Guidance

New Zealand: Knowledge Base profile

Published 8 April 2024

About: New Zealand

This document contains useful information about New Zealand which will assist His Majesty’s Passport Office staff process passport applications.

Contacts

If you have any questions about the document and your line manager or senior caseworker cannot help you or you think that the document has factual errors then email the Guidance team.

If you notice any formatting errors in this document (broken links, spelling mistakes and so on) or have any comments about the layout or navigability of the document then you can email the Guidance team.

Publication

Below is information on when this version of the document was published:

• version 2.0
• published for Home Office staff on 3 April 2024

Changes from last version of this document

This document has been updated with minor formatting changes.

New Zealand: names

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about names in New Zealand.

Names in New Zealand consist of:

• 1 or more forenames
• a surname

The only exception to this is if the customer requires a single name due to:

• religious beliefs
• philosophical beliefs
• a cultural tradition

Change of name

Following marriage in New Zealand, either spouse has the option to assume the other spouse’s surname. If the name is changed, the new married name will need to be registered.

New Zealand citizens and people who live permanently in New Zealand must register a change of name with the Births, Deaths, and Marriages department. To register a name change in New Zealand on or after 25 January 2009, the person who is changing their name must either:

• have their birth registered in New Zealand
• be a New Zealand citizen or entitled to be in the country indefinitely under the Immigration Act 1987

For children under 18 years of age, both parents and any additional legal guardians need to sign the official form to change the child’s name. If the child is 16 or 17, the child also needs to agree to the name change and sign the form. Where there is sufficient evidence to show the other parent is dead, missing, of unsound mind or unable to act because of a medical condition then one parent can act alone. Alternatively, the matter can be referred to the Family Court.

Name alignment

New Zealand passports will only be issued in the name a person is officially registered as, with the Birth, Deaths, and Marriages department. Change of name through marriage must be registered with the Registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages for any change of name passport application.

The New Zealand Passport Office may issue a passport in a name that is not officially registered to a person who is able to demonstrate their legal name is:

• not the name they are commonly known by
• substantially different from their registered name
• used consistently for all purposes by the applicant, for the majority of their life

There is no guarantee the request will be approved.

New Zealand: nationality

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about nationality in New Zealand.

Dual nationality is recognised in New Zealand.

We may receive an application from a customer who wishes to claim British nationality under the New Zealand Treaty of Waitangi.

Following independence, New Zealand became responsible for the:

• implementation and interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi
• domestic law
• citizenship law

As New Zealand are responsible for the implementation and interpretation of the Treaty, the guarantees of citizens’ rights including those concerning the issue of passports are fulfilled by New Zealand laws.

The Treaty of Waitangi was superseded following the introduction of the:

• British Nationality Act 1948
• New Zealand Citizenship Act 1948

When both of these acts came into force on 1 January 1949:

• New Zealanders automatically became citizens of New Zealand, although they were still classed as British subjects
• the acquisition of British citizenship became dependant on whether a claim to citizenship existed under the British Nationality Act 1948

New Zealand: legitimacy and parental responsibility

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about legitimacy and parental responsibility in New Zealand.

Legitimacy

Since 1 January 1970 New Zealand does not recognise a difference between legitimate and illegitimate births.

Since 1 January 1970, all births are considered legitimate whether their parents are married or not.

Before 1 January 1970, a child is considered:

• legitimate:
  • if the parents were married at the time of their birth before 1 January 1970
  • if the parents marry after the date of birth but before 1 January 1970
• illegitimate if the parents were not married at the time of birth and do not marry before 1 January 1970 and were legitimated by operation of the law on 1 January 1970 (this does not confer British nationality)

Parental responsibility

Both parents hold parental responsibility for a child in New Zealand if:

• they are married; or
• the birth is jointly registered

Parental responsibility is referred to as guardianship in New Zealand. Although birth parents will be the guardians of their children, others can be guardians of those children as well. A child can have more than one guardian, including parents or other parties.

In some cases, guardianship of the child may pass to the Family or High Court.

New Zealand: adoption

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about adoption in New Zealand.

Adoption is legal in New Zealand.

New Zealand: surrogacy

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about surrogacy in New Zealand.

Altruistic surrogacy is legal in New Zealand. Commercial surrogacy is illegal.

The child’s legal parents when donor sperm or donor eggs are used is defined as the:

• woman bearing the child is the legal mother
• woman’s partner at the time of birth is a legal parent with rights of guardianship

New Zealand: gender recognition

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about gender recognition in New Zealand.

Transgender citizens are recognised in New Zealand.

New Zealand: civil partnerships and marriage

This section tells HM Passport Office staff about civil partnerships and marriages in New Zealand

New Zealand law provides the criteria, rules and processes for two people to have their relationship solemnised as a civil union (by way of a formal ceremony) and officially registered in New Zealand.

A civil union may be entered into by couples of the same sex or by couples of different sexes.

New Zealand: documents

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about documents in New Zealand.

Copies of official certificates can be obtained from the New Zealand authorities.

Birth certificates

Birth certificates are issued for all births in New Zealand. A customer can also apply to the hospital where they were born, for a copy of their birth record if it is still held.

Both parents of a child born in New Zealand must jointly notify Births, Deaths and Marriages, as soon as is ‘reasonably practicable’ after the birth. Reasonably practical is deemed by the Registrar-General as generally being within two months of the birth but a registrar can register a birth up to two years after the birth. After two years the birth can only be registered by the Registrar-General.

If a birth certificate is issued with incorrect information, a new certificate will be issued with the correct information.

There are three types of birth certificates in circulation in New Zealand. These types include:

• a standard certificate (full birth certificate), acceptable for HM Passport Office purposes
• two decorative birth certificates (which can be bought separately or as a package with the standard birth certificate), not acceptable for HM Passport Office purposes

HM Passport Office may also accept a copy of the birth entry, issued by a registrar at a later date to the birth registration.

Marriage certificates

When a marriage is celebrated 2 copies of the registration papers must be signed and witnessed. The celebrant (marriage official) returns the ‘copy of a Particulars of Marriage’ to the Registry Office within 10 calendar days. The married couple will keep the other copy.

Marriage certificates are issued when a marriage has been officially registered in New Zealand.

Customers may have more than 1 type of marriage document, these include:

• the marriage document given to the couple on the day of the ceremony (not acceptable for HM Passport Office purposes)
• a certified copy of the marriage, which confirms the marriage has been officially registered with the Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages (acceptable for HM Passport Office purposes)

Death certificates

Death certificates are issued following the notification of a death in New Zealand, by the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

All deaths must be registered within 3 working days of the burial or cremation of the body.

Only one type of death certificate is issued.

Identity documents

A voluntary identity card is issued to citizens in New Zealand, called a HANZ card. These are issued to residents aged 18 years or older.

These identity cards are for:

• proof of age verification
• photo identification if the person does not have a driving license or passport
• an alternative form of photo identity

When a New Zealand passport is renewed or amended, citizens do not send their current passport to the issuing authorities. The previous passport is cancelled on their system once the passport application is received, and from that point the passport is not valid for travel.