in Australia so need to do this online. I have done this previously and the passport comes relatively quickly.

https://www.passports.govt.nz

Make sure you give at least 13 working days for your passport to arrive. (10 days to process and also 1-3 days for delivery)

My passport came well before that last time so I will post up when it does arrive.

It should come on or before the 8th of September 2017 but if it doesn't it still gives me about 3 weeks to plan for whatever may have gone wrong.

This is the cost of the standard application fee was NZD$156.52 as I am not in NZ I do not pay for GST. Postage was free in my case.

Date:           22-Aug-2017

Application fee:             $156.52 NZD

Courier fee:                 $  0.00 NZD

GST:                         $  0.00 NZD

-----------------------------------------------

Total                        $156.52 NZD

These are all prices if you have to have it urgently which can be found on their website.

https://www.passports.govt.nz/passport-costs/

The hardest part for me when renewing my passport is the photo part. If you go to office works you can get it done really cheap $14.95 or at the post office for $19.95.

When you are getting it done ASK FOR IT TO BE EMAILED!

They will email you the single photo that you can upload. But for me it did not work straight away.

The size was too small (48KB). The size must be 250KB or more so I just adjusted the size on my macbook.

Open photo in Preview > Tools (tab) > (Scroll down to) Adjust Size > (then change) the width to 50 ; must have "scale proportionally" ticked when doing this > click OK button > File (tab) > click "save"> then upload the photo.      FINISHED :)

Now once the passport arrives I must apply for a ESTA, which is like a visa but not called a visa.

It screens you and gives you permission to enter the country. It takes up to 72 hours

 
so you must do this before your trip. If you are denied, then you must sign up for a visa. 

I cannot apply for a ESTA until I have my new passport as they require you to put in your passport details. You can apply for a ESTA here

http://www.esta.us

Now all is well. Make sure you have travel insurance and stay safe on your trip.