Waka Kotahi uses real-time monitoring to assess whether commercial drivers continue to meet our fitness and propriety criteria. This includes maintaining good standards of driving behaviour on our roads. Coupled with improvements to our processes, we can now use this real-time data, along with other assessment criteria, to determine if your passenger (P) endorsement renewal can be released quicker than applications that require further assessment.
These improvements allow compliant drivers to move through the renewal application process quickly and efficiently. For those applications that require further scrutiny by Waka Kotahi, applicants won't see a change in processing times.
While the process to renew your P endorsement at a driver licensing agent hasn't changed, if you meet all the assessment criteria and have maintained your fitness and propriety status, your application may be completed faster.
You can track your P endorsement application through our online tracking portal. However, it can be take up to a week for an application to show in the tracking system: if your application is completed faster it won't be uploaded onto the online portal.
Track your PVIO on our online tracking portal
The expiry date of your P endorsement may differ from your driver licence expiry. The date it expires will be listed on the back of your photo driver licence.
You need to apply to renew your P endorsement at least 30 working days before it expires.
Current application processing times
We'll send you a reminder about 6 weeks before your endorsement is due to expire. If you've recently changed your address, you can update it with us online.
Update your address online now
You can choose to renew your P endorsement for one or five years. Its new expiry date will depend on when you apply.
| If you apply: | then your new expiry date will be: |
| within 60 days of your current expiry date | 1 or 5 years from your existing expiry date |
| more than 60 days before your current expiry date | 1 or 5 years from the date the renewal is granted |
| after your current expiry date |
To renew your endorsement, you must apply at a driver licensing agent.
You'll need to:
If you need a medical certificate or documents from another country, you must provide these documents when you apply to renew your endorsement at the agent. If you don’t, your application won’t be accepted.
You don't need to provide evidence of your immigration status to Waka Kotahi.
Go to the Immigration New Zealand website for more information about working in New Zealand.
You can choose whether you want your P endorsement to last for 1 year or 5 years. The application fee is the same no matter which term you choose.
|
Type |
Term |
Application fee |
Vetting fee |
Total |
|
Small passenger endorsement |
1 year |
$102.70 |
$9.70 |
$112.40 |
|
5 years |
$48.50 |
$151.20 |
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|
Large passenger endorsement |
1 year |
$92.00 |
$9.70* |
$101.70 |
|
5 years |
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|
*Drivers with only large P endorsements only pay the vetting fee once every 5 years. |
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If you've lived in any country other than New Zealand for more than 12 continuous months since your last P endorsement application, you’ll need to provide official documents from each country you’ve lived in.
You’ll need to provide:
The documents must include your most recent travel. They must be authorised by the relevant authority (embassy, consulate, or other approved government agency) in your country of origin AND in any other country you’ve lived in for more than 12 months at a time. In some countries, you may need to apply to separate agencies for traffic and criminal documents.
The documents should include your full name, date of birth, passport number and/or identity number. If we can’t easily match the details on your foreign documentation to the details on your application, this could lead to delays in the time it takes to process your application.
If the documents aren’t in English, they must be translated into English by an authorised translator.
Getting these documents is your responsibility, and at your cost. This may affect the time taken for application processing. Waka Kotahi has no influence over these factors.
| Country | Contact details | Average timeframe |
| Australia |
Australian Federal Police(external link) For Traffic Offence History please contact the State Authority |
Approximately 20 working days |
| Canada | Royal Canadian Mounted Police(external link) | Approximately 6 months |
| Fiji | Fiji Police Force(external link) | Approximately 3 months |
| India | High Commission of India(external link) | Approximately 20 working days |
| Japan | Consulate General Of Japan(external link) | Approximately 6 months |
| Philippines | Land Transportation Office(external link) | Approximately 6 months |
| Samoa | Ministry of Police and Prison Email: consulgeneral@samoaconsulate.org.nz |
Approximately 3 months |
| South Africa | South African Police Service(external link) | Approximately 6 months |
| United Kingdom (including, Scotland, Wales, Ireland) | ACRO Criminal Records Office(external link) DVLA (Traffic)(external link) |
Approximately 20 working days |
| United States of America | FBI(external link) For Traffic Offence History please contact the State Authority |
Approximately 6 months |
|
For any other country that is not listed above please contact the Embassy or Consulate General of the relevant country. List of embassies in New Zealand(external link) For some countries the time frame for obtaining these documents can take up to 6 months. |
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You must provide certified copies with the form when you apply at the agent. If you don’t, your application won’t be accepted.
If you’ve already provided documents to Immigration New Zealand, you may be able to supply them again to us. If you don’t have copies of the documents, contact Immigration New Zealand.
If you have a small P endorsement, the unique ID that displays on your ID card must be approved by Waka Kotahi. This is to ensure that it meets the criteria of the Land Transport Rule: Operator Licensing 2017.(external link)
If you want to change your unique ID when you renew your P endorsement, you'll need to get our approval first.
Email PVIO@nzta.govt.nz to request your new unique ID before you make your application at an agent. Remember to include your driver licence number and your full name with your request.
Your application will be sent to Waka Kotahi to be processed.
If you’ve provided all the necessary information with your application and all the endorsement requirements have been met, please allow up to 30 working days for your application to be processed.
If some information hasn’t been provided yet, or if some requirements haven’t been met, your application will take longer to process.
If you're cleared and your application is granted, your endorsement will be approved and your new licence will be made and sent to you.
If you’re not cleared, you’ll receive a letter explaining this and the process you may take to appeal the decision in the district court.
Use our online tracking tool(external link) to view your application status:
| Status | What does this mean? |
|---|---|
| Received | We’ve got your application, but we haven’t started working on it yet. We’ll send you an email to let you know it’s been received. |
| Gathering information |
We’re waiting for something. For example, we could be waiting for vetting information from the police, more information from a foreign country, or reviewing your medical certificate. We’ll contact you if we need more information from you. |
| Processing | We’ve got all the information we need, and we’re now assessing your application. |
| Completed |
We’ve finished processing your application.
|
| Unable to find the information you submitted |
You may have entered your details incorrectly. Try entering them again. If your details are correct, this means we haven't received your application yet, or your application was completed before it reached our tracking system. |
If you hold more than 1 endorsement and want to renew them at the same time, you only have to pay 1 renewal fee and 1 vetting fee. This will renew all the P, V, I or O endorsements you hold.
Download Factsheet 61: Renewing driver licence endorsements [PDF, 258 KB]
