Update the name or sex marker on your passport
To apply for a new passport or update your existing passport, you will need to fill in the appropriate form with your personal details including your current legal name as shown on your birth certificate, and the gender you wish to have shown on your passport. Regardless of your birth certificate, you can choose from F, M, or X.
Additional documentation is often not required, however in some cases your change of name certificate or other documents may be needed. You can check what you will need to supply here.
For a new passport, you will need to have passport photos taken, and signed by someone who has known you personally for more than two years AND is a current NZ passport holder. You can have passport photos taken at any NZ Post Shop, as well as most pharmacies and many other places.
Passport office staff are able to witness statutory declarations being signed, so if this is needed it can be done when you go into the office.
When you have completed the application, take it into the passport office along with your photos and any other documents, pay the fee, and your passport will arrive in the mail – usually this will take between two and four weeks
Update you name on your birth certificate first
Many transgender people prefer to update the name on their birth certificate by statutory declaration, before they update the sex marker on their passport. This way, when their new passport arrives, they have legal identification with bother their affirmed name and sex marker. Find out how to do this.
