Archives New Zealand offers a Remote Reference Service to assist researchers intending to visit or unable to visit. In order to be as specific as possible with your enquiries, we recommend that you undertake background research at local libraries and consult Archives New Zealand’s publications and online reference guides before contacting us. Each office of Archives New Zealand has printed copies of the reference guides which can be obtained free of charge.
A reading room service, which includes guidance from trained staff, is also available at all four offices of Archives New Zealand. This service is free, except for copying charges.
Family historians should note that all New Zealand birth, death and marriage certificates are available from the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages (external link).
All remote reference enquiries are subject to the pre-payment of a research fee, which must be made whether or not the search is successful. We charge flat rates for some records, or NZ$25 per half hour of research undertaken on other subjects. We are able to do a maximum of an hour of research (NZ$50) for an individual client. People wanting more extensive research to be done on their behalf will need to employ a private researcher. Payment can be made by faxing, phoning or posting your credit card details to us (Visa, Mastercard and Bankcard only). Please do not email these details as we cannot guarantee the security of your email outside our computer system. Alternatively, New Zealand researchers can pay by cheque, and international researchers by international money order, payable to Archives New Zealand. Our charges, in New Zealand dollars, are outlined below:
| New Zealand Defence Force personnel record: | $25 per record |
| Probate file: | $20 per record |
| Intention to Marry notice: | $8 per record |
These charges include up to 40 pages of photocopying per enquiry.
| All other enquiries: | $25 per half hour |
This charge includes up to 20 pages of photocopying per half hour of research.
If you would like to make a remote reference enquiry to our Wellington office, please go to our online request forms and select a relevant form. Please note that some fields are mandatory and need to be completed correctly to enable your request to be processed.
Email can be used to contact all four Archives New Zealand offices to make remote reference enquiries, or to order archives in advance of a visit. Alternatively you can post or fax your enquiry to us. Please note that we do not accept remote reference enquiries over the telephone. You will also need to select the office to which you want to direct your enquiry.
Should you wish to pre-order items before you visit, please send us the full archives reference/s of the files by email, fax or post to the appropriate office. You can obtain the archives references by searching Archway
The inclusion of your full postal address in all enquiries (including email) is essential, and your request will not be processed until we have this information.
10 Mulgrave Street, Thorndon, Wellington 6011, New Zealand
PO Box 12-050, Wellington, New Zealand
Phone: (64-4) 499 5595
Fax: (64-4) 495 6210
E-mail: reference@archives.govt.nz
95 Richard Pearse Drive, Mangere, Manukau 2022
PO Box 201103, Auckland Airport, Manukau 2150
Ph: (64- 9) 270 1100
Fax: (64- 9) 276 4472
Email: auckland@archives.govt.nz
90 Peterborough Street, Christchurch 8013, New Zealand
PO Box 642, Christchurch, New Zealand
Phone: (64-3) 377 0760
Fax: (64-3) 365 2662
E-mail: christchurch@archives.govt.nz
556 George Street, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand
PO Box 6183, Dunedin North, Dunedin, New Zealand
Phone: (64-3) 477 0404
Fax: (64-3) 477 0422
E-mail: dunedin@archives.govt.nz
All enquiries, including emails, are subject to the following turnaround times. We try to respond within 15 working days of receiving an enquiry, but during times of high demand for the service, we may not be able to meet this deadline. An extra urgent search fee of NZ$27 per request may be available on request. This would involve your enquiry being processed within two working days.
The Wellington office is currently replying to remote reference enquiries requiring searching and copying of archives within the standard 15 working day turnaround time. The exception for this is the New Zealand Defence Force Personnel files which are taking approximately 20 working days to reply to.
Demand for photocopying is currently high, with standard photocopying orders (less than 50 pages in total) taken in the Wellington office reading room being completed in approximately 15 working days. We apologise for any inconvenience if there is a delay with your request.