Need a NZ Police Check or Birth Certificate in the UK? We Get It to You.

Why doesn't a DBS check cover New Zealand?

A DBS check only looks at UK records, so your years in New Zealand don't show up. That's why a UK employer can ask for a New Zealand check as well as the DBS.

The UK government says DBS checks only provide information from UK-based data sources, and strongly recommends employers get criminal record information from the person's home country. In health and education, there are some statutory requirements for employers to carry out these checks. The employer can't get yours for them, though: GOV.UK's entry for New Zealand says prospective UK employers cannot apply.

That leaves you, on the other side of the world from the Ministry of Justice. As a Ministry of Justice registered third party, we request your NZ criminal record on your signed authority, check your ID against it first so it isn't held up, and email you the result.

Pay NZ$35 and Request

What do UK offices call the NZ document they want?

Rarely by its New Zealand name. Send us the wording you were given and we'll match it to the right document before you pay anything.

Not sure which line you're on? Forward the request. Reading it is free.

Do I need a NZ police check for a UK Skilled Worker visa?

If you're applying from outside the UK for a job in education, health or social care, you might. The Home Office asks for a certificate from each country where you've spent 12 months or more in the last 10 years, or since you turned 18 if you're under 28.

Those 12 months can be added together, so several shorter stays in New Zealand can count. A partner applying with you, aged over 18, falls under the same requirement. Your sponsor tells you whether you need one when your certificate of sponsorship is issued. Most other UK visa routes don't ask for one at the moment, and neither does extending your stay from inside the UK. We don't advise on visas. Our job is getting you the right New Zealand document, on time.

When should I request it?

If New Zealand is the last country you lived in, the Home Office wants the certificate issued no earlier than 6 months before you apply, so requesting it too soon can waste it. Leaving it too late causes its own problems: here's how a late police certificate became a five-week delay. Give us your planned application date and we'll tell you when to start.

Will the emailed result be accepted?

The Home Office's guidance accepts an original or scanned copy of a criminal record certificate, so the result we email you can go into your application. It's in English, so it doesn't need translating.

Have a conviction concealed under the Clean Slate scheme?

Tell us before we lodge anything. The Ministry of Justice says the Clean Slate scheme doesn't apply outside New Zealand, so a UK office may want your full record rather than the standard one. That version comes to you directly from the Ministry when you apply for your own, so we'll tell you what to do before you pay.

How do I get a NZ police check from the UK?

Pay NZ$35, sign our two-minute online authority and email us a photo of your passport. We match your details to your ID, lodge the request with the Ministry of Justice and email you the result, usually in under a week.

Nothing is printed, posted or witnessed. The Ministry's formal standard is 20 working days, so if a start date or visa date is close, give it to us when you order. A clean record still produces a result: a letter confirming there's nothing to disclose.

Can I use my UK driving licence as ID?

No. The Ministry doesn't accept overseas driver licences. A current UK or other overseas passport works, and so does a NZ passport up to two years expired, or a NZ driver licence. If you don't have any of these, we'll tell you the alternative before you pay.

How do I get a NZ birth certificate in the UK?

We order it for you as an approved BDM Online organisation and courier it to your UK address for NZ$169 all in. You don't need a RealMe account, a NZ address or a trip home.

Lost yours? A replacement is a new certificate from the same record, and it's just as official as the first one. That matters for a British passport application, which asks for originals or replacements rather than photocopies. If a detail is uncertain, we check the record before ordering, so you don't pay for a failed search.

A NZ birth certificate is usually issued within about 1 to 2 weeks, and courier to the UK usually takes about 3 to 8 working days. You get an expected delivery date when you order. Births, Deaths and Marriages has no urgent service, so tell us your deadline before you pay and we'll say whether it's realistic.

Pay NZ$169 and Order

Which NZ documents does a UK Ancestry visa need?

GOV.UK asks for your full birth certificate, plus full birth certificates for the parent and grandparent your claim is based on. If you or your parent were born in New Zealand, those NZ certificates are the ones we order.

Evidence of a name change, such as a marriage certificate, may be needed too, so a family set is often more than one document. Tell us who was born where and we'll quote the NZ certificates as one job, sent together. Your grandparent's UK certificate comes from the UK side, and whether you qualify is for the Home Office to decide.

Which NZ certificates do UK banks and solicitors ask for?

Usually a marriage certificate to prove a name change, or a death certificate when a relative's estate reaches the UK. Both have to be official certificates from Births, Deaths and Marriages.

Took your partner's name when you married in New Zealand? A NZ marriage certificate links your birth name to the name you use now. When a parent or relative dies in New Zealand, a UK solicitor, bank or pension provider may want the NZ death certificate. Several offices may each keep one, so tell us how many and we'll order them together.

Marrying in the UK after a New Zealand divorce? The register office asks for proof that your marriage has ended, which means your NZ Dissolution Order.

Do NZ documents need an apostille for the UK?

Only if the office asking says so. The Home Office's criminal record guidance, for example, asks for an original or scanned copy and doesn't mention an apostille.

When a UK solicitor, a court or a third country does want one, it has to come from New Zealand. GOV.UK is blunt about it: you cannot get documents issued outside the UK legalised through the UK service. DIA does it here, so we order the document, get the apostille and courier it to you or straight to the office. See birth certificate apostille and criminal record apostille.

What does it cost?

A NZ police check is NZ$35 all in, emailed to you. A NZ certificate couriered to the UK is NZ$169 all in. Add an apostille and it's from NZ$244 all in.

Every price includes GST and the government fee. Prices are in New Zealand dollars, and the checkout usually lets you pay in pounds instead. See pricing.

How does it work from 12 hours away?

We're 11 to 13 hours ahead of the UK, depending on the time of year, so our working day runs through your evening and night. Send your request at the end of your day and your answer is usually there by morning.

1. Forward the requestEmail, job offer or checklist from the UK side.
2. We confirm the documentWhich NZ document it means, and one all-in price.
3. Sign onlineA two-minute authority form. No printing, no JP.
4. We request or order itFrom the Ministry of Justice or BDM.
5. Delivered in the UKEmailed, or couriered with tracking.

Prefer to talk? Our phones are on from 8:30am NZ time, which is your evening. WhatsApp works at any hour, and we'll pick it up when we open.

Our guarantee, in plain words

We check your documents before you pay. If we take your job and then find we can’t complete it, you get a full refund of our fee, plus any government or notary fees we haven’t yet paid. What we can’t guarantee is a decision made by an overseas authority. That part is theirs, which is exactly why we check everything first.

We prepare and order New Zealand documents. Visa, employment and other decisions are made by the UK authorities and your employer.

Frequently asked questions

NZ Document Assist Limited is an independent company, not a government agency. We are not a law firm, Notary Public or licensed immigration adviser and do not give legal or immigration advice.