Citizenship Act 1977

Miscellaneous provisions

26B: Access to information for citizenship purposes

You could also call this:

"Sharing information to help decide who can be a New Zealand citizen"

The Secretary and the chief executive of the department responsible for the administration of the Immigration Act 2009 can make an agreement to share information. This information is needed to investigate citizenship applications and decide if someone is a New Zealand citizen by birth. You can think of the chief executive as the person in charge of the department.

The Secretary and the chief executive can change this agreement if they need to. Before they make or change an agreement, they must talk to the Privacy Commissioner about what the agreement will say. The Privacy Commissioner is like a referee who makes sure people's private information is protected.

The Privacy Commissioner can ask the Secretary and the chief executive to review the agreement and report back on how it is working. The Secretary and certain officers can only look at the chief executive's information if they have made an agreement to do so.

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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=DLM444022.

Topics:

Immigration and citizenship > Becoming a citizenRights and equality > Privacy

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

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

26C: Access to information for purposes of Identity Information Confirmation Act 2012, or

"Getting citizenship information for identity checks"

Part 2Miscellaneous provisions

26BAccess to information for citizenship purposes

The Secretary and the chief executive of the department that is, with the authority of the Prime Minister, for the time being responsible for the administration of the Immigration Act 2009 (the chief executive) may enter into an agreement for access by the Secretary, or officers of the Department of Internal Affairs designated by the Secretary for the purpose, to information held by the chief executive by virtue of being responsible for the administration of the Immigration Act 2009 that is needed for or relevant to—
citizenship investigations and the accurate assessment of applications for a grant of citizenship; or
determining whether a person is a New Zealand citizen by birth.

An agreement entered into under subsection (1) may be varied by the Secretary and the chief executive.
Before entering into an agreement under subsection (1), or varying an agreement under subsection (2), the Secretary and the chief executive must consult with the Privacy Commissioner on the terms of the agreement or variation.
The Privacy Commissioner may require the Secretary and the chief executive to review an agreement under this section, and report on the result of the review to the Privacy Commissioner, at intervals not shorter than 12 months.
For citizenship purposes, the Secretary or designated officers of the Department of Internal Affairs may access information held by the chief executive only in accordance with an agreement entered into under this section.

Notes

Section 26B: inserted, on 21 April 2005, by section 13 of the Citizenship Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 43).
Section 26B(1): amended, at 2 am on 29 November 2010, by section 406(1) of the Immigration Act 2009 (2009 No 51).