Police Clearance Certificates for Immigration New Zealand

All applicants for a New Zealand visa must be of “good character” and depending on the type and/or duration of visa being applied for may be subject to character checks.

Anyone applying for a New Zealand residence visa or for a temporary visa for a stay of more than 24 months will normally be required to provide a police certificate with their application. New Zealanders looking to support a partnership application for a partner may also be required to provide a police certificate.

Below I explain a number of key requirements for the provision of police certificates for visa applications to Immigration NZ and answer a number of ‘frequently asked’ questions.

Who needs to provide a police certificate, and when?

(i) Temporary Visa applicants

Any applicant aged 17 and over who is applying for a temporary visa to stay in New Zealand for 24 months or longer (including time already spent in New Zealand on their current and any previous stays) must provide a police certificate from their country of citizenship and from any country in which they have lived for five or more years (whether on one visit or intermittently) since attaining the age of 17 years.

There is an exception to the above requirement for some student visa applicants who do not have to provide a police certificate until they are aged 20 or over if they held a student visa when they turned 17, have held consecutive student visas (or interim visas with study conditions) since the date they turned 17, and are applying for a further student visa.

(ii) Residence Visa applicants

Any applicant aged 17 and over who is a first time applicant for a New Zealand residence visa must provide a police certificate from the applicant's country of citizenship and from each country in which the applicant has lived for 12 months or more (whether on one visit or intermittently) in the last 10 years.

In addition to the above mandatory police check requirements, INZ can also require police certificates to be provided for any type of application; for example, if an applicant has ever been convicted of an offence, and particularly where that conviction engages the Immigration New Zealand “good character” provisions relating to visa applicants or their supporting partner.

Does my supporting partner need to provide a police certificate?

For partnership based residence visa application, a supporting partner must provide a police certificate, less than 6 months old, from any country in which the supporting partner has lived 12 months or more (whether on one visit or intermittently) in the last ten years since attaining the age of 17 years.

If a supporting partner does not meet INZ’s character requirements for supporting partners because they have been convicted either within New Zealand or any other country of any offence involving family violence or any offence of a sexual nature, the supporting partner should also provide a police certificate from the country where they were convicted (and they would normally provide other relevant information or documents relating to the conviction).

Do I or my supporting partner need to provide a police certificate for New Zealand?

No. INZ will make their own enquiries with the New Zealand Police.

How do I apply for a police certificate?

The INZ website provides a search function for applying for police certificates for different countries which can be found here. 

Each country has its own set of requirements and processes for police certificate applications, which can range in their complexity. For example, while some countries allow applications to be lodged online, others require applications to be lodged in paper form, and some countries also require a set of fingerprints to be provided.

Does a police certificate have an expiry date before it must be submitted to Immigration New Zealand?

Yes. Police certificates must be less than six months old at the date of application. 

I provided a police certificate with a previous visa application to Immigration New Zealand. Do I need to provide a new one?

If police certificates were submitted with a previous application to INZ:

• They can be accepted for any further application for a temporary entry class visa (other than a fee paying student visa) made within 24 months of the date of issue of the police certificates;

• They can be accepted for further student visa applications as either a fee-paying foreign student or a student enrolled in any Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programme in any New Zealand university, made within 36 months of the date of issue of the police certificates; or

• They can be accepted for any further temporary entry class visa application as a partner or dependant of a student enrolled in any Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programme in any New Zealand university made within 36 months of the date of issue of the police certificates; or

• They can be accepted for a residence class visa application under the Partnership Category or the Dependent Child Category made within 24 months of the date of issue of the police certificates.

What happens if I cannot obtain a police certificate?

The provision of a police certificate is normally a mandatory requirement unless Immigration New Zealand is satisfied that such certificates are not available or would be unduly difficult to obtain - for example, where the authorities of any such country will not generally provide such certificates - and agrees to waive the requirement.

The INZ operational manual stipulates that evidence of undue difficulty in obtaining police or similar certificates may include, but is not limited, to:

• Information indicating conditions in the relevant country are such that the country's governmental infrastructure is no longer functioning; or

• Confirmation that there are circumstances beyond the control of the applicants which prevent them obtaining the required certificates.

The Operational Manual’s reference to “the country's governmental infrastructure is no longer functioning” suggests that a waiver will only be granted in truly exceptional cases, and the Immigration & Protection Tribunal (which is the body that hears appeals in NZ immigration matters) has consistently stated that the threshold of obtaining a waiver of the requirement to provide a police certificate is “high”.

If INZ is satisfied that a police certificate is not available or unduly difficult to obtain from a particular country, they may require the applicant to make and provide a separate statutory declaration in both English and the applicant's own language, detailing the applicant's attempts to obtain a police certificate; and stating whether the applicant and any accompanying family members have been convicted, or found guilty of, or charged with offences against the law of that country, or have not been charged with any offences against the law of that country; and be corroborated by other information confirming the applicant's character.

What happens if a police certificate that I’ve applied for doesn’t arrive by the time my application must be lodged with Immigration NZ?

As mentioned above, police certificates are a mandatory lodgement document, and a failure to provide them with an application may result in Immigration New Zealand returning the application for failing lodgement requirements or declining the application. 

That said, in my experience, INZ can sometimes be willing to accept an application for lodgement purposes where the applicant provides evidence to show they have applied for a police certificate together with a signed statutory declaration detailing the applicant's attempts to obtain a police certificate; and stating whether the applicant and any accompanying family members have been convicted, or found guilty of, or charged with offences against the law of that country, or have not been charged with any offences against the law of that country. 

It’s advisable to keep a copy of any police certificate application together with copies of any written correspondences or acknowledgements received by the relevant police authority in case it’s needed for the above purposes. However, there are certainly no guarantees that INZ will accept an application for lodgement purposes without a police certificate, even when the above is provided. Furthermore, even where INZ does accept the application for lodgement purposes, they will still normally write to require the police certificate to be provided by a stipulated deadline. 

Therefore, it is advisable to apply for police certificates early to ensure they are available to be lodged with the application - but not too early that they expire before lodgement. 

How long does a police certificate typically take to be received?

Each country has its own requirements for police certificates as well as time frames, and while some countries will issue police certificates within a few days, other countries can take many months (or even years) to issue them. So again, it’s important to time your police certificate application(s) appropriately so they’re not issued too late or too early.

There are numerous issues that can arise when it comes to police certificates, particularly if they are difficult to obtain or raise character issues. If you’re experiencing a complicated police certificate or character-related issue, feel free to contact me for specialist immigration legal advice.