WELLINGTON
The Customhouse, 1 Hinemoa Street, Wellington
PO Box 2218, Wellington 6140, New Zealand
www.customs.govt.nz
16 February 2026
Ref: OIA 26-056
Mr David Singh
By email:
[FYI request #33537 email]
Dear Mr Singh
Request for information under the Official Information Act 1982
Thank you for your email received on 18 January 2026 to the New Zealand Customs Service
(Customs) in which you made the following request under Of icial Information Act 1982 (the Act):
“I have a question regarding eGate use by dual New Zealand citizens who are traveling with
both a New Zealand passport and a foreign passport that does not have a Citizenship
Endorsement or any New Zealand visa linked to it.
OIA request 24-575 notes that, to use eGate, the passport details and passenger details
provided by the airline must be an exact match.
In the following scenario:
A New Zealand–United States dual citizen uses their US passport (without a Citizenship
Endorsement) to check in for a flight departing New Zealand to the United States (as US
citizens cannot be granted a visa or ETA by CBP) and then proceeds to border control.
Can you confirm:
- Whether the person can use their New Zealand passport at eGate in this situation; and
- If not, whether the correct process is that the person must present their New Zealand
passport to an officer at manual passport control.
My understanding is that the US passport could not be used at eGate, as it would not be
linked to any New Zealand visa or endorsement. Please confirm whether this understanding
is correct.
Do Customs have any plans to update operational guidance or systems to address this
situation, given the increasing number of New Zealand dual citizens who hold and travel with
more than one passport?”
I refer you to Customs previous response to you also referenced in your request (Refers OIA 24-
575) for how to use an eGate as a dual passport holder.
Where a traveller holds dual citizenship or multiple passports, the eGate system wil only allow a
traveller to progress if the passport used to check-in for the flight is the same passport used at the
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E: [email address]
W: www.customs.govt.nz
eGate. In the scenario provided above, the person would be rejected from the eGate and referred to
the manual primary line, as the details for the passport used to check-in would not match the details
in the passport they are presenting at the eGates.
In the scenario above, there are a few processes that could be used. The easiest would be for the
passenger to use the same passport they presented for check-in when they present to the New
Zealand passport process (whether that is an eGate or at a manual booth), in this instance their US
passport. This should not impact on their ability to be processed through an eGate as American
citizens of ePassport’s are eligible to use eGates. Alternatively, the passenger could check-in on their
US passport and present their New Zealand passport to the Customs officer at the manual booth,
however this would require the of icer at the manual booth to then resolve/override the mismatch
between the passport numbers.
I can advise that Customs currently has no plans to update the eGate operational guidance or
systems at this stage.
If you have any other queries about this response, please contact the Correspondence, Reviews and
Ministerial Servicing team by email at
: [email address].
Please note that Customs proactively releases responses to Of icial Information Act requests on our
website. As such, we may publish this response on our website after we have sent it to you. Your
name and contact details wil be removed.
Yours sincerely
Jonathan Morten
Manager, Service Optimisation
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