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.
Certificate of identity or refugee travel document — DIA Passports New Zealand
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.
A2.15 Unacceptable travel documents — Operations manual
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.