Emergency travel documents

The Consulate-General can issue an Emergency Travel Document (ETD) to New Zealand citizens in emergency and compassionate situations when they need to travel but their previous New Zealand passport has expired, been lost or stolen and they are unable to obtain a passport direct from the Department of Internal Affairs offices in New Zealand, Sydney and London.

If your passport has been lost or stolen, please consult the section Lost and Stolen Passports first for important instructions.

The application procedure for an ETD follows:

• Complete and submit an Application for a New Zealand Emergency Travel Document, a copy of which can be obtained from the Consulate-General or downloaded from the website of the Department of Internal Affairs (PDF format). The form is valid for ETD applications only.
• Provide 2 identical passport photos. For details of specifications required for the photos, please refer to the instructions on the application form.
• Provide evidence of citizenship and any other forms of identification (if available).
• Children (a child is a person under the age of 16) will require their own ETD. Click here for information on special issues such as guardianship and custody {external link}.
• Please call our office at 2525 5044 for information on the latest ETD application fee. Payment may be made in cash in Hong Kong dollars, or by a cheque drawn on a Hong Kong dollar account and made payable to “New Zealand Consulate-General".
• The ETD will normally be issued within three days.
• Customers who surrender their ETD to any Department of Internal Affairs passport issuing office before it expires and who have paid the ETD fee in full are entitled to a free full validity passport after completion of a new application. Please contact our office for further information on how to apply for a full validity passport.
• Only in the event of genuine emergency can passports be issued out of office hours. A call-out fee in addition to the passport application fee will apply. Please call our office at 2525 5044 for information on the latest ETD application and callout fees. The call-out fee may be waived only on compassionate grounds, when a New Zealander is required to travel for reasons of bereavement or serious illness of a family member. Evidence from a doctor, hospital or the New Zealand Police must be submitted in order for the call-out fee to be waived.