9 August 2019
Shahil S
[FYI request #10741 email]
REF: OIA-5441
Dear Shahil,
Request made under the Official Information Act 1982
Thank you for your email to the NZ Transport Agency on 15 July 2019 requesting the following
information under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act):
“- The total number of people who had converted an overseas driver licence from
an exempt country between 2008 to 2018.
- The total number of people who had converted an overseas driver licence from
an non-exempt country between 2008 to 2018.
- A breakdown of the country of origin for exempt countries who had converted an
overseas driver licence between 2008 to 2018.
- A breakdown of the country of origin for non-exempt countries who had
converted an overseas driver licence between 2008 to 2018.”
Regarding the first two questions:
The total number of people who converted an overseas driver licence from an exempt country
between 2008 to 2018 is 254,813 people.
The total number of people who converted an overseas driver licence from a non-exempt country
between 2008 to 2018 is 179,904 people.
The data you requested in questions three and four has been provided to you in the attached
spreadsheet:
• OIA-5441 - Shahil S Data questions 3 & 4.
It is important to note the following regarding the data provided in this spreadsheet:
• data was extracted from the Driver Licence Register and is current as at 17 July 2019
• data is limited to overseas licence conversion applications granted between 1 January 2008 and
31 December 2018
• a small number of applications (< 0.001%) do not have a country recorded for the origin of the
converted licence, or have the country recorded as "New Zealand" or "Unknown". These values
are invalid (and neither exempt nor non-exempt) and have been excluded
• some data may be affected by input errors
• small values have been preserved as they do not allow identification of individuals
• counts are of individuals, not applications
• 530 individuals have been granted an overseas conversion of a driver licence from more than one
country. As such, the sum of the country breakdown will not be the same as the totals
• countries considered exempt as at 18 July 2019 are:
o Australia (includes Norfolk Island and Christmas Island)
o Austria
o Belgium
o Canada
o Denmark
o Finland
o France (includes New Caledonia and French Polynesia)
o Germany
o Greece
o Hong Kong
o Ireland
o Italy
o Japan
o Luxembourg
o The Netherlands
o Norway
o Portugal
o South Africa
o South Korea
o Spain
o Sweden
o Switzerland
o United Kingdom (includes England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Guernsey,
Ascension Islands, Isle of Man, Jersey and Falkland Islands)
o United States of America
• countries considered non-exempt are countries not listed above as at 18 July 2019
• counts by exempt and non-exempt countries are based on definitions as at 18 July 2019 and not
at the time of application.
If you would like to discuss this reply with the Transport Agency, please contact Kerry Greig, Manager,
Data Services, by email to [email address] or by phone on (04) 894 5251.
Yours sincerely,
Galina Mitchelhill
Senior Manager, Research & Analytics