Police certificates
When you apply for a visa, you may need to provide us with a police certificate to show that you are of good character.
About police certificates
Depending on the visa you want, and how long you plan to stay in New Zealand, you may need to provide a police certificate as evidence of your good character.
Police certificates are documents issued by the police or a government agency. They:
- provide information about any criminal record you have
- are based on official records and checks
- are also sometimes called criminal checks, police clearance certificates or penal records.
If we ask you to provide a police certificate, you must:
- make sure the police certificate is less than 6 months old when you submit your visa application
- provide us with a translation, if it is not in English.
Providing English translations supporting documents
Find out how to get a police certificate
- are a citizen of, and
- have lived in for more than 5 years since you turned 17.
- any country you are a citizen of
- any other country where you spent 12 months or more over the last 10 years — even if those 12 months were not all in one stay.
- must provide police certificates, if you are applying for a resident visa
- may be asked to provide police certificates, if you are applying for a temporary visa to work or visit.
You must provide police certificates if your total time in New Zealand will be 24 months or longer across all visits. This includes any time you have spent in New Zealand in the past on other visas, even if you have been out of the country since then.
Provide police certificates from any country you:
If you are aged 16 or younger, you do not need to provide police certificates.
If you have a criminal record, we may still be able to grant you a visa. You can provide an explanation of your criminal record when you apply, and we will decide if you meet our good character requirements.
You must provide police certificates if you are aged 17 or older.
Provide police certificates from:
Police certificates must show any criminal records you have had at any time in any of these countries — not only in the last 10 years.
If you have a criminal record, we may still be able to give you a visa. You can provide an explanation of your criminal record when you apply, and we will decide if you meet our good character requirements.
If you apply for a visa as the partner of a New Zealander or a New Zealand visa holder, your partner is known as the 'supporting partner'.
Your supporting partner must be able to show us they are of good character. They may need to provide police certificates for proof.
If your supporting partner is a New Zealand citizen or has a resident visa, they:
If your partner needs to provide police certificates, the police certificates must be from countries where they have spent 12 months or more over the last 10 years, since they turned 17 — even if the 12 months were not all in one stay.
Police certificates must show any criminal records they have had at any time in any of these countries — not only in the last 10 years.
Note
Your partner does not need to provide a New Zealand police certificate, as we will get one directly from the authorities.
If your supporting partner has a temporary visa to work or study
If your supporting partner has a work or study visa, we may ask your partner to provide police certificates, if you are applying for a temporary visa.
Your partner will not meet our character requirements if they have any convictions for
If your partner cannot prove good character
If your supporting partner cannot prove they are of good character, we may give them a
If your partner has any convictions for domestic violence or sexual offences, they cannot support your application.
For all types of visa applications, we still may request police certificates from your partner to make sure they meet our character requirements.
If you have provided police certificates before
You may not need to provide police certificates if you have provided them in a previous visa application. Check the character requirements of the visa you are applying for.
Fingerprinting for police certificates
Some of the authorities that issue police certificates (the police and other government agencies) may require a set of fingerprints when you request a police certificate.
If you do need a set of fingerprints to get a police certificate, check in your region for a fingerprinting service. There are many private businesses who offer fingerprinting services.
If you cannot find a fingerprinting service in your region, you can contact the New Zealand Police to see if they can help. They only offer this service in some regions and on specific days. Contact them to check availability before going to a police station.