Charities Commission

Registration forms

• Overview of forms
• Forms in PDF
• Translated guidance
• Forms in regulation
• Forms consultation

Overview of forms

The Form Helper can help you decide which form to use and when. It also provides guidance on who should complete the form and points you to related information sheets.

There are two different ways for individual organisations to apply for registration using this website:

1. complete the application form online by visiting the Charities Register and following the step-by-step instructions;
   
   OR
   
   
2. use the PDF versions provided below, print the application form (Form 1) and one copy of the Officer Certification Form (Form 2), for each officer, complete them by hand and post them to us. Read our tips on applying by post for more.

If you are applying to register a group, please print the Group Member Information form below, which is designed to help you prepare a group submission - the first step in the group registration process. We recommend you read the information in our Group Registration Information Pack before beginning a group application.

You can also contact us to request hard copies of our forms and we will post them to you.

Each form includes guidance notes to help you answer each question. For further guidance, call our free information line on 0508 242 748.  

Forms in PDF

The electronic version of our paper forms.

Black and white and printer-friendly, you may wish to print them out and complete them by hand. You might also find it useful to save Form 2 to your computer and email it to the officers of your organisation.

Registration as an individual charitable entity

• Form 1 - Application by entity for registration as a charitable entity (PDF, 263KB) 
  
  
  • To download Form 1 without guidance notes click here (PDF, 173KB)
    
    
• Form 2 - Officer Certification Form (PDF, 128KB)
  
  
  • To download Form 2 without guidance notes click here (PDF, 97KB)

Group registration

• Group Member Information (PDF, 214KB) - please use this form to help you prepare a submission for group registration. For further information on group registration, visit our Guidance for Charities pages.
  
  
• Form 2 - Officer Certification Form (PDF, 128KB)
  
  
  • To download Form 2 without guidance notes click here (PDF, 97KB)

• Form 5 - Application by single entity for registration as a charitable entity (PDF, 238KB) - please use this form only after you have been through the submission process.

After registration as an individual charitable entity

• Form 3 - Notification of changes to charitable entity (PDF, 226KB)
  
  
• Form 4 - Annual return for a charitable entity (registered as an individual organisation) (PDF, 580KB)

After registration as a group

• Form 3 - Notification of changes to charitable entity (PDF, 226KB) - for use by group members
  
  
• Form 4 - Annual return for a charitable entity (PDF, 580KB) - for use by group members



• Form 6 - Notification of changes: single entity (PDF, 250KB)
  
  
• Form 7 - Annual return for a single entity (PDF, 252KB)

Translated guidance

Guidance notes to help you fill out Forms 1, 2 and 3 are available in Māori, Tongan, Samoan, Chinese Traditional, Korean and Arabic. Please note that these were published in September 2007 and may not reflect minor changes to our processes.

Māori

• Form 1 guidance notes - Application by entity for registration as a charitable entity (PDF, 236KB)
• Form 2 guidance notes - Officer Certification Form (PDF, 173KB)
• Form 3 guidance notes - Notification of changes to charitable entity (PDF, 228KB)

Tongan

• Form 1 guidance notes - Application by entity for registration as a charitable entity (PDF, 250KB)
• Form 2 guidance notes - Officer Certification Form (PDF, 186KB)
• Form 3 guidance notes - Notification of changes to charitable entity (PDF, 245KB)

Samoan

• Form 1 guidance notes - Application by entity for registration as a charitable entity (PDF, 240KB)
• Form 2 guidance notes - Officer Certification Form (PDF, 174KB)
• Form 3 guidance notes - Notification of changes to charitable entity (PDF, 217KB)

Chinese (Traditional)

• Form 1 guidance notes - Application by entity for registration as a charitable entity (PDF, 399KB)
• Form 2 guidance notes - Officer Certification Form (PDF, 289KB)
• Form 3 guidance notes - Notification of changes to charitable entity (PDF, 319KB)

Korean

• Form 1 guidance notes - Application by entity for registration as a charitable entity (PDF, 299KB)
• Form 2 guidance notes - Officer Certification Form (PDF, 225KB)
• Form 3 guidance notes - Notification of changes to charitable entity (PDF, 265KB)

Arabic

• Form 1 guidance notes - Application by entity for registration as a charitable entity (PDF, 305KB)
• Form 2 guidance notes - Officer Certification Form (PDF, 250KB)
• Form 3 guidance notes - Notification of changes to charitable entity (PDF, 271KB)

Forms in regulation

The Governor-General signed the Charities (Fees, Forms, and other Matters) Regulations 2006 on 25 September 2006. This finalised the content of our registration forms.

The confirmed copy of the Regulations is available for download below. It contains a short commentary on forms, fees and a copy of each registration form prescribed under the Charities Act. Please do not use the forms within this document for registration.

Charities (Fees, Forms and Other Matters) Regulations 2006 (PDF, 879KB)

Forms consultation

Thank you to everyone who provided feedback on the draft registration forms.

The Department of Internal Affairs managed the consultation process. A summary of the submissions made on the draft forms is available on the Department of Internal Affairs website.