Immigration NZ waives visa requirements for Peruvian football fans

The All Whites will face Peru in the home leg of the qualifying series at Westpac Stadium in Wellington on November 11.

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) will waive visa requirements to allow Peruvian football fans to visit New Zealand for their World Cup football playoff in Wellington next month.

Peruvian media reported that Peru fans would be unable to attend the match, due to New Zealand's visa process.

But INZ Area Manager Marcelle Foley said the agency will waive the requirement for Peruvian nationals to send their passport to our Washington office as part of the online visitor visa application process.

"(This is) so they can get decisions on visas in time to travel to New Zealand for the World Cup qualifier next month," Foley said.

"The streamlined process will be in place until the day of the match for online applications only."Peru is not part of the visa waiver program that allows citizens of many countries to travel freely to New Zealand without having to apply for a visa.

It would normally take 20 working days to receive a visa, meaning they would have already missed the deadline to attend the game on November 11.

Peru qualified for the playoff against the All Whites on Wednesday after a 1-1 draw with Colombia.

The All Whites will face Peru in the home leg of the qualifying series at Westpac Stadium in Wellington on Saturday 11 November with kick-off at 4.15pm.

The away leg will be played at the Estadio Nacional de Lima in Peru's capital on Thursday 16 November at 3.15pm NZT.

The All Whites have been to the FIFA World Cup twice in 1982 and in 2010, while Peru have qualified for four World Cups but their last appearance was in 1982.