How people become New Zealand citizens

Citizenship by birth

Citizenship Act 1977, ss 6, 13 British Nationality and New Zealand Citizenship Act 1948 (repealed), s 16

With only a few exceptions:

• Children born in New Zealand (including the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau and the Ross Dependency) from 1 January 1949 to 31 December 2005 are New Zealand citizens by birth.
• Children born in New Zealand (including the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau and the Ross Dependency) from 1 January 2006 are New Zealand citizens by birth, provided that, at the times of the birth, at least one parent was:
  • a New Zealand citizen,
  • entitled to be in New Zealand indefinitely under New Zealand immigration law, or
  • entitled to reside indefinitely in the Cook Islands, Niue or Tokelau.

People who were born in New Zealand (including the Cook Islands and Tokelau) before 1 January 1949 and were British subjects on that date are also New Zealand citizens.

You are also a New Zealand citizen by birth if:

• You were a newborn found abandoned in New Zealand on or after 1 January 1978 and neither of your parents was identified.
• You were born in New Zealand on or after 1 January 1978 and would otherwise be stateless (see the note under Citizenship by descent).
• You were born overseas to at least one New Zealand citizen parent who was serving overseas as part of the defence force or as a New Zealand, Cook Islands, Niue or Tokelau public servant, or in certain diplomatic and trade roles.
• You were born in Samoa, but
  • would have been born in Tokelau if not for your mother needing to travel to Samoa for medical reasons, and
  • would have been a New Zealand citizen by birth if you had been born in Tokelau.

You will generally not be a New Zealand citizen by birth, even though you were born in New Zealand (including the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau and the Ross Dependency), if:

• neither of your parents hold New Zealand citizenship or indefinite residence rights (for example, if they held temporary visas or were in New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue or Tokelau unlawfully) and you were born on or after 1 January 2006
• you have a parent serving in New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue or Tokelau as a diplomat or consular official for another country (unless one of your parents is a New Zealand citizen)
• both your parents are “enemy aliens” (nationals of a country that is not a Commonwealth country or the Republic of Ireland and which is at war with New Zealand) and you are born in an area under enemy occupation.