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About this tool
See whether New Zealand expects an international driving permit or English translation with your licence, and when the 12-month visitor window ends.
This checker tells you whether New Zealand expects an International Driving Permit or an approved English translation alongside your overseas licence, and dates the 12-month window the Land Transport (Driver Licensing) Rule 1999 gives a visitor from the day they last arrived. The permit question turns on one thing: whether the licence is printed in English. The conversion question turns on another - whether your country sits on the NZ Transport Agency's exempt list, which is the difference between a paperwork swap and sitting both a theory and a practical test.
Open IDP Requirement Checker for New Zealand on AltFTool — it loads instantly in your browser.
Add your input to the workspace.
Adjust the options until the result looks right.
Copy or download the output and put it to work.
Returns the calendar date the visitor window closes, counted from your last arrival.
Points out that leaving and re-entering starts a fresh 12 months, which surprises long-stay visitors both ways.
Says whether conversion needs no test at all, or the full theory plus practical.
Only if your licence is not in English. The Land Transport (Driver Licensing) Rule 1999 requires an overseas licence to be in English, or to be accompanied by an accurate English translation - from an NZ Transport Agency approved translation service, your country's diplomatic mission here, or the authority that issued the licence - or by an International Driving Permit. A UK, Irish, Australian, US, Canadian, Indian, Singaporean or South African licence is already in English and needs nothing extra.
Up to 12 months from the date you last arrived. The period restarts each time you arrive in the country, so a short trip to Australia and back gives you a fresh 12 months. It does not accumulate, though - you cannot bank unused months. After 12 months of continuous presence you must convert to a New Zealand licence to keep driving.
250 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath, or 50 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood, for drivers aged 20 and over. For anyone under 20 the limit is zero. The lower adult limits have applied since the 2014 amendment to the Land Transport Act 1998, and the licence itself must be carried in the vehicle whenever you drive.
It depends on where the licence was issued. The NZ Transport Agency keeps an exempt-country list - Australia, the UK, Ireland, most EU states, the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and South Africa are on it - and holders from those countries convert with an application, an eyesight check and the fee. Everyone else sits both the theory test and a practical driving test, however long they have been driving. This is general information rather than legal advice; check the current list before you plan around it.