New Zealand Consulate-General Los Angeles

All applications for New Zealand passports, including replacements for those lost, are required to be lodged with the Department of Internal Affairs Offices (DIA)* located at:

* Wellington Passports Office
Level 3, Boulcott House,
47 Boulcott Street
Wellington
New Zealand

phone 011-64-4-474-8100
fax 011-64-4-474-8010 (from overseas/USA).

* or the DIA Passport office in the NZ High Commission in London.

* or Sydney if residing in Australia.

Endorsements to passports or the issuing of extra visa pages are no longer possible. A new passport is required.

The passport application forms provide information on fees payable. Urgent replacement passport processing can be actioned for a priority service fee (3 day service -normal is ten days). You will need to select which service you want, and provide credit card details on the form for DIA to charge the appropriate fee and for return of your documents. We suggest you courier your documents and request return courier, so that the package can be tracked.

Passport Application forms are available from the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) website. Applicants in the USA are required to make a decision to either lodge their application with the Wellington or London DIA offices.

- for the form to be sent to New Zealand click here (external link)
- and for the form to send to the DIA Passport Office in London click here (external link).

For more information the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) (external link) website has a ‘How to contact us’ section with office addresses and there is also an email enquiry facility for you to seek further advice.

Consider your location and the courier fee/mail cost to determine which office to send the application e.g. from west coast USA to NZ or from east coast USA to NZ or to London.

Emergency Travel Document (ETD)
Please note that while the Embassy in DC and the NZ Consulate-General in Los Angeles have the discretion to issue a limited validity emergency travel document (ETD) in certain emergency or compassionate situations, an ETD is not a replacement passport, there is a technical process involved and issue is not an after-hours service.* Posts would consider issuing the document only if citizens are unable to send an urgent (3 working day) issue MRP passport application direct to a NZ Passport Office. Courier services to London and New Zealand from the USA are readily available.

For any persons that the posts agree to receive an ETD application (external link) the cost is NZ$350.00, payment needs to be by money order or cashiers cheque in US dollars (Post will advise the current exchange rate), and the applicant needs to meet return courier fee costs. An ETD would only be issued once all the information required is received at the posts, is checked with DIA and is acceptable. The process can take up to three working days.

Some important points to note for a passport application are listed below.

1) Ensure new photo standards effective June 1 2005, are met as any photos not meeting acceptable standards will be rejected by the Department of Internal Affairs. Go to New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) for a download or print out of the guidelines.

2) Ensure that the back of one photograph is certified as shown in the example or it will be returned for correct certification. NOTE: The identifier MUST write "certified true likeness of" followed by your full name (including middle names), sign it and date it.

3) Do not write anything on the back of the photo or on the proof of identity page yourself. The identifier must do this.

4) Do not trim photos - these will be cut to size.

YOU NEED TO SUBMIT THE FOLLOWING WITH THE APPLICATION:

1) Your previous passport. If it has been lost or stolen it is compulsory for you to have reported the loss or theft to both the Police and the DIA. A copy of the Police report must accompany the passport application (once declared lost or stolen, the passport cannot be used for travel. It will have been invalidated.)

2) For damaged passports a written explanation must be completed giving a DETAILED account of the circumstances in which it was damaged.

3) Applicants wearing tinted prescription glasses or a head covering must complete the statutory declaration explaining the necessity for wearing them.

4) If you were born outside of New Zealand and are applying for a passport for the first time, evidence of your New Zealand citizenship as well as your original birth certificate from your country of birth must be submitted.

5) If you have changed your name since your last passport was issued, you will need to provide the original certificates documenting the name changes.

Whenever an application is made, please read thoroughly information on fees, how to pay and other instructions. Incorrect applications are returned and the process delayed.

*ETD's are not available during the Christmas-New Year period. Please see top of page.

e-Passport Information