Passport timeframes

When planning your trip, also consider delivery time and the requirements of your destination country.

Once you’ve applied, you’ll be able to check the status of your application using the passport status checker.

Passports with standard processing

Allow at least 4 weeks (20 working days) for your application to be processed and add time for delivery.

This information is updated weekly. For a monthly updated report, see the Passport Issuance Dashboard.

A ‘working day’ is Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays and the extended break over Christmas and New Year.

Passports with urgent processing

If you pay the fee for urgent processing, we aim to process these within 3 working days, but this can depend on demand and the factors listed below.

If you need to travel sooner than 3 days, apply for an urgent passport and then call us straight away. You may need our after-hours service.

Urgent travel

What you can do to speed up processing of your passport:

• Check your photo meets the technical requirements, for example no selfies, good quality, eyes visible, plain background
• Make sure your information is complete by following all the instructions
• Let your witnesses know they may be contacted.

For more tips, see What you need for your application.

Other factors that can impact passport timeframes:

• If it’s a first-time or child passport application, additional checks can take more time
• Changes in demand at certain times of the year, such as school holidays.

Help avoid a delivery delay

When we send your new passport, NZ Post will email you a tracking number and an estimated delivery day.

Use the tracking number to check the progress of your delivery at nzpost.co.nz/tools/tracking.

For detailed updates, download and install the NZ Post app from nzpost.co.nz/personal/app. Enable notifications and enter your tracking number to receive real-time alerts and delivery updates to help avoid missing the delivery.