Comments in favour of a 5 year passport
1. You cannot get into the USA on a 10 year non-electronic passport, you must update to a 5 year electronic passport before going to the USA.
2. A persons features can change a lot in ten years.
3. Technology advances so much in 10 years, that you open yourself up to identity fraud if you have a 10 year passport.
4. The government hasn't made any surplus issuing New Zealand passports.
Response favouring the option of 10 year passports
1. You can get into the USA on a 10 year, non electronic passport, issued before 2006. the USAs border control rules require such passports to be machine readable, and every NZ passport issued since the late 1990s is machine readable.
(See the ESTA rules https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/ ) note, USA passports have 10 year validity.
2. Biometric features can change in 10 years, however border control agencies around the world are trained to recognise and match your distinctive features with those in your passport.
3. Every time you transact electronically you open yourself up to the risk of identity fraud, A passport is usually a persons most guarded possession and is generally kept out of the electronic domain and public view (except at border crossings). You are much more at risk losing your identity through stolen credit card details for example.
4. The government has made a surplus and late last year the Ministry of Internal Affairs stated on their website "The change to a five-year passport has increased the volume of renewals and a growing surplus has built up in the account, allowing fees to be reduced." http://www.passports.govt.nz/Questions-and-answers-on-the-passport-fee-changes-and-the-Passport-Online-Renewal-Service
We think that the New Zealand Government should give us the option of obtaining either a 10 year, or a 5 year Adult passport at a reduced fee, as is done in Australia. https://www.passports.gov.au/web/passportvalidity.aspx
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