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Citizenship Act 1977

Miscellaneous provisions

26A: Disclosure of citizenship information to certain agencies for certain purposes

You could also call this:

"When the government can share your citizenship information with other agencies"

Illustration for Citizenship Act 1977

The government can share your citizenship information with certain agencies for specific reasons. You can find these agencies and reasons in the Schedule 4 list. The Secretary and the agency's chief executive must agree on what information to share and why.

The Secretary can share your citizenship information with the chief executive of an agency, but only if they follow the rules in Schedule 4 and their agreement. The Secretary can also share your citizenship information with the Registrar-General to update your birth record.

On or after 1 December 2020, the Secretary can only share your information under certain agreements, such as an information matching agreement under the Privacy Act 1993 or the Privacy Act 2020. The Secretary and the chief executive can change their agreement if needed.

Citizenship information means details about your citizenship, such as how you got it or lost it, or any changes to your identity or gender. The government keeps this information, and the Secretary is in charge of it.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM444014.

Topics:
Government and voting > Government departmentsRights and equality > PrivacyImmigration and citizenship > VisasImmigration and citizenship > Becoming a citizen
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Part 2Miscellaneous provisions

26ADisclosure of citizenship information to certain agencies for certain purposes

  1. The purpose of this section is to authorise the disclosure of citizenship information to certain agencies for certain purposes.

  2. The Secretary and the chief executive of an agency listed in the first column of Schedule 4 may enter into an agreement for the disclosure by the Secretary to the chief executive of citizenship information only for the purpose described in the second column in relation to the agency.

  3. For the purposes of subsection (2), an agreement made in relation to citizenship information to be used to verify whether a person is eligible to hold a New Zealand passport, must be entered into by the Secretary in his or her capacity as the holder of citizenship information with himself or herself in the capacity as the holder of information under the Passports Act 1992.

  4. An agreement entered into under subsection (2) may be varied by the Secretary and the chief executive.

  5. The Secretary may disclose citizenship information to the chief executive only in accordance with Schedule 4 and an agreement entered into under subsection (2).

  6. Despite anything in this section, the Secretary may disclose information about a person's citizenship status or the citizenship status of a person's parent or parents to the Registrar-General appointed under section 124(1) of the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Act 2021 for the purpose of recording that person's citizenship status on his or her birth record.

  7. On or after 1 December 2020, no information may be supplied under this section except under—

  8. an information matching agreement entered into under Part 10 of the Privacy Act 1993 and continued by clause 11 of Schedule 1 of the Privacy Act 2020; or
    1. an information matching agreement entered into under subpart 4 of Part 7 of the Privacy Act 2020; or
      1. an approved information sharing agreement entered into under subpart 1 of Part 7 of the Privacy Act 2020.

        1. In this section, citizenship information—

        2. means information held by the Secretary that relates to the acquisition or loss of citizenship by, or the citizenship status of, any person; and
          1. includes information as to any change of identity or gender.

            Notes
            • Section 26A: inserted, , by section 3 of the Citizenship Amendment Act 2001 (2001 No 58).
            • Section 26A heading: amended, on , by section 190 of the Privacy Act 2020 (2020 No 31).
            • Section 26A(1): amended, on , by section 190 of the Privacy Act 2020 (2020 No 31).
            • Section 26A(2): amended, on , by section 190 of the Privacy Act 2020 (2020 No 31).
            • Section 26A(5A): inserted, on , by section 12(2) of the Citizenship Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 43).
            • Section 26A(5A): amended, on , by section 147 of the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Act 2021 (2021 No 57).
            • Section 26A(5B): inserted, on , by section 190 of the Privacy Act 2020 (2020 No 31).
            • Section 26A(6): replaced, on , by section 190 of the Privacy Act 2020 (2020 No 31).