Key message: New Zealand citizens have the automatic right to enter and live in New Zealand without needing to apply for a visa.

All people born to New Zealand citizens or permanent residents as well as all people eligible to hold New Zealand passports are New Zealand citizens. People from the Cook Islands, Tokelau and Niue are New Zealand citizens and are eligible for New Zealand passports.

Anyone born in New Zealand before 2006 is a New Zealand citizen by birth (except children of foreign diplomats). Children born in New Zealand on or after 1 January 2006 are New Zealand citizens by birth if at least one parent was a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident, an Australian citizen or permanent resident, or a citizen or permanent resident of the Cook Islands, Tokelau or Niue.

Contact the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) for more information on citizenship.