Indian nationals applying for a visa to visit New Zealand will have to meet the new requirements for police clearance certificates. New Zealand has issued new police clearance certificate rules for Indian national visa applicants who reside in India.
The recently introduced New Zealand visa rules bring in changes to the way the police clearance certificates are to be obtained by Indian applicants.
New Police Clearance Certificate Rule
From 1 December 2025, Immigration New Zealand will only accept police clearance certificates issued by a Regional Passport Office of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, when required from Indian national visa applicants who reside in India.
To ensure that the police clearance certificates Immigration New Zealand receives are more consistent, only police clearance certificates issued by the Regional Passport Office of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs will be accepted as meeting the immigration requirements.
Indian visa applicants were previously allowed BY Immigration New Zealand to provide police clearance certificates from an Office of the Deputy Commissioner or Superintendent of Police, or from their local police station.
These are in an inconsistent format and more difficult to authenticate, so Immigration New Zealand will no longer accept them from 1 December 2025.
Requirements for Indian nationals outside India, and for non-Indian nationals who currently or have previously resided in India, have not changed.
If you are from India and submitting a police clearance certificate application from 1 December 2025, remember to check that you are meeting the new requirement. It takes time to gather the documents for a visa application, so make sure you leave enough time to request your police clearance certificate.
Police Certificates
When you apply for a visa, you may need to provide Immigration New Zealand with a police certificate to show that you are of good character. Depending on the visa you want and how long you plan to stay in New Zealand, you may need to provide a police certificate as evidence of your good character.
Make sure the police certificate is less than 6 months old when you submit your visa application and provide a translation if it is not in English.
Some of the authorities that issue police certificates (the police and other government agencies) may require a set of fingerprints when you request a police certificate.
If you do need a set of fingerprints to get a police certificate, check in your region for a fingerprinting service. Many private businesses offer fingerprinting services.
Police certificates are also required if you are applying for a visitor, student visa or work visa. You must provide police certificates if your total time in New Zealand will be 24 months or longer across all visits.
This includes any time you have spent in New Zealand in the past on other visas, even if you have been out of the country since then. You may not need to provide police certificates if you have provided them in a previous visa application.