Going to court for your Limited Licence
The application · Filing
Filing at your District Court
How the Limited Licence Documents Process generally works
NZLL prepares your bundle - Affidavit, Application, draft Order, boundary map, and supporting Employer Affidavit or Director's declaration.
You review your documents. The supporting affidavit - the Employer Affidavit, or the Director's declaration if you're self-employed - is the one witnessed at this stage, sworn or affirmed in front of an authorised person (a Justice of the Peace, lawyer, or other person authorised to take oaths/declarations). Your own Affidavit and its annexures are not witnessed until you file: you sign and swear them at the court counter.
You file the bundle at your District Court criminal registry - either by hand delivery or by post, using the address and contact details on your specific court's own page (see the list below). Confirm directly with the registry, or your instructed lawyer if any, whether email filing is currently accepted for your document type, as practices can vary between courts and change over time.
The application is served on the Police Prosecution Service, who may oppose it.
The court decides. Under the national Practice Note that governs every District Court registry, every person who has sworn a supporting affidavit - you, and your employer or director if applicable - is required by law (Land Transport Act 1998, s104(4)) to appear before the court for examination on their affidavit, unless you and the Police agree in advance that an appearance isn't needed. An application must be heard in open court if it's contested, if a deponent is required for examination, or if the judge isn't prepared to grant it on the papers; an unopposed, well-evidenced application can otherwise be dealt with by the judge in chambers, without a public hearing.
If granted, you separately apply to NZTA (Waka Kotahi) and pay their fee to receive the physical Limited Licence.
The rule above (appearance required unless waived by agreement) is the national default law, and it applies at every District Court in New Zealand, New Zealand included. In practice, your District Court decides these applications on the papers in chambers - unopposed, well-drafted demerit-point and EBA applications are dealt with by a Judge without the applicant appearing.
The exception is rare and it is not procedural: where the driving history is seriously bad, the Police Prosecution Service may oppose the application and not back down. That forces the matter into open court, and the applicant appears before a Judge. Everything else is decided in chambers.
Fees (Ministry of Justice court fees, current as at verification)
These are court fees paid to the Ministry of Justice, separate from NZLL's own service fee and separate from NZTA's licence-issue fee. Confirm current fees before filing, as court fee schedules are periodically reviewed. (One third-party source found during research quoted slightly different figures - a flagged discrepancy that needs resolving against justice.govt.nz directly.)
Stand-down periods
Court disqualification: a 28-day stand-down applies before a Limited Licence can take effect. You can file your application during this period.
Demerit-point suspension: no stand-down period applies, but the application cannot be filed until the suspension notice has been served on you.
Where you file
Court-imposed disqualification (e.g. an EBA conviction): filed at the registry of the court that imposed the disqualification (Land Transport Act 1998, s105(4)). If that was your District Court, file there.
Demerit-point suspension: filed at the District Court nearest to where you live - for most New Zealand residents, that's your District Court.
Sources: New Zealand Ministry of Justice, "Find a court or tribunal," justice.govt.nz/courts/; District Court of New Zealand, Practice Note - Applications for a Limited Licence (24 May 2024), districtcourts.govt.nz; Ministry of Justice, "Get a Limited Licence," justice.govt.nz/courts/criminal/get-a-limited-licence/ - all verified 20 August 2026.
Going to court for your Limited Licence
Find your District Court
Auckland Courts
North Island
South Island
Checked by Guy Hollister, Director, NZ Limited Licence, on 21 October 2026