Overview
The Honorary Consul of New Zealand in Windhoek operates from B D Basson Incorporated at 1 Haddy Street in central Windhoek and is the only New Zealand consular presence in Namibia. The post operates with the limited authority of an honorary consulate — New Zealand passports, full consular workload and notarial acts beyond the limited scope are not issued in Windhoek — and routes substantive matters to the New Zealand High Commission in Pretoria, which holds the full bilateral consular jurisdiction for Namibia under the Commonwealth shared-services arrangement. The honorary post serves Kiwi travellers across Namibia's broad wildlife-tourism circuit (Etosha, Sossusvlei, the Skeleton Coast, the Caprivi), the small resident New Zealand community in Windhoek and Swakopmund, and provides authentication services for police certificates (PCCs) and emergency travel-document issuance via the Pretoria High Commission. The bilateral New Zealand-Namibia relationship is anchored on Commonwealth ties, on shared SADC-and-Pacific multilateral engagement, on the Pacific-to-southern-Africa migration of educators and conservation professionals, and on growing NZ wildlife-tourism and conservation-finance interest in the Namibian community-conservancy network.
Visa Services
The Honorary Consul does not issue New Zealand visas. Namibian travellers and third-country residents in Namibia who need a New Zealand visa apply online through the Immigration New Zealand portal at immigration.govt.nz — the standard NZ visa categories (Visitor, Student, Work, Resident, transit) are handled centrally by INZ processing teams, with biometric data collection at the designated New Zealand visa-application centre in southern Africa (typically Pretoria via VFS Global). New Zealand citizens travelling to Namibia carry the standard Namibian Visa on Arrival approval — Kiwi passports are on Namibia's Visa on Arrival list, so the route is the Namibian Ministry of Home Affairs e-Services portal: complete the online application, pay the N$1,600 fee electronically, print the approval and present it at a designated port of entry. The Honorary Consul is not involved in Namibian entry formalities.
Consular Services
New Zealand citizens in Namibia can approach the Honorary Consul as first contact in genuine emergencies — loss or theft of an NZ passport, serious illness, accidents, coordination of repatriation, detention — and for police certificate (PCC) document authentication, which the post performs within the limited honorary scope. Substantive consular workload (passport issuance, emergency travel documents under the standard ETD process, civil-status registration, notarial acts beyond PCC authentication, citizenship matters) is handled by the New Zealand High Commission in Pretoria. The Honorary Consul facilitates document collection and submission to Pretoria, provides emergency liaison with Namibian authorities and supports the small resident Kiwi community across Windhoek, Swakopmund, the conservation-and-tourism sector and the academic community at the University of Namibia and NUST.
Trade & Export Support
The Honorary Consul supports New Zealand-Namibia commercial contacts on a non-commercial basis: introductions for NZ companies interested in Namibian agribusiness (the Namibian beef and lamb industries are of natural interest to NZ-domiciled meat-and-livestock specialists), conservation-finance models (NZ environmental NGOs and conservation-tourism operators engaging with the Namibian community-conservancy network), wildlife-tourism partnerships, and the small flow of New Zealand specialist services into the Namibian mining and renewables sector. Substantive trade promotion is led from NZ Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) regional coverage based out of NZTE Africa offices in Johannesburg.
Cultural & Educational Programs
The Honorary Consul supports the Kiwi community in Namibia on Waitangi Day (6 February) and during the New Zealand National Day commemorations, maintains contact with researchers and academics on NZ-Namibia conservation-biology research partnerships (Lincoln University and Massey University have long-running engagement with the Namibian conservancy network and with NUST conservation programmes), and provides referrals for NZ-domiciled visiting academics and researchers.
Service Area
Honorary consular district: the Republic of Namibia. The full bilateral consular jurisdiction belongs to the New Zealand High Commission in Pretoria, South Africa, which serves NZ citizens in Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the broader southern African region. The Windhoek post covers first-line contact within Namibia for Kiwi travellers, residents and visiting researchers.
Appointment Information
All in-person services are by prior appointment, booked by telephone (+264 61 386 600) or by email to bdblaw@iway.na. NZ travellers visiting Namibia on Visa on Arrival do not need to contact the Honorary Consul — the application is filed entirely through the Namibian Ministry of Home Affairs e-Services portal and the printed approval letter is presented at the Namibian port of entry. Substantive consular matters and full ETD issuance require coordination with the New Zealand High Commission in Pretoria. The 24/7 NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade emergency line (+64 99 20 20 20 from overseas) serves Kiwi nationals needing urgent consular help out of hours.
Special Notes
The Honorary Consul is a limited-authority post; it is not a substitute for a full NZ diplomatic mission. Kiwi travellers and NZ nationals resident in Namibia with substantive consular matters (passport, full visa processing, civil-status registration, notarial acts beyond PCC) work with the New Zealand High Commission in Pretoria. 1 Haddy Street is in central Windhoek, easily reached by Bolt/Lefa or taxi from any city quarter. Bring originals and copies of every supporting document — originals are returned where applicable. Direct flights between New Zealand and Windhoek do not exist; the standard routings from Auckland and Christchurch are via Doha with Qatar Airways, via Singapore with Singapore Airlines then SAA/Airlink to Johannesburg, or via Sydney/Brisbane with Qantas codeshare partners then SAA/Airlink — a 24-30 hour journey door to door.