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How do I register?

To register as an individual

Online service

NB: Ensure you have your credit card (VISA, MasterCard, Diners, American Express) available as payment of the NZ$583.00 fee will be required during this process.

Select Apply to register as an individual.

From there you will be taken through a series of screens that require certain information to be entered such as your full name, date of birth and residential address, along with the trading name of your business and address for service.

You will also be asked to provide contact information such as phone, fax and email, and your driver licence and passport number (if held).

A confirmation email will be sent which details your motor vehicle trader number (MVT File Number) and motor vehicle trader key (MVT Key). Keep this information safe as you will need it to access your registration in the future.

Once all information has been entered you will be emailed a statutory declaration. This document, in which you declare that you are not disqualified from registration as a motor vehicle trader, must be signed by you, witnessed by a solicitor, a Justice of the Peace or other person authorised to take a statutory declaration under the Oaths and Declarations Act 1957, and faxed to our office.

You have 20 days in which to complete and fax the statutory declaration back to our office.

Note: The sooner you return your correctly completed statutory declaration, the sooner you can become registered as a motor vehicle trader.

When the statutory declaration is received by our office, your application to register as a motor vehicle trader will be complete and, provided all information entered is correct, a certificate of registration will be issued.

Please note, you are able to start an application for registration online, save it, and complete it at a later date. You would probably use this service if you started an application but did not have all of the information you needed at that time.

If you have saved your application for registration and wish to continue with it, please select “Continue Application” from the Online services menu. You will be prompted for your MVT File Number and MVT Key. Once entered you will be able to continue with your application and make any amendments necessary.

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Paper forms

Should you prefer to fill out paper forms and post them to our office for processing, forms for an individual application are available here. Enter the relevant data and print the forms out.

Ensure that the statutory declaration has been completed by you, signed, and witnessed in front of an authorised person.

This document, in which you declare that you are not disqualified from registration as a motor vehicle trader, must be signed by you, witnessed by a solicitor, a Justice of the Peace or other person authorised to take a statutory declaration under the Oaths and Declarations Act 1957, and faxed to our office.

Post all documents, including payment, to the address on the form.

Provided all information contained in the application form is correct, your application will be processed within three working days of receipt and a certificate of registration posted to you along with a covering letter which contains your motor vehicle trader number and motor vehicle trader key. Keep this information safe as you will need it to access your registration in the future.

To register as a company

Online service

NB: Ensure you have your credit card (VISA, MasterCard, Diners, American Express) available as payment of the NZ$583.00 fee will be required during this process.

Select Apply to register as a company from the left hand menu.

From there you will taken through a series of screens that require certain information to be entered such as company name and number, and the full name, date of birth and residential address of all persons involved in the management of the business, that is, all persons listed as a director of the registered company plus any other persons involved in managing the business. You will also be asked for the driver licence and passport numbers for all such persons (if held).

Note: The details given on the application form must match the company information contained on the New Zealand Register of Companies. Changes in company information can be made online at The Companies Office if necessary.

If you are listed as a director of a company on the Companies Register, you must also indicate that you are a director on your motor vehicle trader application. If you are not a director of a company, but are listed in the motor vehicle trader application as a manager, or other person, you should not be listed as a director of the motor vehicle trader.

The application also requires you to provide the registered company name and number, registered office address and address for service along with other contact information such as phone, fax and email.

Once all information has been entered you will be emailed a statutory declaration for each person listed in the application.

These documents, in which each person declares that they are not disqualified from registration as a motor vehicle trader, must be:

signed by each person,
witnessed by a solicitor, a Justice of the Peace or other person authorised to take a statutory declaration under the Oaths and Declarations Act 1957, and
returned to our office.

You have 20 days in which to complete and fax the statutory declaration(s) back to our office.

Note: The sooner you return your correctly completed statutory declaration(s), the sooner you can be registered as a motor vehicle trader.

When the statutory declaration(s) are received by our office, your application to register as a motor vehicle trader will be complete and, provided all information entered is correct, a certificate of registration will be issued.

If you have saved your application for registration and wish to continue with it, please select “Continue Application” from the left hand menu. You will be prompted for your MVT File Number and MVT Key. Once entered you will be able to continue with your application and make any amendments necessary.

Top

Paper forms

Should you prefer to fill out paper forms and post them to our office for processing, forms for a company application are available here. Enter the relevant data and print the forms out.

Ensure that a statutory declaration has been completed for each person involved in the management of the motor vehicle trader, signed and witnessed in front of an authorised person. These documents, in which each person declares that they are not disqualified from registration as a motor vehicle trader, must be:

signed by the applicant,
witnessed by a solicitor, a Justice of the Peace or other person authorised to take a statutory declaration under the Oaths and Declarations Act 1957, and
faxed to our office.

Post all documents, including payment to the address on the form.

Who in my company is required to sign a statutory declaration?

Under section 31 of the Motor Vehicle Sales Act 1993, an application for registration made by a company must be accompanied by a statutory declaration made by each person concerned in the management of the company.

Therefore, all directors and persons involved in the management of a company must be included on a company application for registration as a motor vehicle trader. All such persons must make a statutory declaration to accompany the application, which states that they are not disqualified from registration as a motor vehicle trader in their own right.

How do I make a statutory declaration outside New Zealand?

Some companies have directors that reside overseas, which can present a challenge when completing the statutory declaration(s) for your company application to become a motor vehicle trader. If this is the case for your company, you must be aware that there are restrictions about who may witness an overseas statutory declaration. The restrictions differ slightly if the country is part of the Commonwealth or not, but they are similar to the restrictions on who may witness a document in New Zealand.

The relevant extract from the Oaths and Declarations Act 1957 is:

Section 11 - Declarations made outside New Zealand -

A declaration made in a Commonwealth country other than New Zealand shall be made before a Judge, a Commissioner of Oaths, a notary public, a Justice of the Peace, or any person authorised by the law of that country to administer an oath there for the purpose of a judicial proceeding, or before a Commonwealth representative, or before a solicitor of [the High Court] of New Zealand.
A declaration made in a country other than a Commonwealth country shall be made before a Commonwealth representative, or before a Judge, or before a notary public, or before a solicitor of [the High Court] of New Zealand.
Any document purporting to have affixed, impressed, or subscribed thereon or thereto the seal or signature of any person authorised by this section to take a declaration shall be admitted in evidence without proof of the seal or signature being the seal or signature of that person or of the official or other character of that person.

Overseas company directors must be certain that the witness to the statutory declaration is actually authorised to do so - otherwise, the application to register your company as a motor vehicle trader will be rejected.

You can contact the local New Zealand Embassy or High Commission in the country for information about document witnessing services.

You can also get more information via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Common problems with registration applications

Director details in the motor vehicle trader application do not match those of the registered company (i.e. if the registered company has two directors then the motor vehicle trader application must record the same two directors and their names must be entered in exactly the same way).
The ‘submit’ application button has not been clicked (for online applications).
Statutory declarations have not been witnessed by an authorised person.
Information in the statutory declaration does not match the information recorded in the application, i.e. name differs, date of birth is different, address is different.
Some or all statutory declarations have not been returned to the Registrar to complete application.

If a problem is found with your application and registration cannot be completed, you will be sent an email or letter outlining the problem, and advising the steps required to complete the registration process.

Important: If you believe you have submitted all documents necessary to register as a motor vehicle trader but have not received a Certificate of Registration within five working days of submission, please call our Business Service Centre toll free on 0508 668 678.