Advice for specific countries

Immigration New Zealand will submit a vetting request to the NZ Police Vetting Service as part of your visa application if required, and the result will be provided directly to Immigration New Zealand.

There is no need for you to apply separately to the Police Vetting Service.  

Please refer to the Immigration New Zealand website: https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zealand-visas/preparing-a-visa-application/character-and-identity/when-you-need-a-police-certificate

The Police Vetting Service only processes vetting requests for immigrant visa ‘green card’ applications. If applying for a non-immigrant visa, please apply to the Ministry of Justice for a Criminal Record Check.

The arrangement between the United States authorities and the Police Vetting Service is that all results for US visa vetting requests will be e-mailed to the US Consulate General in Auckland (AucklandIV@state.gov), regardless of where the visa application has been lodged.

The Auckland Consulate is then responsible for forwarding the results to the relevant consulate/embassy or the National Visa Centre as required. 

To help reduce delays, please include your US visa application case number (e.g. ACK2017958275) on the form in the section ‘Which country is this letter being requested for?’, and the address for the office where the visa is being processed.

Once your request has been processed by the Police Vetting Service, please direct any further queries to the US Consulate General in Auckland. Contact details can be found here: https://nz.usembassy.gov/contact/#consulateauckland

Neither the Police Vetting Service nor the US authorities can provide a copy of the result to the applicant. If you are required to bring a criminal record check result to your visa interview, you will need to request a Criminal Record Check from the Ministry of Justice.

The Police Vetting Service does not process any visa vetting requests for Canada.

Please refer to the Government of Canada website at: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/medical-police/police-certificates/how/new-zealand.html which specifies that a Criminal Record Check from the Ministry of Justice must be provided.

If you are a New Zealand citizen with a criminal conviction intending to travel to Australia, please refer to the process on the Australian High Commission website: https://newzealand.embassy.gov.au/wltn/travellingwithacriminalconviction.html

For all other Australian visa or citizenship purposes, please refer to the Australian Department of Home Affairs website under the section ‘Police Check’: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/help-support/contact-us/offices-and-locations/list?locationid=842#infoSummaryHtml which specifies that a Criminal Record Check from the Ministry of Justice must be provided.

As the Chinese authorities generally require the applicant to submit documentation themselves, the Police Vetting Service recommends that a Criminal Record Check from the Ministry of Justice is obtained.

The Police Vetting Service does not process any visa vetting requests for the United Kingdom.

If required, you will need to apply for a Criminal Record Check from the Ministry of Justice. Refer to UK Government website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-records-checks-for-overseas-applicants and open the PDF document ‘Countries G to P: applying for a criminal records check for someone from overseas’ and go to the section for New Zealand on pages 55-56. 

The Police Vetting Service does not process any visa vetting requests for South Africa.

The agency contracted to process South African visa applications in New Zealand, VFS Global, have advised that the correct document for the ‘police clearance certificate’ requirement is a Criminal Record Check from the Ministry of Justice.

Please visit the following website for information: https://nz.ambafrance.org/Applying-for-a-French-visa-in-New-Zealand

Please visit the following website for information: https://www.eda.admin.ch/countries/new-zealand/en/home/visa.html

For all other countries you are advised to check with the authorities issuing the visa to confirm requirements around criminal history checks, including how the result must be submitted to the authorities.

If you are required to provide the results to the authorities yourself or via a third party, request a Criminal Record Check from the Ministry of Justice.