If you're towing vehicles for hire or reward you'll need to make sure your vehicle recovery (V) endorsement remains current.
Waka Kotahi uses real-time monitoring to assess whether commercial drivers continue to meet our fitness and propriety criteria. This includes maintaining good standards of driving behaviour on our roads. Coupled with improvements to our processes, we can now use this real-time data, along with other assessment criteria, to determine if your V endorsement renewal can be released quicker than applications that require further assessment.
These improvements allow compliant drivers to move through the renewal application process quickly and efficiently. For those applications that require further scrutiny by Waka Kotahi, applicants won't see a change in processing times.
While the process to renew your V endorsement at a driver licensing agent hasn't changed, if you meet all the assessment criteria and have maintained your fitness and propriety status, your application may be completed faster.
You can track your V endorsement application through our online tracking portal. However, it can be take up to a week for an application to show in the tracking system: if your application is completed faster it won't be uploaded onto the online portal.
Track your PVIO on our online tracking portal
The expiry date of your V endorsement may differ from your driver licence expiry. The date it expires will be listed on the back of your photo driver licence.
You need to apply to renew your V endorsement at least 30 working days before it expires.
Current application processing times
We'll send you a reminder about 6 weeks before your endorsement is due to expire. If you've recently changed your address, you can update it with us online.
Update your address online now
You can choose to renew your V endorsement for 1 or 5 years. Its new expiry date will depend on when you apply.
| If you apply: | then your new expiry date will be: |
| within 60 days of your current expiry date | 1 or 5 years from your existing expiry date |
| more than 60 days before your current expiry date | 1 or 5 years from the date the renewal is granted |
| after your current expiry date |
To renew your endorsement, you must apply at a driver licensing agent.
You'll need to:
If you need a medical certificate you must provide it when you apply to renew your endorsement at the agent. If you don’t, your application won’t be accepted.
You don't need to provide evidence of your immigration status to Waka Kotahi.
Go to the Immigration New Zealand website for more information about working in New Zealand.
You can choose whether you want your V endorsement to last for 1 year or 5 years. The application fee is the same no matter which term you choose.
|
Term |
Application fee |
Vetting fee |
Total |
|
1 year |
$102.70 |
$9.70 |
$112.40 |
|
5 years |
$48.50 |
$151.20 |
The unique ID that displays on your ID card must be approved by Waka Kotahi. This is to ensure that it meets the criteria of the Land Transport Rule: Operator Licensing 2017.(external link)
If you want to change your unique ID when you renew your V endorsement, you'll need to get our approval first.
Email PVIO@nzta.govt.nz to request your new unique ID before you make your application at an agent. Remember to include your driver licence number and your full name with your request.
Your application will be sent to Waka Kotahi to be processed.
If you’ve provided all the necessary information with your application and all the endorsement requirements have been met, please allow up to 30 working days for your application to be processed.
If some information hasn’t been provided yet, or if some requirements haven’t been met, your application will take longer to process.
If you're cleared and your application is granted, your endorsement will be approved and your new licence will be made and sent to you.
If you’re not cleared, you’ll receive a letter explaining this and the process you may take to appeal the decision in the district court.
Use our online tracking tool(external link) to view your application status:
| Status | What does this mean? |
|---|---|
| Received | We’ve got your application, but we haven’t started working on it yet. We’ll send you an email to let you know it’s been received. |
| Gathering information |
We’re waiting for something. For example, we could be waiting for vetting information from the police or reviewing your medical certificate. We’ll contact you if we need more information from you. |
| Processing | We’ve got all the information we need, and we’re now assessing your application. |
| Completed |
We’ve finished processing your application.
|
| Unable to find the information you submitted |
You may have entered your details incorrectly. Try entering them again. If your details are correct, this means we haven't received your application yet. |
If you hold more than 1 endorsement and want to renew them at the same time, you only have to pay 1 renewal fee and 1 vetting fee. This will renew all the P, V, I or O endorsements you hold.
Download Factsheet 61: Renewing driver licence endorsements [PDF, 255 KB]
