Who needs to pay for managed isolation

Flowchart showing liability for charges

The Flowchart: liability for managed isolation and quarantine charges, shows whether someone will have to pay for their managed isolation/quarantine or not.

Download the Flowchart: liability for managed isolation and quarantine charges [PDF, 227 KB]

Who will have to pay

Even with national quarantine and isolation moving back to the health system in July 2023, you may still be required to pay for your stay in MIQ.

New Zealand citizens and residents

If you are a NZ citizen or resident and you have stayed in a managed isolation or quarantine facility you will be liable for a charge if:

• you left New Zealand, and returned, at any time after 12:01am on 11 August 2020 (when the regulations came into effect).

• you left New Zealand before 12:01 am on 11 August 2020, and on your first return since leaving you:

  • arrived in New Zealand before 12:01 am on 1 June 2021 and intend to stay for a period of less than 90 days, or

  • arrived in New Zealand after 12:01 am on 1 June 2021 and intend to stay for a period of less than 180 days.

You will be liable for charges if you travel to any country outside a quarantine-free travel zone during the 90, or 180, day period.

The term 'New Zealand citizen or resident' means NZ citizens and residence class visa holders. It also includes Australian citizens and permanent residents who are ordinarily resident in NZ.

Temporary entry class visa holders

Charges apply to all people who stayed in MIQ and entered New Zealand on a temporary entry class visa, regardless of when their visa was approved or when they had booked their place in managed isolation.

Read about the changes to temporary entry class visa holders

Critical workers

Everyone who stayed in MIQ and entered on a border exception as a critical worker will have to pay for managed isolation. Their employers may pay these costs.

Read about the changes to charges for critical workers

Who will not have to pay

New Zealanders who left New Zealand before 12:01am on 11 August 2020, will not have to pay if, before 1 June 2021, they returned to stay in New Zealand for 90 days or longer.

New Zealanders who left New Zealand before 12:01am on 11 August 2020, will not have to pay if, on or after 1 June 2021, they returned to stay in New Zealand for 180 days or longer.

If these people travelled directly to a quarantine-free travel country during this time, they will not have to pay for their stay if they have not travelled anywhere outside the quarantine-free travel zone. They must have returned directly to New Zealand and are in New Zealand on the 180th day after they initially entered New Zealand.

Other people who will not have to pay

• Family members who isolated in the same room with a person who did not have to pay (unless they entered under a critical worker border exception)
• Someone in New Zealand who went into managed isolation to care for a person who was required to stay in a managed isolation or quarantine facility
• Refugees, including claimants, protected persons and applicants under the special immigration category for victims of domestic violence, when they entered New Zealand for the first time
• Anyone who entered New Zealand after a medical air transfer, a medical referral, or a medical evacuation
• Patients who travelled as part of the Ministry of Health’s High Cost Treatment Pool or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s New Zealand Medical Treatment Scheme or the Samoa Health Partnership Programme
• New Zealand citizens ordinarily resident in the Cook Islands, Niue or Tokelau who were travelling to New Zealand for medical treatment
• New Zealand citizens who:
  • left the Cook Islands, Niue or Tokelau, before 11 August 2020 and was at the time they left, ordinarily resident in the Cook Islands, Niue or Tokelau; and
  • travelled to New Zealand from another country for the purposes of returning to the Cook Islands, Niue or Tokelau; and
  • visited New Zealand for less than 180 days; and
  • returned to the Cook Islands, Niue or Tokelau and will remain in the Cook Islands, Niue, or Tokelau until the 180th day after their arrival in New Zealand
• People being deported, or extradited to New Zealand, or a person defined as a “returning offender” in the Returning Offenders (Management and Information) Act 2015 and any New Zealand citizen deported from Australia
• Diplomats and consular staff, including their families, and official foreign government representatives will be exempt.

To demonstrate you are exempt, you need to complete the fee waiver application in the online portal (see below).

Complete an online fees waiver application via the customer portal

Use the customer portal to apply for a fees waiver:

• click the link below to sign up to create an account, including a login and password.
• once you have logged in, fill out your fees waiver application form.

You can return to the customer portal via this page at any time to check on the status of your application or resume a draft application you have saved. Bookmark the link below for quick access to the portal to see your application.

You can also use this account to make a request on behalf of someone else.

Go to the customer portal to apply for a fees waiver(external link)

Guide to the customer portal

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