New Zealand to require in-person citizenship test for migrants in 2027

New Zealand will turn citizenship into a formal civic exam for most adult applicants by grant from late 2027, putting a 20-question in-person test at the last stage of the migrant journey. Applicants will need 15 correct answers to pass, and the questions will cover the Bill of Rights Act, the Human Rights Act, voting rights, democratic principles, the structure of government, certain criminal offences and travel to and from New Zealand.

The change sharpens a system that now relies on a signed declaration about the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship. Brooke van Velden says the test is intended to make those responsibilities clearer, including basic democratic norms such as freedom of speech and the idea that no person or group is above the law. That framing casts the policy as an integration tool, but it also creates a new barrier between permanent residence and full membership.

The Department of Internal Affairs says the test will not affect people who have already applied before it takes effect. It will not apply to citizenship by birth, descent or Western Samoa pathways. Applicants under 16 and over 65 will be exempt, and some other exemptions may eventually be available, although the details have not yet been set out.

Officials say guidance and study resources will be released before the test begins, and the administration is likely to be contracted to an external provider. The cost will be covered by fees, likely as a separate charge from the citizenship application itself. The department says the aim is to align New Zealand’s approach with comparable countries and strengthen a citizenship system it describes as the final stage in a migrant’s journey to becoming a New Zealander.

The timing lands in a changing migration environment. Stats NZ said annual net migration was 13,100 in the July 2025 year, down sharply from 63,600 in the July 2024 year. At the same time, official figures show 49,120 people were approved for New Zealand citizenship in calendar 2025, up from 43,586 in 2024. That means the new exam will arrive not as an abstract policy statement, but as a practical filter for a large and active pipeline of applicants.

The politics around the announcement are already clear. David Seymour called it a victory for ACT New Zealand, while Winston Peters had previously pushed for a “Kiwi values” pledge. For a country built on migration, the test asks whether citizenship should rest mainly on residency and contribution, or on a measured display of civic knowledge before the final door opens.