New Zealanders are being reminded that recently expired driver licences and endorsements remain valid.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency says there is no need to visit a driver licensing agent or to ring or email the contact centre to renew the documents yet.

NZTA's contact centre is experiencing some of its highest ever call volumes as Kiwis are looking to renew their expired licences and endorsements.

'If your driver licence expired on or after 1 January 2020, you can rest assured that it is still valid, and you can continue to use your licence legally until a new expiry date has been set. There is no need to stress or rush to get it renewed,” says Kane Patena, NZTA general manager regulatory services.

NZTA is currently going through the process of setting new expiry dates and will communicate the new date once it has been set to ensure people have plenty of time to renew.

Updates on expiry dates will be posted on the website.

During COVID-19 Alert Levels 3 and 4, NZTA and licensing agents had to close many services available to the public.

Under Alert Level 2, most services are open, but capacity is greatly reduced. This is to ensure government health and safety guidelines are followed, particularly social distancing and cleaning of equipment.

As a result, the NZTA contact centre and licensing agents such as AA and VTNZ are experiencing very high volumes, leading to significant wait times for customers.

'We're also currently experiencing high demands for practical test booking, including via our online booking system at the moment. Our priority is to ensure those that had booked tests prior to Alert Level 4 are rescheduled,” says Kane.

'If your driver test or driver licensing need is not urgent, we're asking New Zealanders to please consider delaying booking, contacting or visiting us and our service providers.

'We understand that this is frustrating and appreciate your patience as we do our best to catch up and adjust to working with reduced capacity.”

NZTA's other online services are available. People can renew a vehicle licence (registration), pay road user charges and tolls, and manage change of registered person online.