IRD Number

[iluvmykiwi]

My husband was born in New Zealand, but he was born before they started assigning IRD #s. We saw that you can mail the applications in from outside of the country, but I'm not sure which address we use. Anyone know?

[kiwieagle]

My husband didn't know if he had an IRD number or not. He worked in NZ in the 80s and 90s but thought he never used it before. He called this number: 0800 775 247 when we arrived and they found he did have one. If he ever worked in NZ, he could start there.

[Elaine_NZ]

Ask them directly through one of their e-mail addresses.

[iluvmykiwi]

My husband left New Zealand when he was 8 years old, so we're pretty sure he doesn't have one, hehe. We actually asked our in-laws to call for us, but they've had a hard time getting a straight answer themselves. His dad was going to try again, so we'll wait and see I guess.

[iluvmykiwi]

His parents keep getting told to have him do it when he gets there, and I still haven't gotten a response to my e-mail.

[JandM]

If he doesn't have an IRD number already, which seems unlikely given the age he was when he was there before, he can't get one from outside the country. That used to be possible, but was discontinued last year or the year before. It's very straightforward to get your number - just follow the instructions here http://www.ird.govt.nz/how-to/irdnumbers/, and take the documents needed along to a post shop or AA office.

[iluvmykiwi]

Ah, that what was confusing me. I saw the older posts saying that they applied from outside the country. We were hoping to be able to get a jump start on it so he'd have everything he needed to start working.

As for the documents, I noticed one of the things listed was a driver's license. Will they except a foreign driver's license? Or in his case, state ID? I know his sister had some trouble getting her number when they moved back. She doesn't have a driver's license either, and they wouldn't except her passport. I think they ended up receiving her baptismal certificate. Seems kind of silly to me.

[JandM]

See the list of Category A and Category B documents near the bottom of that page in the link. A foreign license IS acceptable for one of the documents. Evidently, they wouldn't accept your sister-in-law's passport for both lists - understandable, really.

[iluvmykiwi]

Actually she had her birth certificate as well as passport, and tried a few other things to boot. Passports are usually a universal form of ID, especially paired with a birth certificate. Just saying it seems silly to me to take a baptismal certificate over either.

[kiwieagle]

Actually she had her birth certificate as well as passport, and tried a few other things to boot. Passports are usually a universal form of ID, especially paired with a birth certificate. Just saying it seems silly to me to take a baptismal certificate over either.

Did you see the two lists in the link that JandM gave you? One is category A and the other is category B. Birth certificate and Passport are in the same category and essentially the same thing. I got my IRD with my passport with visa and California driver's licence. I think category B is trying to get you to show that you live in the world using that name, you know what I mean? You can get a passport if you have a birth certificate but it doesn't demonstrate that you use that name when applying for jobs etc... I could be off but that's my take on it.