28 October 2021 Apia Samoa. From 8 November 2021, you can travel from Samoa to New Zealand without having to go into a managed isolation facility when you arrive, as long as you are fully vaccinated.
New Zealand’s Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed the one-way travel with low-risk Pacific Island countries resumes on the 8th of November, from Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu and Tokelau.
Hipkins made the announcement at Thursday’s daily Covid-19 update, as New Zealand looks to slowly open up travel into the country.
He said from November 8, low-risk travellers from Samoa, Tokelau, Vanuatu and Tonga would be able to bypass MIQ in a one-way travel bubble arrangement.
Earlier this month the signing of an “Arrangement to facilitate one-way quarantine-free travel from Samoa to New Zealand” was announced by Samoa Prime Minister Hon. Fiame Naomi Mataafa.
The arrangement was first trialed with workers under the RSE Recognised Seasonal Employment Scheme under special measures and today, quarantine free travel from Samoa to New Zealand for those with valid visas, has been announced.
“If you arrive in New Zealand from Samoa by air, and are eligible to enter New Zealand, you will not be required to enter a managed isolation facility for 14 days and therefore you will not need a voucher for managed isolation”, reads the statement on New Zealand’s MIQ website.
Quarantine-free travel will only be available one way, from Samoa to New Zealand. Samoa is yet to announce travel requirements for passengers returning to Samoa, and whether flights from Auckland would accommodate the public response, especially for those seeking to spend Christmas in New Zealand with family.
The NZ MIQ site confirms standard quarantine-free travel requirements would be in place for travellers from Samoa – as long as passengers confirm they meet health and eligibility requirements.
They are also required to complete Nau Mai Rā.
Nau Mai Rā is the electronic system approved to collect the contact tracing details from you. It will securely collect the details from you and send them to a secure database managed by the Ministry of Health.
It may become necessary to find you after you have arrived in New Zealand for contact tracing purposes (if you may have been exposed to COVID-19). The contact tracers will be able to access this information to make contact with you.
You can access the system at Nau Mai Rā.
The full list of requirements are available on the Unite Against COVID-19 website:
https://covid19.govt.nz/
