Citizenship Act 1977

Miscellaneous provisions

24: General provisions as to certificates and other documents

You could also call this:

"Rules about keeping your citizenship certificates and documents safe and up to date"

When you get a certificate or document under the Citizenship Act, it is called a document. This includes certificates issued under other related laws, like the ones mentioned in section 25(1). It also includes a copy of any of these certificates or documents.

You must not change or damage a document in any way, unless the law says you can. If a document is issued to you, you must give it back to the Secretary when it expires or is no longer valid. This is so the Secretary can keep track of who has which documents.

If your document gets damaged, lost, or stolen, you can ask the Secretary for a new copy. You will need to pay a fee for this new copy, which is called a duplicate. The Secretary will only give you a duplicate if you are the person who was originally issued the document.

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This page was last updated on 29 September 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM444010.

Topics:

Immigration and citizenship > Becoming a citizen

23: Capacity as to property, or

"Non-citizens can buy and own property in New Zealand, with some exceptions."

25: Evidence, or

"What counts as proof when dealing with citizenship documents"

Part 2Miscellaneous provisions

24General provisions as to certificates and other documents

For the purposes of this section the term document means a certificate or other document issued under this Act; and includes a certificate or other document issued under any enactment referred to in section 25(1); and also includes a duplicate of any such certificate or other document.
No person shall alter or deface a document otherwise than pursuant to this Act.
Every person to whom a document is or has been issued shall, on the expiry or revocation of the document, or of the exemption or condition or status evidenced by it, deliver the document to the Secretary.
If a document that has been damaged to the extent that it is no longer legible is returned to the Secretary, or if the Secretary is satisfied that a document has been destroyed, lost, or stolen, the Secretary shall, upon application by the person to whom the document was issued and upon payment of the prescribed fee, issue a duplicate of the document.