Kyle Lockwood, 10-Year passports campaigner was interviewed by Newshub today after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, as there was concern that passport validity may be affected due to NZ passports being issued in the name of Her Majesty, Lockwood commented that passport validity will not be affected.
​
Holding up his grandfathers passport issued in 1949, Lockwood said, "there is a past-precident, this passport was issued under His Britannic Majesty King George the Sixth, and this passport was still valid in 1954, 2 years after Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne."

Therefore your passport remains current and valid for overseas travel and as proof of identification, the Department of Internal Affairs has confirmed following Queen Elizabeth II’s death. “They will continue to be valid until they expire,” the department said.

A note inside New Zealand passports refers to “Her Majesty The Queen”, in her capacity as New Zealand’s head of state, permitting holders to “pass without delay or hindrance” and, where necessary, to be given “all lawful assistance and protection”.
​
Future passports will be issued in King Charles III’s name, the department said. Until then, all passports will continue bearing The Queen’s name until present stocks run out.

https://www.threenow.co.nz/shows/newshub-6pm/friday-9-september-2022/122217/M62415-620
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=search&v=780789956589794&external_log_id=63b321de-e81d-4146-a434-02e315eb0386&q=nz%20ten%20year%20passports​
https://thespinoff.co.nz/live-updates/09-09-2022/new-zealand-passports-remain-valid-following-queens-death​

All New Zealanders were encouraged to have and keep a current passport if there was any chance they were going to be travelling, said Jeff Montgomery, the DIA’s general manager of services and access.

”While there are currently overseas travel restrictions, there is a possibility that this may change at any time,” he said.

“Also, people are still travelling to and from New Zealand for medical or family reasons such as funerals.”

The department was currently able to issue passports within 10 working days, however, if there was significant demand when borders reopened, this timeframe could increase, he said.

“We are being proactive and advising people who may not be aware their passport may be about to expire or has expired, and encouraging those with expired passports to renew now to avoid the rush and possible delays when overseas travel is available again.”

Montgomery said over the past year, 407,661 passports expired, and of these, only 41,720 were renewed.

Consumer NZ chief executive Jon Duffy said while he understood the DIA’s point of view, every individual should do what is best for them.

“The clock starts ticking as soon as you have it renewed.”

However, he pointed out that if people left renewing their passport to the last minute and required one urgently once the borders reopened, it could cost them even more, with urgent passports costing $382.

“If you’re not planning to travel for a while, and you don’t need their passport as a form of identification… then it’s probably worth saving your money at this time,” he said.

“Whereas if you have relatives in Australia you want to get on a plane and see as soon as the border restrictions end, then it might be a sensible idea to get in and get your passport renewed before the rush.”

According to the Passport Index, the New Zealand passport is currently the second-most powerful in the world (tied with Sweden, Finland and Spain), with Kiwis enjoying visa-free access, or visa on entry, to 133 countries.

The German passport is holding a narrow lead, with access to 134 countries.


​Siobhan Downes     
15:33, Jan 14 2021       STUFF             
​Page 8, Dominion Post   Jan 15 2021

https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/300205093/passports-office-urges-kiwis-to-renew-expired-passports

Media Release 
25 May 2015 17:30 NZST

10-YEAR PASSPORT RE-INTRODUCTION WELCOMED.

NZ Ten-Year Passports welcomes the reintroduction of 10-year passports announced by the Minister of Internal Affairs Peter Dunne.

"We have been campaigning the Minister of Internal Affairs for nearly 2 and a half years to reinstate 10-year passports and we welcome this sensible move by the government" said campaign spokesman Kyle Lockwood from Melbourne.

Since January 2013 Kyle has been tirelessly campaigning the New Zealand Government to change passport validity back to 10 years.

In December 2013 Kyle submitted a petition to Parliament which attracted nearly 16,000 signatures.

"Early in the campaign we were basically told to shove off by the former Minister of Internal Affairs, however in the lead up to the September 2014 election we managed to get every major political party to issue policy to reinstate 10-year passports for New Zealanders" continued Mr Lockwood.

The 5-year passport was introduced abruptly following the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001, and other countries were expected to follow suit, but didn't. Australia, Canada, France, Britain, the US, and most OECD nations have 10-year terms for their passports.

The Prime Minister announced on 7 April 2015 that New Zealand will move to 10-year passports in about 6 months time. 

"We note that the fees have gone up slightly, but no where near the doubling of fees that was predicted, we also note that 10-year passports will be reintroduced on 1 Jan 2016, which is dragging the process out a bit, but at least the government have finally seen sense" Concluded Mr Lockwood.

nzten.com 

ENDS 
-
Media contact  [email protected] 

Looks like we have been mentioned in the news, twice this week. 

Admittedly it's a tit for tat political spat, there must be an election on.  

However, this part is promising 'The government is already reviewing the passport validity period with a view to extending it to 10 years'.
------------------------------------------

1 September 2014 
'Labour's Trevor Mallard released the party's Internal Affairs policy today.

He pointed to a recent petition signed by 15,000 people calling for a return to the 10-year passport time-frame, following the move to five-year passports in 2005.

The petition and a recommendation from Parliament's Government and administration committee has already sparked a review of the validity period review, with a view to returning to 10-year passports.

While Parliament's Government and administration committee refused to make a decision on 10-year passports, instead recommending the review, Mallard said Labour would make it happen.

"While National is not prepared to make any firm commitments to that, Labour is. Restoring the 10-year life for passports will bring New Zealand into line with the US, Australia, Canada and the European Union."

The change was made in 2005, primarily for security reasons, but Labour said there was now a lower risk of passport fraud due to facial recognition technology.

There would be no additional cost, though it would remain at five years for those aged 15 and under because of their changing features.

Read more
------------------------------------------

2 September 2014
Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne said the ‘announcement’ by Labour ’s Trevor Mallard that if elected, a Labour-led government would restore passports to 10 year validity clearly shows how inattentive Mr Mallard is on this issue.

"The government is already reviewing the passport validity period with a view to extending it to 10 years following formal Select Committee consideration of this issue.

Unlike the once-over-lightly approach by Mr Mallard, the Government is undertaking a thorough review that takes account of security considerations, increase in cost and the need to maintain the fast and efficient processing times achieved by the online passport renewal systems", says Mr Dunne.

Read more
-------------------------------------------------------

We hear back from Mr Dunne on December 1st regarding the outcome of his passport review, as usual we will keep you posted.


Kyle Lockwood
Spokesman 

nzten.com

OUR AIM

Reinstate ten-year passports to New Zealand citizens.

Map showing passport validity around the world

------

NZ TEN YEAR PASSPORTS

Media Release

Today Peter Dunne, Minister of Internal Affairs has announced that there will be an independent review of passport security and a review of passport costs with a view to returning to 10-year passports.

These reviews are part of the Government’s response to the Government Administration Committee’s report on the Petition of Kyle Lockwood to reintroduce a 10-year passport validity.

“The Government agrees with the Committee’s view that moving to biometric passports has increased their security. While attempts to counterfeit and/or falsify passports, including biometric passports continue, advances in technology are continuing to diminish that risk. It is therefore timely to investigate whether security features in the passport need to be refreshed every five years as opposed to a 10-year interval,” says Mr Dunne

Kyle Lockwood, spokesman for New Zealand Ten Year Passports believes this is a positive move for the re-instatement of ten-year passports to New Zealand citizens.

"We see this review as a positive step in the right direction, however if the minister is open to reinstating 10-year Passports why can't the minister just introduce ten-year passports as soon as possible?"

The minister also said that passport costs could increase.


"I don't think passport costs should increase, in 2005 when 5 year passports were introduced, the price was doubled, and the validity halved, effectively a 400% cost increase, so with this in mind passport costs should not go up" said Mr Lockwood.

The review is expected to be completed by December 2014.


ENDS

---------


NZ Ten Year Passports

Our Aim

Reinstate ten-year passports to New Zealand Citizens


For more visit www.nzten.com

Although we are an apolitical movement, with the upcoming September 20th elections we have written to NZ political party leaders and asked them to inform us of their parties position on reinstating 10-year NZ Passports.

Please note that this is general information only, it is certainly not our intent to tell you who to vote for - we will leave that important decision to you.

Today we share the New Zealand First Party position on reinstating 10-year passports to NZ citizens:

"Dear Kyle

Thank you for your letter regarding 10 year passports. In fact, the New Zealand passport can only be used for four years six months outside Australia and Pacific Islands.

You are absolutely correct and New Zealand First fully supports 10 year passports. There is no good reason to delay the return to 10 year passports.

We agree that adult passports could offer additional pages for added cost and that Child Passports should remain at five years, with the subsidy until they reach age 16 years.

Kind regards

Rt Hon Winston Peters

Leader

New Zealand First"

Expatriate New Zealand citizens who have visited New Zealand in the past 3 years are also eligible to vote, online, please follow the instructions at the bottom of the page here: http://www.nzten.com/

Although we are an apolitical movement, with the upcoming September 20th elections we have written to NZ political party leaders and asked them to inform us of their parties position on reinstating 10-year NZ Passports.

Please note that this is general information only, it is certainly not our intent to tell you who to vote for - we will leave that important decision to you.

Today we share the National Party position on reinstating 10-year passports to NZ citizens:

-

Despite pressure from senior National Party members who are also involved in the being back 10-year passports campaign National chose not to respond, instead passing our request on to Mr Dunne (Internal Affairs Minister) of United Future to respond, his response to us, and also by default the position of United Future Party is in the letter below.

-

Expatriate New Zealand citizens who have visited New Zealand in the past 3 years are also eligible to vote, online, please follow the instructions at the bottom of the page here: http://www.nzten.com/

We expect to hear the Government's official response to the matter of reinstating 10-year passports in the last week of August.

Although we are an apolitical movement, with the upcoming September 20th elections we have written to NZ political party leaders and asked them to inform us of their parties position on reinstating 10-year NZ Passports.

Please note that this is general information only, it is certainly not our intent to tell you who to vote for - we will leave that important decision to you.

Today we share the Labour Party position on reinstating 10-year passports to NZ citizens:

"Labour has listened to frustrated Kiwis who are forced to renew their passports every five years and will introduce a 10-year system, Labour Leader David Cunliffe says.

“The five-year system was primarily introduced for security measures in the wake of September 11, 2001 terrorists attacks in the United States.

“But the introduction of biometric facial recognition technology means there is now a much lower risk of passport fraud.

“The US, Australia, Canada and the European Union now issue their citizens with 10-year passports.

“There is no reason for New Zealanders, who are amongst the world’s most frequent travellers, to be different.

“Labour will continue to limit passport life to five years for people under 15 because their features change a lot in younger years.

“There will be no initial extra cost to the taxpayer or on applications resulting from this change because fees are ring-fenced and not used for general government revenue purposes. However, passport fees would need to be reviewed in 2019.

“This change will make overseas travel cheaper and easier for everyday hardworking Kiwis,” David Cunliffe says."

Expatriate New Zealand citizens who have visited New Zealand in the past 3 years are also eligible to vote, online, please follow the instructions at the bottom of the page here: http://www.nzten.com/

Although we are an apolitical movement, with the upcoming September 20th elections we have written to NZ political party leaders and asked them to inform us of their parties position on reinstating 10-year NZ Passports.

Please note that this is general information only, it is certainly not our intent to tell you who to vote for - we will leave that important decision to you.

Today we share the Expat Party position on reinstating 10-year passports to NZ citizens:

"The Expatriate Party of New Zealand supports the reinstatement of 10-year NZ passports.

Other policies include:

To address the ongoing diminishment of expatriate rights due to the NZ Government's disinterest in expat matters. For example, access to permanent residency in Australia and new visa restrictions in the UK;

To provide access to funding sources for kiwis living and studying overseas;

To introduce incentives for kiwi entrepreneurs to relocate or expand their businesses to New Zealand;

To remove disincentives which discourage expats from returning to New Zealand (e.g student loans, taxation, funding into e-commerce/digital economy, transferability of superannuation);

Removal of tax and regulatory hurdles which discourage expats to invest in New Zealand;

Removal of geographic limits on lotteries board and other funding for expat kiwi causes;

Timely emergency assistance/safety net for kiwis abroad in desperate need;

Reinstatement of closer social and economic ties with our ANZAC and Commonwealth cousins;

Study into/implementation of e-voting

The Expats are also looking for party members, membership is $2.05.

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-expatriate-party-of-new-zealand-political-party-membershipdonations-tickets-12328481821 "

Expatriate New Zealand citizens who have visited New Zealand in the past 3 years are also eligible to vote, online, please follow the instructions at the bottom of the page here: http://www.nzten.com

Although we are an apolitical movement, with the upcoming September 20th elections we have written to NZ political party leaders and asked them to inform us of their parties position on reinstating 10-year NZ Passports.

Please note that this is general information only, it is certainly not our intent to tell you who to vote for - we will leave that important decision to you.

Today we share the Green parties position on reinstating 10-year passports to NZ citizens:

"Kia ora Kyle,

Thank you for your request on the Green Party’s position on ten year passports. Apologies for the delay in responding.

The Green Party is in favour of reinstating ten-year passports for New Zealanders aged over 16 years. Green MP Mojo Mathers participated in the Government Administration select committee’s consideration of your petition and agreed with the recommendation of the committee for the Government to review the validity period of passports.

Kind regards,

Holly

Holly Donald | Advisor | Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand"

Expatriate New Zealand citizens who have visited New Zealand in the past 3 years are also eligible to vote, online, please follow the instructions at the bottom of the page here: http://www.nzten.com/

We have received a standard letter from Internal Affairs minister Peter Dunne confirming that rather than doing something useful like reinstating 10-year passports immediately, his letter indicates he would prefer to sit on his hands and wait for the government to respond to the select committee report within required 60-day statutory timeframe.

60 working days puts a government response to the committee some time in the week of 20th of August.

It's a case of the wheels of bureaucracy turning ever more slowly.

In 2005 government decided overnight without any public consultation to legislate for 5-year passports, why can't government reinstate 10-year passports just as quickly?

If forward thinking nations such as Canada and the Netherlands can move from 5 to 10-year passports, so can we.

Kyle Lockwood

Spokesman

nzten.com

Peter Dunne's letter

Most of the worlds 'powerful' passports are issued for 10-years, according to new research by movehub.com, a website for people moving abroad.

10-year passport issuing United Kingdom holds the top spot, with visa-free access to 173 countries.

19 nations down the list in fifth place we see that 5-year New Zealand passports allow visa free access to 168 nations.

The vast majority of the passports issued to the top 20 nations appearing on this list are issued for 10 years.

This proves that a passports validity period has little bearing on the number of countries it enables the holder to enter, rather it is more to do with the diplomatic relationships a country has with other nations.

Yesterday's unanimous recommendation by a select committee, comprised of MPs from both opposition and government, is a major win for the reinstatement of 10-year passports for NZ citizens - even the prime minister has hinted that 10-year passports are a step closer to being reinstated.

However another battle is yet to begin.

Over the coming days and weeks you will be hearing from officials more words like "costs of passports will increase substantially if we introduce 10-year passports" and so on.

All this is of course scaremongering from officials desperate to cling on to their tens of millions of year-on-year surpluses collected from hard working New Zealanders, moreover, at the last tally-up the passports memorandum account had a surplus of over $20 million, so with all that surplus money sloshing around the DIAs coffers why should passport costs increase substantially anyway?

Surely less passports, less staff, less overheads, coupled with a massive $20 million surplus should result in less cost for passports?

There's less human interaction too, the DIA admitted at a select committee hearing that 60% of passport applications are automatically issued by computer, that's why they are so keen to get us all applying online.

Let's say officials did win, and passport costs did increase a bit, remember to divide the cost by 10 years, Australian passports cost more than NZ passports, but divided by 10 years the yearly cost is less than that of our own 5 year passports, not to mention the savings gained by our expatriates who will not transferring visas from one passport to another as frequently, or the stress caused by those turning up at the airport and suddenly realising that they can't travel because their passport was issued a short 4.5 years ago.
We've done a lot of hard work to get to this point, but now is the hour for us to really get our point across, from Lyttleton to London, from Hong Kong to Honiara, where ever you are located, we strongly urge you to write and email Hon Peter Dunne, Minister of Internal Affairs, and tell him that you want your 10-year passports back!

Please share this item, and together we will bring back our 10-year passports!

Kyle Lockwood
Spokesman

nzten.com

Peter Dunne's contacts

Hon Peter Dunne
Parliament Office
Private Bag 18888
Parliament Buildings
Wellington 6160
NEW ZEALAND

Email link
http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/mpp/mps/current/50MP12811/dunne-peter

Facebook
https://facebook.com/hon.peter.dunne

Twitter 
https://twitter.com/PeterDunneMP

Today the Kingdom of the Netherlands will move from a 5-year to a 10-year passport.

"The Netherlands is the second country, in less than a year, to upgrade from 5-year to 10-year passports for adults, after Canada upgraded in July last year" said Kyle Lockwood, spokesman for nzten.com a group advocating for the reinstatement of 10-year passports for New Zealanders.

"Peter Dunne, minister of Internal Affairs stated on national television a few weeks ago that OECD countries such as Britain and the US 'would love to move from 10-year to 5-year passports' however we have found that the opposite is true, and in fact more and more OECD nations are ditching 5-year passports in favour of 10-year ones" said Kyle Lockwood.

"What the department does not mention is that a passport is merely a key, or a facilitator / enabler, the comparison of biometric features is performed outside the passport chip, by electronic border control systems, most passport data is stored in a highly secure cloud shared by ICAO nations, this cloud data can be updated without a passport swiftly to detect fraudsters. Biometric passport technology combined with ICAOs secure cloud electronic border control systems, means that there is no need to issue passport booklets every 5 years".
 
"To hoodwink the public further, Internal Affairs still maintain on their website that 77% of world nations issue 5-year passports to adults, which is nothing short of a blatant lie, our research has found that nearly 50% of nations issue passports that are valid for 10 years" concluded Lockwood.

The Petition of Kyle Lockwood is still before the Government Administration Select Committee and their decision on NZ passport validity is expected in a few weeks.

You can read the official 10-year passport announcement on the Netherlands Embassy in Wellington, New Zealand website here.

NZ Ten Year Passports Campaign Spokesman, Kyle Lockwood, traveled to New Zealand to present his petition and written report to the Government Administration Select Committee in Wellington yesterday. 

Lockwood represented the views of over 15900 signatories of a petition to reinstate 10-year passports to New Zealand citizens. 

The petition hearing had extensive media coverage, most of New Zealand's media, including One News, 3 News, Radio New Zealand, Stuff (Fairfax media) and Newstalk ZB.

"There are hundreds of personal petitions presented to parliament each year, and it is unusual for the media to take such an interest in one of these petitions, I believe this is reflective of a general sentiment amongst the New Zealand public that our Passport Validity is too short" said Lockwood today from his home in Melbourne. 

Mr Lockwood says frequent travellers and New Zealanders living overseas would benefit from not having to renew their passport as often. Mr Lockwood told the select committee yesterday New Zealand is out-of-step with most other OECD nations and switching back to 10-year passports would lessen the economic burden on Kiwi families and businesses, he said.

"It's far more convenient for everybody, especially those living abroad, such as myself, to have a 10-year passport," Mr Lockwood told reporters.

He said it's expensive for New Zealanders to transfer visas between passports and a 10-year validity period would eliminate the need for some people to travel with two passports stapled together.

WATCH THE FULL ONE NEWS BULLETIN HERE - 2 mins.
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/pressure-builds-return-10-year-passports-video-5830662

LISTEN TO THE NEWSTALK ZB INTERVIEW HERE
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/player/ondemand/865027521-kyle-lockwood--push-for-10-year-passports

LISTEN TO RADIO NEW ZEALANDS REPORT HERE
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/235956/move-to-10-year-passport,-mps-told

One News also reported that New Zealanders pay more than most other countries for passports and have them for half as long, a new report shows.

The Taxpayers' Union has released a briefing paper yesterday which compares passport prices of 17 countries and shows New Zealanders pay NZ$28 per year for the ability to travel overseas.
New Zealand and Sweden are the only countries in the list which have 5-year passports, while the rest including Canada, Australia, Samoa and the UK have passports that expire after 10 years.

The Government changed passports to include biometric technology, increased the price and in 2005 decreased the validity from 10 to five years.

The paper's author Jordan McCluskey says the report shows New Zealand is out of step with the rest of the world.

"Even if we had ten year passports, at current prices, New Zealanders would still be paying more than citizens in most countries with whom we traditionally compare ourselves," he says.

Union executive director Jordan Williams wants Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne to reinstate ten year passports, saying the current system is about raising money rather than security.

The Netherlands passport office have announced that their adult passports will soon be valid for 10 years.

Although no date has been officially announced by the Kingdom of The Netherlands Government, this move reinforces that many advanced OECD nations are seeing the benefits of returning to 10 year passports, with Canada for example having moved to from 5 to 10 year passports in July last year.

The official English language passports page of the Kingdom of the Netherlands states;

'Passports are currently valid for five years. The government intends to extend their validity to ten years. It is not yet known when this will be done, but the new period of validity will apply to all newly issued passports.'

This is good news for Dutch / New Zealander dual citizens, and by extension reinforces the view, shared by the opposition government in NZ, that New Zealand should return to 10 year passports.

The official Netherlands announcement can be found at: http://www.government.nl/issues/identification-documents/passports-identity-cards-and-dutch-nationality-certificates

Kyle Lockwood / nzten.com