This is part of our identity verification process, which Private Box is required to complete under New Zealand’s Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009. Staff may request that customers provide certified documents.
Certified documents are a copy of your original documents, witnessed by a trusted referee.
IMPORTANT: The certifier must link the presented documents (e.g., passport or ID card) to the person present. The certified documents must include the following declaration: “I verify this to be a true copy of the original, which I have sighted, and it represents the identity of [client’s name].”
The process
- Private Box staff will request that you provide certified documents
- Collate documents
- Passport or ID card
- Proof of residential address
- A trusted referee to certify the documents. A translation will also be required if the documents are not in English (See Requirements below)
- Provide certified documents to Private Box
- Private Box may contact the referee to confirm certification
- Certified documents accepted or declined
Who is a trusted referee?
Below will describe who a trusted referee is in New Zealand and overseas.
Outside New Zealand
When certification occurs overseas, copies of international identification provided by a customer resident overseas must be certified by a person authorised by law in that country to take statutory declarations or equivalent in the customer’s country. There is a list of international notaries that we recognise.
We will need to contact your notary to confirm this happened, so please use someone who is contactable and speaks English. It will also be a great help if you can please provide the contact details of your notary.
In New Zealand
In New Zealand, a trusted referee must be at least 16 years of age and one of the following:
- Commonwealth representative (as defined in the Oaths and Declarations Act 1957)
- Member of the police
- Justice of the peace
- Registered medical doctor
- Kaumātua (as verified through a reputable source)
- Registered teacher
- Minister of religion
- Lawyer (as defined in the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006)
- Notary public
- New Zealand Honorary Consul
- Member of Parliament
- Chartered accountant (within the meaning of section 19 of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants Act 1996)
- A person who has the legal authority to take statutory declarations or the equivalent in New Zealand
Exclusions
In addition, the trusted referee must not be:
- related to the customer; for example, a trusted referee cannot be their parent, child, brother, sister, aunt, uncle or cousin
- the spouse or partner of the customer
- a person who lives at the same address as the customer
- a person involved in the transaction or business requiring the certification.
Requirements
And finally, what procedure must the trusted referee follow to have the documents accepted?
- The trusted referee must sight the original documentary identification and make a statement to the effect that the documents provided are true copies and represent the identity of the named individual (e.g., by linking the documents to the presenter). For example: “I verify this to be a true copy of the original, which I have sighted, and it represents the identity of [the person presenting the document to me for verification] [OR] [client’s name].”
- Certification must include the name, signature, and date of certification. The trusted referee must specify their capacity to act as a trusted referee (e.g., doctor, public notary, etc.).
- Certification must have been completed within the three months preceding the presentation of the copied documents.
- If the document is not in English, a certified translation will also be required.
Submitting documents to Private box
You can submit your documents digitally or via post. See How to submit documents for instructions on submitting digital copies.