Passports

From late November 2012 you can change your gender on your passport. You can apply to have M (male), F (female) or X (indeterminate gender) shown on your passport.

To update your gender identity on your passport, you will need to complete a New Adult Passport Application Form and provide a Statutory Declaration that shows the sex or gender identity you want displayed on the passport and how long you have maintained your gender identity[1]. Note that you will still need to apply for a new passport to change your gender details even if you currently hold a New Zealand passport which may be eligible for renewal.

If you have never had a passport before and you are applying from within New Zealand, the cost will be $206.00.

You can lodge the passport application with your nearest New Zealand Passport Office either in person or by post.

Statutory Declaration:

The Passport application form provides a statutory declaration template at part 8. Here, you can tick the box which indicates that you wish to provide additional information and then write declare your your gender and how long you have maintained that gender identity, in the space provided.

You will need to fill in and sign the statutory declaration portion of the passport application form in front of an authorised witness who can sign off on it.

Under the Oaths and Declarations Act 1957, people who are authorised to witness statutory declarations include[2]:

Justices of the Peace
Lawyers
Registrars or Deputy Registrars of The Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court or District Court
Members of Parliament
Employees of the New Zealand Transport Agency who are authorised to witness statutory declarations by the Minister of Justice
Member of local government who is authorised to witness statutory declarations by the Minister of Justice.

TheImmigration New Zealand website provides more information about who is authorised to take statutory declarations. You can also find a full list of New Zealand Justice of the Peace at theYellow Pages website.

What if I am younger than 18?

If you are under 16 then all your legal guardians need to give consent for you to get a passport. Once you are 16 you no longer need the consent of your guardians to get a passport and should apply for renewal or first time passports using the adult forms. However the you will still need a statutory declaration from a parent and a counsellor or medical professional to support the gender change on your passport. If you are under 18 and affected by the requirement for a parent, counsellor or medical professional to support your passport consider getting further legal advice.

[1] https://www.passports.govt.nz/Transgender-applicants

[2] Oaths and Declarations Act 1957, S9(1).

What if I am 16 or older and want to change my name and sex marker on my Passport?

One thing that is really important to note is that if you just want to change your name, you can apply for a new passport online through RealMe. If you want to change both your name and gender marker, you’ll need to use a paper form. Note: You’ll need to have legally changed your name already before you can get a passport in it.

You can apply online here

You can find the paper form here

Note: You just need to tick your new gender identity -- you can tick either male (M), female (F) or non-binary/indeterminate gender (X).

You will need to have two identical passport photos of yourself (you can get these from your local pharmacy)

You will need to include your credit/debit card information in the form. The fee for a new passport is $206. You don’t need to pay anything for courier as that is included in the fee.

You can post your form and passport photos to:

New Zealand Passport Office

Department of Internal Affairs

PO Box 1568

Wellington 6140

What if I am 15 or younger and want to change my name and gender marker on my Passport?

Because you are currently under 16, then all your legal parents/guardians will need to give consent for you to get a passport and change your gender marker as they will need to fill out the form. Once you are 16 you will be able to do this yourself and you will not require a letter from a medical professional. You will need to have changed your name legally already.

For now though, your parents/guardians will need to fill out this form to renew your passport.

They will also need to provide a letter from a registered counsellor or medical professional which supports this change. This must be on the practitioner's official letterhead.

They can either tick M (male), F (female), or X (nonbinary/indeterminate gender)

If you have already legally changed your name you only need to fill out the form with your new name -- no extra documentation is required.

They will need to include two identical passport photos (which can be obtained from any pharmacy), and put in their credit/debit card details. The cost is $206 but there is no extra fee for delivery.