Apply for the Limited Service Volunteer course

The free voluntary Limited Service Volunteer (LSV) course is for young people who are not:

• working
• in education or training.

Who can apply for LSV

To apply for LSV, you must be:

• between 18 and 24 years old
• in good health so you can take part in outdoor activities.

You can be male, female or gender-diverse. If you're gender-diverse, we'll talk with you about how we can make sure you're comfortable and safe throughout the course.

If you're 17, you can still apply and we'll consider your application.

You don't have to be:

• getting payments from Work and Income to apply
• fit already.

Criminal convictions

If you have a criminal conviction, you may still be able to attend LSV. When you apply, we complete a police vetting check so it's best to be honest if you have any convictions. We look at each application on a case-by-case basis.

If you're on probation or waiting for a court hearing, your probation officer or lawyer needs to write a letter of support to go with your LSV application.

Before you apply

The New Zealand Defence Force can accept applications at any time. But the earlier you apply and get accepted, the more time you have to get ready.

Information you need to apply

To apply, you need to give us:

• your personal details, like your name, address and date of birth
• contact details of someone we can contact in an emergency
• proof of your identity, like a driver licence, birth certificate or passport.
• reasons you want to join an LSV course.

If you have any of the following, you also need to include details of your:

• Work and Income client number
• Community Services Card
• driver licence
• special food needs.

If you're on probation or waiting to appear in court, you also need a letter of support from your probation officer or lawyer.

How to apply for LSV

You need to fill in an application form and pass a medical check to make sure you can take safely part in outdoor activities.

The application form includes a police vetting form.

Help to fill in the application form

Give your name and contact details in the 'Enquire about LSV' form and someone will give you a call.

After you apply

We'll call you within the next day or so between 9am and 5pm to talk about:

• the LSV programme
• the application process
• any questions you have.

Medical check

You need to get a medical check as part of your application. This is a basic health check to make sure you can take part in outdoor activities and help keep you safe on the LSV course.

If you have asthma, allergies, past injuries or poor mental health, this doesn't stop you from going on an LSV course.

We talk to you about the medical check and we also pay for it.

You visit a GP or registered nurse practitioner, who fills in a form with your medical details.

Getting a decision

It can take up to 6 weeks to get the final decision about your application for an LSV course. The New Zealand Defence Force decides if you're accepted on the course.

Before the final decision, we keep in touch with you to let you know how things are going. We may need more information from you, especially if you have a criminal record, are on probation or something comes up in your medical check.

We regularly speak with you on Zoom video-calls before the course starts.