Enrolment Guide for Patients

How do I enrol?

To enrol you must be eligible, entitled and complete the enrolment form at the general practice of your choice. You will need to provide evidence of citizenship or eligibility for publicly funded health services; please do not be offended when asked.

What are the enrolment criteria?

1. I am entitled to enrol because I am residing permanently in New Zealand.*
2. I am eligible to enrol because I meet one of the eligibility criteria listed below: a) I am a New Zealand citizen OR b) I hold a resident visa or a permanent resident visa (or a residence permit if issued before December 2010) OR c) I am an Australian citizen or Australian permanent resident AND able to show I have been in New Zealand or intend to stay in New Zealand for at least 2 consecutive years OR d) I have a work visa/permit and can show that I am able to be in New Zealand for at least 2 years (previous permits included) OR e) I am an interim visa holder** who was eligible immediately before my interim visa started OR f) I am a refugee or protected person OR in the process of applying for, or appealing refugee or protection status, OR a victim or suspected victim of people trafficking OR g) I am under 18 years and in the care and control of a parent/legal guardian/adopting parent who meets one criterion in clauses a–f above OR in the control of the Chief Executive of the Ministry of Social Development h) I am a NZ Aid Programme student studying in NZ and receiving Official Development Assistance funding (or their partner or child under 18 years old) OR i) I am participating in the Ministry of Education Foreign Language Teaching Assistantship scheme OR j) I am a Commonwealth Scholarship holder studying in NZ and receiving funding from a New Zealand university under the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Fund.

You will need to tick the eligibility criteria that applies to you on your enrolment form. For further information about eligibility, please refer to Te Whatu Ora.

Other circumstances where you may be asked to sign an enrolment form:

Casual patient

If you do not meet the enrolment criteria and wish to be a casual patient, please complete a separate Casual Patient Details' form.

Enrolling children (under 16 years)

Parents can enrol and sign for children under 16 years of age, but children 16 years or over must sign their own form.

Enrolling someone else (other than children)

In some circumstances, you may sign for another person if they are unable to consent on their own behalf. This is referred to as ‘Signed by Authority’.

* The definition residing in New Zealand is that you intend to be resident in New Zealand for at least 183 days in the next 12 months.

** If a person has an interim visa this means they are waiting for Immigration to finish processing an application. Immigration issues interim visas if the old visa has run out but the new visa is processing. To determine the eligibility of an interim visa holder you should look at what their eligibility status was immediately prior to being issued the interim visa. For example, the person had a two-year work permit and has been issued with an interim visa while waiting for their application for another two-year work permit to be processed. Immigration usually issues Interim visas in a letter form.