If you cannot get a passport

What to do if your passport is not recognised by Immigration New Zealand, or if you are unable to get a passport.

Managing your visa and passport

• Transferring your visa to a new passport
• Application for transfer or confirmation of a visa
• If your passport is lost or stolen
• If you cannot get a passport
• If you do not leave New Zealand before your visa expires
• Deportation and how you can appeal
• Application for a transfer of a visa for Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) Interim Visa holders
• New Zealand citizens travelling on a foreign passport

Certificate of identity

A certificate of identity is a document issued by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA). A certificate of identity allows you to leave and return to New Zealand if you cannot get a passport. You may be able to apply for a certificate of identity if:

• you cannot get a passport due to circumstances outside of your control, or
• passports from your country of citizenship are not recognised by Immigration New Zealand.

You must be in New Zealand on a valid visa to apply.

Apply for a certificate of identity

You can find out more about applying for a certificate of identity on DIA's Passports New Zealand website.

Passports we do not recognise

Immigration New Zealand does not recognise passports from the following countries and territories:

• Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
• Federal Republic of Somalia

We do recognise passports issued by the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan from 2004 to 2021.

You can check our operations manual for a full list of travel documents that we consider unacceptable.

Transferring your visa

If you are successful in applying for a certificate of identity, you must transfer your valid visa to your new certificate of identity before you use it to travel.