Visiting amateur operators

If you're visiting New Zealand, you can operate your amateur radio equipment for up to 90 days during your stay.

Operator qualifications

To operate amateur radio equipment in New Zealand your current amateur certificate of competency, authorisation, or licence must meet the requirements of Recommendations:

  • ITU-R M.1544, or
  • CEPT T/R 61-01, or
  • CEPT T/R 61-02

The licence you operate under

You will operate your radio transmitting equipment under the New Zealand General User Radio Licence (GURL) for Amateur Radio Operators. This means you must accept the terms, conditions and restrictions of this licence.

For the terms and conditions and operating frequencies for this GURL, see the Gazette notice(external link).

See Amateur radio operators for more information.

All fees associated with this licence are paid for by Radio Spectrum Management (RSM).

Callsigns

Use your national callsign, allocated by your administration, together with the prefix or suffix “ZL”. This is to be separated from your national callsign by the character “/” (telegraphy), or the word “stroke” (telephony).

If you're visiting any of these places, use the following prefixes or suffixes:

  • ZL7 when visiting the Chatham Islands
  • ZL8 when visiting the Kermadec Islands
  • ZL9 when visiting the Sub-Antarctic Islands.

Visiting for longer than 90 days

If your visit is longer than 90 days, you'll need to contact us to get approval to operate. You'll need to provide:

  • evidence of your competency (certificate, authorisation or licence)
  • a current overseas contact address
  • a copy of the photo page of your passport
  • a residential address while in New Zealand
  • the start and end dates of your visit.

The email address to use is RSMlicensing@mbie.govt.nz.