Wellington to issue all UK passports for Aust/NZ

The British High Commission in Wellington is to take over issuing all British passports in Australia and New Zealand.

At the same time, all requests for visas to the UK from both sides of the Tasman will be handled from Canberra.

The High Commission said there may be a "small delay" delay in appointments for their biometric photographs and fingerprints during the transition to a Canberra-based visa operation.

But Commissioner George Fergusson said: "I am confident that most people applying for British visas and passports in the coming year will not notice any change in the process whatsoever.

"This move will increase the efficiency of two of Britain's key posts in the South Pacific. The Canberra and Wellington offices have some of the heaviest workloads globally for British passports and visas outside the United Kingdom."

It is expected that all visa applications will be dealt with in Canberra by the end of February.


Further Information

* An earlier report on the changes was incorrect.