New Zealand Citizenship Application in 3 steps
1. Fill the Online Form
See if you are eligible and purchase your application preparation service. Making your application takes just a few minutes: you must provide the required information, contact and shipping information.
2. Ship your Documents
We will provide the filled application form in pdf with a simple step-to-step guide to finish your application, so you can ship everything for review and processing. Print, sign and mail your documents.
3. Find Out about your Application
About 5 to 10 months after sending your application by post, the Citizenship Office will let you know whether your application has been approved. We will work to speed up the process.
How Can I Get New Zealand Citizenship?
To apply for citizenship, you must have been a resident for at least 5 years, and only travelled out of New Zealand for a short amount of time each year. You must therefore have been present in New Zealand with a Resident visa for a total of at least 1,350 days and for at least 240 days in each of those 5 years. You must also be able to understand and speak English and meet character requirements.
Citizenship applications are assessed by the Department of Internal Affairs, not Immigration New Zealand. These involve an application in the prescribed manner, followed by an official ceremony where the applicant takes an oath or affirmation of allegiance to New Zealand. Once you get your certificate of citizenship, usually during the ceremony itself, you may then apply for a New Zealand passport.
What to get ready before applying
Understand the types of citizenship and check if you meet the requirements with the initial quiz.
Get your documents and photo ready before you apply for New Zealand citizenship (You need to provide original documents, not copies). You also need to get an identity referee or witness to support your application.
Include with your application
There are 3 things you must include with your application:
- your full birth certificate or birth record
- your current passport or your travel document — or your most recent one, if it has expired
- a photo taken less than 6 months ago that meets passport photo requirements.
– Adult Citizenship Application
Complete and submit your application for New Zealand citizenship.
There are 3 main types of New Zealand citizenship: by birth, by descent and by grant. To get a New Zealand passport, you need to be a citizen. The type of citizenship you can get depends on your situation.
Citizenship by birth
You are a New Zealand citizen by birth.
Citizenship by descent
You might be eligible for citizenship by descent if you:
- were born overseas, and
- have at least 1 parent who was a New Zealand citizen by birth or grant when you were born.
Citizenship by grant
You might be eligible for citizenship by grant if you were born:
- outside New Zealand, or
- in New Zealand on or after 1 January 2006 to parents who were not New Zealand citizens or permanent residents.
– Child Citizenship Application
Children aged 15 and under do not have to meet the same requirements as adults to get New Zealand citizenship.
Once you turn 16, you can apply for citizenship as an adult.
Children aged 15 and under
Children aged 15 and under do not need to have spent a specific amount of time in New Zealand during the last 5 years if:
- a parent is applying at the same time who meets the presence in New Zealand requirements, or
- one of their parents is already a New Zealand citizen.
Children aged 15 and under still must:
- have the right to live here indefinitely, and
- intend to stay here after they get citizenship.
Children aged 14 and 15
Children aged 14 and 15 still need to meet the language and character requirements.
Children aged 13 and under
Children aged 13 and under do not need to:
- speak English
- prove they are of good character.
– If you are from Samoa
The requirements you need to meet to get New Zealand citizenship depend on when you arrived here.
If you came after 14 September 1982
You need to show you entered New Zealand legally and have the right to be here indefinitely. This means you have:
- a resident permit
- a resident visa
- a permanent resident visa, or
- Australian citizenship or an Australian permanent resident visa.
You do not have to meet the usual presence in New Zealand requirements to get New Zealand citizenship, you can apply even if you have lived here for less than 5 years.
If you were in NZ on 14 September 1982
You need proof you were in New Zealand on 14 September 1982.
Your proof could be:
- your passport
- a letter from your employer confirming you were at work
- a letter from your school confirming you were at school, or
- anything else that can prove you were here on that day.
What you need to complete the application
- Printed filled application form.
- Two identical recent colour photos.
- Provide original documents to prove your identity.
- Someone to act as a witness or identity referee who is over 16 years of age and has a valid New Zealand Passport.
- A payment card or cheque to pay the fee.
- Send the documents by post to the address indicated in the instructions.
Once you complete the online form you will receive an email with your filled application document (except signatures and credit/debit card details, you must do it in your own handwriting) and easy instructions to follow in order to complete your citizenship application.
Have any doubt? Contact us here.
Or email us at info@immiservices-nz.org