New Zealand Causes of Statelessness

New Zealand’s citizenship laws largely align with international guidance on prevention and reduction of statelessness. Due to the limited research regarding statelessness in New Zealand, good-practice structure of citizenship laws and lack of strong stakeholder connections, causes of statelessness are unknown.

1. Lack of Legal Safeguards Against Childhood Statelessness

Stateless persons born in New Zealand are entitled to citizenship at birth. For older foundlings who are still unable to communicate identification information about their parents, there are currently limited discretionary safeguards as the legislation only includes provisions protecting newborn foundlings from statelessness.

2. Administrative Barriers

As of 2021, New Zealand has reported a 100% birth registration rate to UNICEF.

Birth Registration in New Zealand

2021 Population Estimates: National Statistical Office of New Zealand