Unlike driver licences, the pitch here rarely says “no tests”. It says “we will do it for you”. DIA has warned about offshore ordering services for birth certificates and about third-party citizenship sites that charged up to $195 on top of the DIA fee, with no guarantee the application would be lodged. Those sites collect the same personal information the official forms do, which is the real exposure.
Start here by situation
| Your situation | Read |
|---|---|
| I need a birth certificate | Order a birth certificate |
| I need to renew or get a passport | Passport renewal and unofficial sites |
| Someone offered me a document without the proper process | Forged documents: the law |
| I already used a site and paid | I paid a scammer |
The guides
- Order a birth certificate gives the official $35 standard fee, delivery times and the 2019 DIA warning about offshore sites charging $69.
- Passport renewal and unofficial sites sets out the official $247 and $144 fees, the online process and why third-party sites add risk and cost.
- Forged documents: the law reads sections 240, 241 and 255 to 259 of the Crimes Act 1961 and sections 31, 32 and 44 of the Land Transport Act 1998, with the ceilings only.
Why we do not have pages on other documents
We build a page only where a seller advertises a document or there is evidence of a scam. For New Zealand we found evidence on driver licences, passports and certificates. We found nothing worth a page on identity cards (New Zealand has no national ID card), qualifications or language tests, and we would rather leave them out than pad. If you have evidence, tell us.
Related references
See official checks, red flags, and where to report. Driver licence guides are in the driver licence hub.
Official fees at a glance
| Document | Official fee (govt.nz, checked 5 October 2026) | Typical wait |
|---|---|---|
| Birth certificate, standard | $35 ($37 decorative, $58 pack) | Most people 1 to 2 weeks |
| Passport, adult (10 years) | $247 | Urgent aims 3 working days |
| Passport, child (5 years) | $144 | Urgent aims 3 working days |
How the warnings compare
| Warning | Document | What DIA said |
|---|---|---|
| June 2019 | Birth certificates | Offshore services charged $69 and were slower than the official route |
| January 2025 | Citizenship | Third-party sites charged up to $195 extra with no lodgement guarantee |
| Undated | Passports | Passport fraud of any type is a serious crime and is referred to Police |
The common thread
Every warning on this list describes a middleman: someone positioned between you and an agency who adds a fee, collects your data and promises something the agency does not. The cure is the same each time. Go to the agency’s own site from govt.nz, check the fee against the published figure, and do not send identity documents to anyone who is not the issuer. Birth certificate orders and passport applications are both online services run by DIA, so there is nothing a third party can do for you that you cannot do directly, in about the time it takes to read their advert.
If the problem is a licence, not a certificate
Driver licence offers follow a different pattern, because NZTA licensing needs you in person. See the driver licence scams hub, which also covers overseas conversion fraud and the testing investigation.