Moving to New Zealand

Check what you need to do if you are moving to New Zealand for more than 1 year and you want to bring, possess or use firearms.

Your first 12 months in New Zealand

You can apply for a New Zealand firearms licence after living in New Zealand for 12 months.

For the first 12 months, you can only use firearms under the immediate supervision of someone with a New Zealand firearms licence.

Immediate supervision means the licence holder:

is physically present and actively supervising the shooter
can take immediate control of the firearm being used by the shooter
is not using another firearm while providing supervision.

You can only apply for a visitor’s licence if you are planning to stay on holiday in New Zealand for less than 12 months.

When you need a New Zealand firearms licence

To possess and use most types of firearms in New Zealand, you need a New Zealand firearms licence.

To check which arms items you need a licence for, visit When you need a firearms licence

When you do not need a New Zealand firearms licence

You do not need a New Zealand firearms licence to possess the following items, but you do need a permit to import them to New Zealand:

restricted airguns – however, people aged 16 or 17 must have a firearms licence, and people under 16 may not import an airgun
antique firearms

Read more about some definitions and interpretations in the Arms Act 2026.

If you are bringing arms items and ammunition to New Zealand

If you are bringing arms items and ammunition into New Zealand, you must have a permit to import.

If you are importing any items that require you to have a firearms licence, we recommend you leave them in your home country until you get to New Zealand and have:

You may need to provide a criminal history check

If you want to apply for a New Zealand firearms licence, you need to provide your criminal history check from any country you have been in for over 6 months in total (not necessarily consecutively) in the last 10 years.

We need this information so we can assess if you are a fit and proper person to have a firearms licence.

See more information about Who is eligible to apply

If you immigrated to New Zealand less than 10 years ago

You can use the same document you used in your immigration application – but only if you have not been back to the country it was issued from. If you have, you need to re-apply for the document.

What you need to provide

The name of the document you need to provide depends on the country it comes from.

Tip: It can take a long time to get the document. Give yourself enough time to apply for the criminal history check before you apply for a New Zealand firearms licence.