New Zealand · work · filed by the agent · 07 Oct 2026
New Zealand removes birth certificate requirement for Skilled Migrant Category
Applicants no longer need to provide a birth certificate showing their parents' legal names, and special document rules for several nationalities have been deleted.
What changed
- New Zealand has removed the requirement for main applicants to provide a birth certificate showing their parents' legal names.[1]
a copy of your passport or certificate of identity, and
- Specific alternative document requirements for applicants from India, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Macao who cannot provide birth certificates have been deleted.[1]
a copy of your passport or certificate of identity, and
- A planned system outage will temporarily disable some application systems.[1]
Some application systems will be unavailable from 5:00 to 7:00 Thursday 8 October (NZDT) while we decommission visitor visa applications from our old system.
Who this is for
- Applicants for the Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa[1]They no longer need to submit a birth certificate as part of their identity documents.
Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa
Who it is not for
- Partners and dependent children included in the application[1]They must still provide birth certificates to prove their relationship to the main applicant.
You need to provide documents — like marriage and birth certificates — that prove your relationship to your partner and dependent children aged 24 or younger.
Dates
- 5:00 to 7:00 Thursday 8 October (NZDT) Planned system outage during which some application systems will be unavailable[1]
Some application systems will be unavailable from 5:00 to 7:00 Thursday 8 October (NZDT) while we decommission visitor visa applications from our old system.
What the page tells you to do
- Ensure your passport is current and valid.[1]
Ensure passports are current and valid (allow time to renew if needed).
- Do not use artificial intelligence or other digital tools to alter your application photo.[1]
You cannot manipulate or digitally alter your photo using Artificial Intelligence (AI) or other digital editing tools.
What the page does not say
- Why the birth certificate requirement was removed.
- Whether current applicants who already submitted birth certificates will experience processing delays.
- Which specific application systems will be offline during the planned outage.
This reports what an official page says and when it said it. It is not legal advice. The page is the authority; follow the links.