AUCKLAND, New Zealand (CWBN)_ While there has been a decrease in the number of New Zealand passports issued this year, however, there has been a sharp increase in the number of requests made by Kiwis overseas.
In line with border closures and drop in overseas travel, there has been a 79 per cent drop in the number of passports issued this year. Nevertheless, there has been a 22 per cent increase in the number of requests from overseas, with 48 per cent passports issued to Kiwis abroad.
According to the registrar-general of births, deaths and marriages, Jeff Montgomery, this was owing to people wanting assurance and certainty of being able to return to New Zealand.
“We haven’t seen it to this scale before and that’s because New Zealanders overseas have been able to travel quite freely on their overseas passports, but with the changes around the borders with COVID, New Zealanders are feeling they are safer to have a New Zealand passport if they wish to travel back to New Zealand,” he said.
Montgomery noted that while some were New Zealanders born overseas who were choosing to get a New Zealand passport for the first time, the others were New Zealand citizens who usually travel on another nationality.
It is reported that officials issued New Zealand passports to people in 150 countries, including places which did not receive requests in 2019, such as Gibraltar, Guyana, Tunisia, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Saint Barthelemy and St Maarten.
Montgomery added that officials are concerned about the growing number of people with expired New Zealand passports, as more than 300,000 Kiwis had let their passports expire over the past year. He noted that a passport is valid for 10 years, and therefore, having it renewed was better than rushing at the last minute to renew when borders open and people can travel.
“We encourage them to renew their expired passport as soon as possible and not wait until the last minute. And we’re encouraging New Zealanders to do that online, over the Christmas break, to get their passport renewed, so if the borders do open, they’re ready to go and they’re not risking having an expired passport when it is time to travel,” he said.
On the other hand, no New Zealand passports were issued to people who consider themselves “at sea”, this year. This applies to those who work on cruise ships or living on other pleasure craft, as their renewed passports would usually be delivered at sea. According to Montgomery, no New Zealanders received their passport to an at-sea address this year, most likely since they have headed to land with the uncertainty around COVID.
