Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM) are not automatically notified when a marriage or civil union that took place in New Zealand is dissolved by an overseas court.

How to deposit an overseas divorce or dissolution certificate

You can apply to deposit an overseas divorce or dissolution certificate with BDM. This information will be added to your marriage or civil union certificate.

If you want a copy of your updated marriage or civil union certificate, you must order a new one.

Order a marriage certificate

Order a civil union certificate

To deposit a divorce or dissolution certificate, at least 1 person in the relationship must be:

• a New Zealand citizen, or
• ordinarily resident in New Zealand.

The divorce or dissolution certificate must be:

• issued from outside New Zealand
• the original — not a copy or PDF
• translated, if not in English.

To apply:

• complete the form below
• pay the fee of NZD$55.

Deposit an overseas divorce or dissolution certificate BDM43 (PDF 117KB)

Deposit an overseas divorce or dissolution certificate BDM43 — accessible alternative (TXT 6KB)

Request a statement from the Registrar-General

For an additional fee of NZD$25, you can request a written statement from the Registrar-General. To do this, tick the box in the 'Fees' section of the form.

This document states that:

• the divorce or dissolution certificate has been deposited
• the Registrar-General is not responsible for the authenticity of the divorce or dissolution certificate, nor the truth of any information contained in the divorce or dissolution certificate.