Identification

Evidence of your identity must always be provided

For a driver licence application, you must present:

your New Zealand driver licence (which can be current or expired up to two years), or
your current New Zealand passport.

If you don’t have your New Zealand driver licence or your New Zealand passport has expired, you'll need to provide one document from table 1 and one document from table 2 below. One of these documents must contain your photo.

All documents must be originals. Photocopied or scanned documents aren't acceptable.

Table 1: Primary documents

Document type	Issued by
New Zealand passport*	Department of Internal Affairs (DIA – Identity Services) What you need to renew or apply for a passport(external link)
Overseas passport (may include New Zealand visa/permit)*	Overseas authority
New Zealand emergency travel document	DIA (Identity Services) Urgent travel(external link)
New Zealand refugee travel document	DIA (Identity Services) Certificate of identity or refugee travel document(external link)
New Zealand certificate of identity (issued under the Passports Act 1992)	DIA (Identity Services) Certificate of identity or refugee travel document(external link)
New Zealand certificate of identity (issued under the Immigration Act 2009)	Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (Immigration)
New Zealand firearms licence*	NZ Police New Zealand firearms licence application(external link)
New Zealand full birth certificate issued on or after 1 January 1998, carrying a unique identification number	DIA (Identity Services) Order New Zealand certificates(external link)
New Zealand citizenship certificate	DIA (Identity Services) New Zealand citizenship(external link)
*These documents can be current or expired up to two years. All other documents in this table must be current.

Table 2: Secondary documents

Document type	Issued by
Kiwi Access card (formerly known as an 18+ card)	Hospitality Association of New Zealand Kiwi Access card(external link)
Community services card	Ministry of Social Development (MSD) Community Services card(external link)
SuperGold card	MSD Getting the SuperGold card(external link)
Veteran SuperGold card	MSD Getting the Veteran SuperGold card(external link)
New Zealand student photo ID card	Educational institution
New Zealand employee photo ID card	Employer
New Zealand electoral roll record	Enrolment centre of NZ Post
Inland Revenue number	Inland Revenue Department Apply for a personal IRD number(external link)
New Zealand-issued utility bill or bank statement*	Utility provider or bank
Overseas driver licence	Overseas licensing authority
Steps to freedom form	Department of Corrections
*These documents must be issued within the last six months. They must show your first name (or initials) and last name, and the issuer (utility company or bank). They don't need to show any transaction details. All other documents in this table must be current.

If neither document contains a photo, you must also provide a passport-style photo and an identity declaration signed by an identity referee.

Who can be an identity referee

Your referee must:

have a valid New Zealand passport or New Zealand driver licence, and
have known you for one year or more, and
be at least 16 years of age, and
not be related to you or part of your extended family group, and
not be your spouse or partner, and
not live at the same address as you.

Your referee must provide their:

passport or driver licence number
name
date of birth
contact details, including a daytime telephone number.

Your referee must write your full name on the back of the photo and sign and date it. The image must be a good likeness and of equal standard to the one required for a driver licence or passport application.

Note: a business that takes passport photos will usually supply a photo with a pre-printed label on the back.

Identity referee declaration form (DL26) [PDF, 80 KB]

Evidence of name change

If the name you want on your photo driver licence is different from the name on the Driver Licence Register, or on either of your two forms of identity, you'll need to provide one of the following documents (which must be an original) as proof of your name change.

An example of when you might need to do this is if you've been married since your evidence of identity document was issued.

Document type	Issued by
New Zealand birth certificate showing both names	DIA (Identity Services) Order a birth certificate(external link)
Marriage or civil union certificate	DIA (Identity Services) Order a marriage certificate(external link) Order a civil union certificate(external link)
Dissolution of marriage or civil union order	Ministry of Justice Dissolving a marriage or civil union(external link)
Certificate of annulment	Ministry of Justice Dissolving a marriage or civil union(external link)
Deed poll certificate, change of name certificate	DIA (Identity Services) Changing your name(external link)
Statutory declaration confirming change of name has been registered with the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages	DIA (Identity Services) How to order a name change certificate(external link)

ID is required to prevent fraud

We need to have steps in place to prevent people from getting a driver licence fraudulently.

Requiring particular forms of identification, every time you get or renew your driver licence, improves the integrity of the licence system and protects law-abiding drivers.

Identification for driver licensing (Factsheet 20) [PDF, 57 KB]

Download the identity referee form (DL26)

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