The NZ Transport Agency is reminding New Zealanders that recently expired driver licences and endorsements remain valid and there is no need to visit a driver licensing agent or to ring or email the NZTA‘s contact centre to renew the documents yet.

The contact centre is experiencing some of its highest ever call volumes as Kiwis are looking to renew their expired licences and endorsements.

“If your driver licence expired on or after 1 January 2020, you can rest assured that it is still valid, and you can continue to use your licence legally until a new expiry date has been set. There is no need to stress or rush to get it renewed,” says NZTA general manager regulatory services Kane Patena.

The NZTA is currently going through the process of setting new expiry dates and will advise the new date once it has been set to ensure licence holders have plenty of time to renew. Updates on expiry dates will be posted on NZTA‘s website.

During Covid-19 alert levels 3 and 4, the NZTA and licensing agents had to close many services available to the public.

Under alert level 2, most services are open, but capacity is greatly reduced. This is to ensure government health and safety guidelines are followed, particularly social distancing and cleaning of equipment.

As a result, the NZTA contact centre and licensing agents such as AA and VTNZ are experiencing very high volumes, leading to significant wait times for customers.

“We‘re also currently experiencing high demands for practical test booking, including via our online booking system at the moment. Our priority is to ensure those that had booked tests prior to alert level 4 are rescheduled,” says Patena.

Licence holders are advised that if their need is not urgent, to consider delaying booking, contacting or visiting the NZTA and its service providers.

All other online services are available, so you can renew your vehicle licence (rego), pay road user charges and tolls, and manage change of registered person online.