Do Children and Infants Need Their Own NZ Traveller Declaration?

Yes — every person travelling to New Zealand needs a completed NZ Traveller Declaration (NZTD), including infants and young children. Age is not an exemption. The difference is in who submits it.

Children cannot create their own NZTD account, but they do not travel undeclared. A parent or guardian completes the declaration on the child's behalf through the same NZTD system adults use. Practically, this means one adult can submit declarations for their entire family group — themselves, their partner, and every child travelling with them — under a single account login.

The NZTD website (travellerdeclaration.govt.nz) walks you through adding dependants during the submission process. You'll need each child's passport details to hand, exactly as they appear in the passport. Don't approximate a date of birth or abbreviate a name — biosecurity and border systems match against passport records, and a mismatch causes delays when you're trying to get ashore.

When to submit

Complete your family's declarations before the ship reaches its first New Zealand port. The system opens for submission up to 24 hours before arrival. Most cruise lines will send a reminder through the ship's app or daily programme, but don't rely on that nudge — do it the night before on the ship's wi-fi and the morning ashore is straightforward for everyone.

If you're arriving at multiple New Zealand ports on the same voyage, you only need to submit once for that trip. The declaration covers your entire New Zealand visit, not each individual port call.

What you're declaring for a child

The declaration questions are the same regardless of age. You're confirming what the child is carrying or has been in contact with — and with young children, that list can be longer than you expect:

• Baby food and formula — declare it. Commercially sealed products are generally fine, but homemade or partially used items will be assessed by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).
• Wooden or natural-fibre toys — wooden rattles, straw-stuffed comfort toys, anything with soil residue from a garden. Declare them.
• Camping or outdoor gear packed for kids — muddy gumboots, a tent, a sleeping bag used outdoors. All biosecurity risk items.
• Animal products — wool booties, feather-stuffed items, any food containing meat or dairy from outside NZ.

New Zealand's biosecurity rules exist to protect the country's agricultural sector and native ecosystems. MPI officers are not trying to confiscate your child's favourite toy — but they do need to see it if it's made from natural materials. Declaring and presenting is always better than not declaring and being caught out. Undeclared items carry fines regardless of the age of the traveller on whose behalf you're travelling.

The MPI guidance on what to declare is at biosecurity.govt.nz.

One point for international families

If your child holds a different passport from yours — dual nationality, or a child who has their own nationality from a partner's country — submit their declaration under their travel document, not yours. The nationality on the declaration must match the passport they present at the border. This catches families off guard more than almost anything else.

If a child is travelling with a grandparent, relative, or family friend rather than a parent, that accompanying adult can still complete the declaration on the child's behalf. They will, however, need to carry appropriate documentation confirming they have authority to travel internationally with that child — a notarised consent letter from the parent or legal guardian is the standard requirement. New Zealand Customs and Immigration will check.

The prep step that saves the most grief

Gather every family member's passport before you sit down to submit. Confirm the given names, surnames, and dates of birth exactly as printed — not as you remember them — then complete all the declarations in one sitting. A five-minute check before you start means no scrambling at 7am when the tender is loading.

Sources

• NZ Traveller Declaration: travellerdeclaration.govt.nz
• Ministry for Primary Industries — what to declare: biosecurity.govt.nz
• New Zealand Customs Service: customs.govt.nz