22 August 2025
45 Pipitea Street, Wel ington 6011
Phone +64 4 495 7200
dia.govt.nz
Mr Lee
fyi-request-31760-
[email address]
Tēnā koe Mr Lee
OIA request 25/26 0115 Request for information about the New Zealand Passport Quality
Thank you for your Official Information Act (Act) request received by the Department of Internal
Affairs (Department) on 26 July 2025.
You requested –
1. Wil the Department be reviewing the quality including the material used for the passport
cover as part of the redesign, particularly in relation to the ongoing issue of cover
curling?
2. Please provide any internal assessments, reports, or communications in the context of
addressing cover curling in the new design.
3. New Zealand passports use a thin flexible cover. The cover is sensitive to heat, humidity,
or changes in pressure which makes it curl, especially around the edges. Many other
countries use more rigid binding methods, making their passports more resistant to
curling. Please provide detailed explanation regarding the choice of material used for
New Zealand's passport cover currently, and whether using materials to produce a
harder and more resistant cover would mean increased production costs?
In response to your request, I can provide you with the fol owing information.
Question one
I can advise that there has been known issues with passport covers being susceptible to curling.
I can assure you however that the curling of the passport cover in no way affects the validity of
the passport. The critical element of the passport is the data page which is constructed with
robust polycarbonate and this would need to be material y damaged to affect the validity of the
passport. Information is available on the following websites advising passport holders as to how
they can ensure the safe keeping of their passports:
https://www.passports.govt.nz/travel-
information and
https://www.govt.nz/browse/leaving-nz/before-you-travel/.
I can also advise that a redesign of the passport is currently underway as part of a scheduled
security upgrade, with costs built into the production of the passport book. The security
features of the New Zealand passport are updated every few years to keep up with technology
changes and mitigate the possibility of the New Zealand passport being counterfeited. The
current passport series was introduced in 2009, with specific changes introduced to that series
in 2016 and 2020. This scheduled security upgrade will also include a review of the passport
cover materials.
Questions two and three
I can advise that as the passport security upgrade is ongoing and communication between the
Minister’s office and the Department regarding the security upgrades are considered
confidential. I must therefore refuse this portion of your request pursuant to section 9(2)(j) in
that the withholding of the information is necessary to enable a Minister of the Crown or any
department or organisation holding the information to carry on, without prejudice or
disadvantage, negotiations (including commercial and industrial negotiations) and section
9(2)(k) of the Act to prevent the disclosure or use of official information for improper gain or
improper advantage.
As is required by section 9(1) of the Act, I have considered whether the grounds for withholding
this information are outweighed by other considerations which would make it desirable, in the
public interest, to make that information available. In this instance, I do not consider that to be
the case.
As this information may be of interest to other members of the public, the Department has
decided to proactively release a copy of this response on the DIA website. Al requestor data,
including your name and contact details, will be removed prior to release. The released
response will be made available here
: https://www.dia.govt.nz/Official-Information-Act-
Requests-2.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision.
Information about how to make a complaint is available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
freephone 0800 802 602.
Ngā mihi
Julia Taylor
Manager Operational Policy and Official Correspondence
Regulatory and Identity Services
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