Renewing your licence whilst overseas

[See also: How to renew a firearms licence in New Zealand]

It is not possible for New Zealand Firearms Licence holders living overseas to renew their firearms licence until they are in New Zealand and can apply in person. The process takes from one to three months. Any licence holder visiting New Zealand before their licence expires and wishing to renew it during their visit should make prior arrrangements with the Arms Officer for their area. Otherwise they should surrender their licence by notifying the issuing Police Arms Office before the licence expires.

Regulation 16 of the Arms regulations 1992 requires that a person "attend in person at an Arms Office" nearest to either their place of employment or their place of residence.

Section 23 of the Arms Act 1983 requires that the application be made "at an Arms Office to a member of the Police".

Section 23 of the Arms Act 1983, as amended in 1992 provides that a person may, before the expiry of their firearms licence apply for a new licence.

The Arms Act and Regulations apply in New Zealand.

Those applying to renew their licence are required to undergo full vetting and security inspections, and to pass a safety test (as required by the Arms Regulations 1992).

Individuals who are out of New Zealand, and who will not be in New Zealand before their licence expires are advised to surrender their firearms licence before it expires. They can do this by writing to the Arms Officer at the Police station nearest to where they normally reside in New Zealand, it is not necessary to send the firearms licence itself, as once it expires it is no longer valid (but may be useful as evidence that they once held a licence). The individual should retain a copy of the letter they send to the Arms Officer.

On returning to New Zealand the individual can then apply for a new firearms licence, paying the same fee as for a renewal (a new, first time application and application to renew are the same cost).

Failure to surrender (or renew) a firearms licence means that it will expire. The fee for applying for a firearms licence, having held one that expired, is considerably higher than for applying for a new or renewed licence. This higher fee is set by legislation, and more accurately reflects the actual cost of processing a licence application.

The individual is not disadvantaged in any way by this process:

• They pay the same fee as if they were in New Zealand and able to renew their licence before it expired
• Applicants to renew undergo the same vetting process
• They are not in New Zealand to shoot, so the licence is of no useful value as such (ie doesn't affect ability to shoot)
• On return to New Zealand they can continue to shoot sporting firearms under immediate supervision