A Restricted Licence is able to be obtained after having held a Learner licence for at least six months and passing a twenty-minute practical driving test. This allows a driver to drive without L-plates, or a supervisor, between 5am and 10pm. Drivers are only allowed to carry certain passengers with them. These passengers are limited to spouses, a person over 18 who has held a full licence for at least 2 years, and dependents. All other passengers are only allowed to be carried as long as one of the passengers has held a full licence for longer than 2 years. Failure to meet this requirement can incur a $400 fine, with liability going to the driver of the vehicle. The restricted licence is a yellow plastic card.

A Full Licence, which requires the driver to have held a Restricted licence for eighteen months, or twelve months for someone who has taken a defensive driving course. However, if you are aged over 25, you only have to spend six months on a restricted licence or three months upon completion of a defensive driving course. The driver must pass a more thorough, hour-long driving test. It allows a driver to drive at any time with passengers and, after two years, to supervise Learner and Restricted drivers. It is a green plastic card.
Alternatively, people who gained a licence before 1987 can usually obtain a Full licence without needing to take a driving test.

Holders of overseas licences may be required to take a driving test before they qualify for a full New Zealand license. Holders of licences from countries with similar road rules to New Zealand are required to take a theory test within one year of arrival, during which time they may continue to drive on their foreign drivers licence provided it is either written in English, or they have an authorised English translation available.

Since a Learner licence can be applied for at age 15, the minimum possible age to gain a Full licence is sixteen and a half. In recent years, there have been proposals to raise the minimum driving licensing age to 17 or 18, but so far they have never come to pass, due to objections from farmers who say that their children need to learn to drive early in life because of limited public transport.

The car licence allows the holder to drive a moped, tractor, or all-terrain vehicle as well as a car, however, motorbikes and heavy vehicles require separate licences.

Driver licences carry a unique identifying number, date of birth and photograph of the holder, and apart from passports and a special-purpose 18+ card are the only legal form of ID for buying alcohol or tobacco. They also carry a legend declaring whether or not the holder wishes to donate his or her organs if he or she dies on the road; however, the next-of-kin are consulted first and decide whether or not organs will be donated regardless of the wishes of the licence-holder.

Drivers must carry their licence at all times while driving. If they fail to do so they may face a fine of NZ$55.