Citizenship

Rights and privileges of citizenship

Electoral Act 1993, s 47(3)Local Electoral Act 2001, s 25New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, s 18Immigration Act 2009, s 13Passports Act 1992, s 3

In New Zealand, holders of Residence Class visas hold many of the same rights as citizens, including the right to vote. However, certain rights and privileges are limited to New Zealand citizens, including:

• The right to stand for election to Parliament or to local government bodies
• The right to enter and remain in New Zealand without any possibility of deportation
• The right to be issued a New Zealand passport
• Access to New Zealand consular assistance from New Zealand embassies, high commissions and consulates.

Migration Act 1958 (Aus), ss 5, 32, 42Migration Regulations 1994 (Aus), regs 5.15, 5.15A 5.16, 1219Immigration Act 2011 (Niue), ss 2(b), 4(5)

New Zealand citizens also enjoy certain rights and privileges extended under other countries’ laws and policies, including:

• The ability to travel to Australia without a visa and reside indefinitely in Australia, subject to meeting basic character requirements and not having untreated tuberculosis
• The ability to reside indefinitely in Niue, subject to not being a “prohibited person”
• The ability to seek consular assistance from British embassies and consulates in non-Commonwealth countries where New Zealand does not have an embassy or consulate.

Note: It is important to be aware that, even if you are a New Zealand citizen, you will generally not receive New Zealand consular assistance if you are also citizen of the country you are seeking assistance in or if you entered that country using the passport of another country (for example, if you hold both New Zealand and Canadian citizenship and you enter China using your Canadian passport). In this respect, New Zealand takes a less generous approach to providing consular assistance than some comparable countries.