Vision Standards for Joining the New Zealand Police

The New Zealand Police vision standard catches more applicants out than almost any other part of the medical. Not because it is unreasonable, but because most people assume that if their glasses give them good vision they are fine — and the standard does not work that way. It asks about your eyes without correction as well as with it.

Here is what it actually requires, so you can find out where you stand before you apply rather than during the process.

What the standard requires

Police publish their medical standards, and the vision section covers four things.

Distance vision. The standard is met if uncorrected acuity is 6/6 in the better eye and no worse than 6/24 in the worse eye. It can also be met with correction — corrected acuity of 6/6 in the better eye, no worse than 6/24 in the worse eye, and 6/6 using both eyes together — but note the sting in the tail: even on that pathway, the uncorrected vision in the worse eye must still be no worse than 6/24. In plain terms, there is an unaided floor you cannot get under with glasses. This is the requirement that ends most applications, and it exists because an officer who loses their glasses in a struggle still has to function.

Near vision. Must correct to N10 or better.

Colour vision. Screened with the 24-plate Ishihara test under proper illumination. Three or more errors on plates 2 to 17 leads to further testing with the Farnsworth D15. Failing both, or being a protan (a specific type of red-weak colour vision), does not meet the standard. Note that colour vision cannot be corrected — no lens, tint or surgery changes it, whatever is advertised.

Visual fields. Assessed by confrontation first, with formal testing if that raises anything. The standard is not met with less than 140 degrees of horizontal field, or less than 45 degrees above and below, or with monocular vision, or with central or paracentral blind spots that would affect performance.

Laser refractive surgery — a history of PRK or LASIK is acceptable, with testing considered representative from three months after the procedure in an applicant who is asymptomatic and meets the standards. For many applicants who fail the unaided requirement, this is the realistic route, and it is worth getting proper advice about early rather than late.

Standards are reviewed and updated. Always check the current published medical standards on the New Zealand Police recruitment website, and do not rely on this page — or on anyone else's — as the final word.

The part we will not soften

Night lenses temporarily reshape the cornea. That means the vision measured on you during the day is, technically, unaided — but it is unaided because of a lens you wore last night, and it fades if you stop wearing them. Any recruiting body's vision standard exists to describe your eyes, not your lens schedule.

So our position is simple and we do not negotiate on it. If you wear night lenses, you declare them — to the examiner, on the form, and to the recruiter. We will write it on any report we complete. Whether the standard is then met is the recruiting body's decision to make with full information, not something to be arrived at by omission. Being found out later, after training has started, is a far worse outcome than being told no at the start.

We will fit night lenses for someone applying to any of these services, and we think they are an excellent option for the job itself. We will not fit them as a way of getting a measurement past an assessor.

Where night lenses fit

Night lenses — orthokeratology — are rigid lenses worn overnight that reshape the cornea so you see clearly through the day with nothing in your eyes. For the job itself, they are a genuinely good fit: no glasses to be knocked off, no lens to dry out on a long shift or in a smoky or dusty environment, full peripheral vision, and nothing in your eye if you take a knock. Plenty of serving officers wear them for exactly those reasons.

Practical advice for applicants

• Get your eyes measured before you apply. An hour now is better than an application that stalls at the medical.
• Know your unaided numbers, not just your prescription. That is what the standard turns on.
• Get colour vision tested properly, on the 24-plate Ishihara, before you build a plan around joining. It cannot be trained or corrected, and finding out early is kinder than finding out late.
• If you are considering laser surgery, understand the stand-down and go in with an accurate picture of your own eyes. We can give you that, and we have no stake in whether you have surgery.
• The examination must be done by an accredited vision examiner. All seven of our optometrists are accredited Police vision examiners, so the assessment and the report can both be done here in one appointment.

We are accredited Police vision examiners

Police require the vision examination to be carried out by an optometrist accredited for that purpose. Every one of the seven optometrists at Rose Optometry holds that accreditation, which means you do not need one appointment to find out where you stand and a second one somewhere else to have it certified — we can measure you properly and complete the report in the same visit.

Tell us at the booking that it is for a Police application. We will set aside the right amount of time, test colour vision on the 24-plate Ishihara and follow up with the Farnsworth D15 where it is needed, screen your visual fields, and record your unaided and corrected acuity separately, which is what the standard turns on. If you do not meet it, you will be told plainly, along with what could change that.

What we would do first

Book a comprehensive eye examination and say at the booking what you are applying for. We will measure your unaided and corrected acuity properly, test colour vision with the 24-plate Ishihara and follow up with Farnsworth D15 where needed, screen your visual fields, and tell you plainly whether you currently meet the published standard, whether you could with a change of correction, and whether you could not. Knowing that before you start an application is worth a great deal more than finding out during it.

A comprehensive examination is $129 for adults and takes 45 minutes for new patients, including full pretest and imaging. Visual fields, where they are needed, are $69.

Related: becoming a firefighter, the Defence Force, orthokeratology.

Optometrists for vision standards and specialty lens fitting at Rose Optometry

You will be seen by one of seven therapeutically qualified optometrists — all University of Auckland graduates, all able to prescribe eye medication where it is needed, and all of whom examine patients from six weeks of age. Vision standards and specialty lens fitting is part of their clinical practice.

• Jagrut Lallu — Partner Optometrist · BOptom (Hons), MSc Specialty Lenses (Hons), FIAOMC
• Jacqueline Rowe — Partner Optometrist · BSc, BOptom
• Emilie Lawson — BOptom (Hons) · Accredited Glaucoma Prescriber · ACO Certificate in Advanced Contact Lenses
• Jason Shen — BOptom (Hons)
• Jessica Wood — BOptom (Hons) · Clinical Research Optometrist, New Zealand Eye Research Centre
• Stella Wong — BOptom (Hons)
• Anjali Hira — BOptom (Hons)

Book an assessment

Tell us at the booking which service you are applying for so we set aside the right amount of time.

• New patient — book a comprehensive eye examination (45 minutes, includes imaging and full pretest), $129 for adults, $79 for children and school students.
• Already a Rose patient — book your eye examination here.
• Want to talk about night lenses first? — book a free 15-minute Ortho-K chat, no cost and no obligation.
• Ready to be fitted — new ortho-k / night lens fit (30 minutes).

Or call 07 847 3195, or get in touch. Rose Optometry, 38 Lake Road, Frankton, Hamilton. 07 847 3195

Reviewed by Jagrut Lallu — BOptom (Hons), MSc Specialty Lenses (Hons), FIAOMC, Therapeutic Optometrist & Contact Lens Specialist, Partner, Rose Optometry. Last reviewed 19 September 2026.