(1) An authority must consider a duly completed application for registration or for a change in the authorisation of an existing scope of practice as soon as reasonably practicable after receiving it.
(2) The authority may, if it thinks fit, receive any information from, or question, the applicant, or any other person, in respect of an application being considered by the authority; for the purposes of any such questioning, the authority may administer an oath to any person.
(3) Before the authority questions any other person about the applicant under subsection (2), the authority must advise the applicant about the identity of the persons to be questioned and the nature of the questions.
(4) The authority may, if it thinks fit, require—
(b) the applicant to authorise the authority to obtain from an educational institution, whether in New Zealand or abroad, certified copies of any degree or diploma on which the applicant's application is based; and
(5) The authority may, before authorising the registration of an applicant or, as the case requires, authorising a change to the applicant's existing scope of practice, require the applicant to take and pass an examination or assessment that is set or recognised by the authority, for the purpose of satisfying the authority in respect of either or both of the following:
(a) that the applicant is competent to practise, in New Zealand, within the scope of practice in respect of which the applicant seeks to be, or agrees to be, registered:
(6) A requirement under subsection (5) is part of the process of considering the application and is not to be taken as a proposal to decline the application.
Compare: 1995 No 95 s 34(1)–(4)