When you enrol to study with us, we need information to help us confirm your legal name and residency status.
We need this information if:
- you're enrolling with us for the first time
- you're already studying with us and your residency status has changed since you last enrolled
- you're already studying with us and your legal name has changed since you last enrolled.
What is verified proof of identification?
Verified proof of your identification is a copy of a document that shows your legal name and residency, signed and dated by someone authorised to take declarations to confirm that it's the same as the original document.
This could be a copy of one of the following:
- Birth Certificate (with your place of Birth stated as New Zealand, Cook Islands, Tokelau, Niue, or Australia)
- New Zealand Passport photo page
- Overseas Passport photo page (and NZ Residency visa)
- Overseas Passport photo page (and NZ work visa)
- Deed Poll Declaration (If you have changed your name by Deed Poll)
- Certificate of Citizenship for New Zealand.
Get a copy of your New Zealand Birth Certificate
Note: Open Polytechnic may be able to pay for a Birth Certificate if you don’t have one.
If these documents do not show your current legal name, you also need to email us a verified copy of one of the following:
- Marriage Certificate
- Dissolution of Marriage Certificate
- Change of name by Deed Poll
- Change of Name by Statutory Declaration (signed by the Courts).
How to get a verified copy
You need to get your document copy signed and dated (preferably with an official stamp) by a person authorised to take declarations. This could be a:
- Justice of the Peace (JP) – Find a JP near you
- Lawyer - Find a lawyer near you
- Barrister - Find a barrister near you
- Notary Public - Find a notary near you
- Court Registrar or Deputy Registrar
- Member of Parliament.
If you live in a remote community and can’t access someone from the list above, you can use a school principal, minister of religion or general practitioner (GP).
A verified copy of a whakapapa statement is only acceptable when you cannot get a birth certificate. This must be signed by you and a kaumātua as evidence of identity and citizenship.
What the person signing must do
The signatory must:
- identify their official designation on the front of each page of the copy (preferably with an official stamp)
- sign and date the copy
- write the following words (or words to the same effect): ‘This is a true copy of an original document that I have sighted.’
All other pages of the verified copy must be initialled by the signatory.
Sending us the verified copy
Please email your scanned, verified documents to:
verifications@openpolytechnic.ac.nz
Need help?
If you have any questions about providing us with verified copies of your identification, get in touch: