How people become New Zealand citizens
Citizenship by grant
Applicants aged under 16
Citizenship Act 1977, s. 9Citizenship Guidance, June 2024
Applications for grants of New Zealand citizenship to children under the age of 16 are considered under the provisions for “special cases” in the Citizenship Act. These provisions give the Minister of Internal Affairs a large degree of discretion to determine what requirements need to be met.
The Citizenship Guidance approved by the Minister sets out the current policy for when applications by children can be approved by officials without needing to be considered individually by the Minister.
Applicants aged 14 and 15
Applicants aged 14 and 15 must meet the same range of requirements as adults, except, in some cases, for those relating to periods in New Zealand as a resident over the preceding five years.
They must still be entitled to remain indefinitely in New Zealand and intend to continue to reside in New Zealand, but do not need to meet the five-year residence requirement if they have a parent or guardian who is a New Zealand citizen or is about to become a New Zealand citizen (generally, this would be by having applied for citizenship and met the requirements for a grant of citizenship).
Applicants aged 13 and under
Applicants aged 13 and under do not need to meet requirements related to character, language, and knowledge of the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship. They must be entitled to remain indefinitely in New Zealand, intend to continue to reside in New Zealand and, in some cases, meet the requirements relating to periods in New Zealand as a resident over the preceding five years.
As with applicants aged 14 and 15, they do not meet the five-year residence requirement if they have a parent or guardian who is a New Zealand citizen or about to become a New Zealand citizen.
