RealMe and Immigration Online: Setting Up Your Login
RealMe is the New Zealand Government identity service at realme.govt.nz, and it is the login Immigration Online runs on. You create the RealMe account first, then use it to open your Immigration New Zealand account. RealMe is operated by the Department of Internal Affairs, so INZ cannot reset your username or password.
Quick Facts
| Item | Detail (as at August 2026) |
|---|---|
| What it is | The New Zealand Government identity service — a shared login across government |
| Where | realme.govt.nz |
| Cost | Free |
| Who runs it | The Department of Internal Affairs, not Immigration New Zealand |
| What it is used for here | Logging in to Immigration Online to lodge and track a visa application |
| Who needs one | Every applicant applying online, and separately every person applying on someone else's behalf |
| Can INZ reset it | No. Login recovery is handled by RealMe |
| Order of operations | RealMe login first, Immigration Online account second |
Why a visa application needs a government login at all
New Zealand does not run a separate username and password for every government service. It runs one — RealMe — and lets departments sit behind it. INZ is one of those departments.
INZ describes RealMe as designed to protect your privacy and as a service used by many New Zealand businesses and government departments. The practical consequence for someone applying for a visa is that the credential you create is not an "immigration account". It is a government identity credential that happens to open Immigration Online, and it will open other services too.
That is also why the recovery route is not with INZ. A forgotten RealMe password is a RealMe problem.
Step 1: Create the RealMe account
INZ publishes a heading for this — "How to create a RealMe account" — and links through to RealMe itself, which is where the process actually lives. Go to realme.govt.nz and create the login there.
A few practical points before you start:
- Use an email address you will keep. It is the address recovery runs through, and a visa application can outlive a work email or a university account.
- Use your name as it appears in your passport. The identity on the account should match the identity in the application.
- Record the username. RealMe usernames are not always your email address, and this is the single most common thing people lose.
There are different levels of RealMe credential in the wider RealMe service. What INZ requires for Immigration Online is the login, and the visa application does its own identity verification through the documents and biometrics you supply — see biometrics.
Step 2: Use it to open your Immigration Online account
INZ publishes a second heading covering exactly this transition: "Creating a RealMe account and applying for a visa". Once the RealMe login exists, you go to immigration.govt.nz, choose to apply online, and sign in with RealMe. The Immigration Online account is created against that login.
Neither the RealMe account nor the Immigration Online account costs anything. The only money in this process is the visa fee, paid at submission — see how to pay New Zealand visa fees.
What the account then does is covered on the Immigration Online account guide.
Step 3: Keep the login usable for the life of the application
An application can run for weeks or months, and during that time your account is where INZ notifies you. INZ's published position is that it "phones, emails or notifies you on your online account".
That makes the login part of the application, not a formality before it. Losing access mid-assessment does not stop the assessment — it just stops you seeing it.
If you forget your RealMe username or password
INZ publishes a heading for this too — "If you forget your RealMe username or password" — and for good reason: it is the single most common support problem in the whole application process.
The recovery is done through RealMe. INZ staff cannot reset a RealMe credential, cannot tell you your username, and cannot move an application to a different login on request. RealMe publishes its own recovery steps at realme.govt.nz, including the route where both the username and the password have been lost.
What that means in practice: the recovery details you set when you create the account — the email address, the phone number, the security questions — are worth getting right the first time, because they are the whole of your route back in.
Applying for someone else needs a second RealMe
This is the part employers, agents and family members most often get wrong.
INZ's wording is explicit: "To apply for a visa on behalf of others, you need your own Immigration Online account and 'RealMe' login." Not the applicant's. Your own. That applies to licensed immigration advisers, lawyers, education agents, education providers, employers and travel agents.
Logging in as the applicant, using their credential, is not the published route, and it muddies who did what on a record that INZ may later need to reconstruct. See applying for a visa on behalf of someone else.
One clarification that matters legally: submitting an application for someone using only the information they gave you is not immigration advice and needs no licence. Advising them on what to apply for, or whether they qualify, is — and that carries up to NZ$100,000 and seven years' imprisonment without a licence. See what counts as immigration advice.
Only two domains are involved
RealMe is at realme.govt.nz. Immigration Online is reached from immigration.govt.nz. Nothing else in this process is a login page.
That is worth stating plainly because a large ecosystem of commercial and impersonating sites presents itself as a New Zealand visa portal, and a government-styled login screen is an efficient way to collect identity documents from people who are anxious and in a hurry. At least one such site reproduces INZ branding and a Crown copyright line with no disclaimer at all. See how to spot a fake NZ immigration website.
If a page asks for your RealMe credentials and its address is not realme.govt.nz, it is not RealMe.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a RealMe account to apply for a New Zealand visa online?
Yes. Immigration Online has no separate login of its own — RealMe is the sign-in route. Visas that must be applied for on paper are the exception, since they do not use the online system at all.
Is RealMe free?
Yes. Creating a RealMe login costs nothing, and so does creating an Immigration Online account. The visa application fee is separate and is paid at submission.
Is RealMe run by Immigration New Zealand?
No. RealMe is the New Zealand Government identity service, operated by the Department of Internal Affairs. INZ is one of many services that sits behind it, which is why INZ cannot reset a RealMe login.
What do I do if I forget my RealMe password?
Use RealMe's own recovery process at realme.govt.nz. INZ cannot reset it, and contacting INZ about it will not resolve the problem faster.
Can I use someone else's RealMe login to apply?
No. Each applicant needs their own, and anyone lodging on someone else's behalf needs their own as well — INZ says so directly.
Do I need a New Zealand address or phone number for RealMe?
RealMe is used by applicants outside New Zealand as a matter of routine, since most visa applications are lodged from offshore. Check the current account-creation requirements on realme.govt.nz, as they are set by RealMe rather than by INZ.
Can I change the email address on my RealMe account?
Account details are managed within RealMe, not within Immigration Online. Because RealMe is the recovery channel for a live visa application, keeping the address current matters.
Does creating a RealMe account start a visa application?
No. It only creates the login. The application begins when you sign in to Immigration Online and select a visa — and it is not lodged until you pay and submit.
This page explains published rules. It is general information, not immigration advice, and it does not assess any individual's circumstances. Anyone who needs their own situation assessed should speak to a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer.
