Department of Labour Reassures Bona Fide immigrants and visitors

Thursday 05 May 2005

Legitimate visitors and immigrants to New Zealand will be unaffected by the measures put in place this week by the Department of Labour.

Workforce Deputy Secretary Mary Anne Thompson said the review of applications in the past two years would not impact on genuine visitors and immigrants.

"This review is not about a witch hunt, it is about providing an assurance to the public of the robustness of our systems.

"Yesterday I said that, from our review so far of hundreds of files, five were being relooked at. Two of those five have now been given the tick. It's not that there is any problem with the other three, it is just taking longer to reconsider them.

"The Department will not be responding to allegations made in Parliament today but we will look at information on people from any source, politicians or the public, as part of our ongoing review. We want to ensure that the system for people visiting or applying to live in New Zealand, whether as a refugee or a resident, does not get politicised.

"We also need to balance the need to communicate what the Department's Immigration Service does, with the need to protect the privacy of individuals. Publicity about some individuals also hampers our ability to remove them from New Zealand.

Ms Thompson said the processing of off shore visa applications would restart, with the exception of those from a specified number of high risk countries.

"I called a halt earlier this week to all off-shore processing of visa applications from high risk countries, while we reassessed the situation. I have now narrowed the number of countries from which applications need to be considered in New Zealand. I am now comfortable we have put in place the additional checks and balances required, and it is back to business as usual for applications."

Ms Thompson said for the vast majority of standard applicants, the timeframe for turning around their visa application would remain the same. However, there would be further consideration given to applications from high risk countries by New Zealand based officials.

High risk applications included those from countries where individuals may have had past or present active involvement in governments, regimes, groups or agencies that have committed crimes against humanity, war crimes or breaches of human rights, she said.

"I am now well into the process of establishing my specialist team to make decisions around applications from high risk countries. This will soon be embedded as business as usual into our practices.

"I will not be releasing the number or names of countries which we consider to be the source of high risk applications. This is for diplomatic and security reasons."

Ms Thompson said the Bangkok office would start processing applications, aside from those from the specified high risk countries.

ENDS

Background information on Department of Labour Visitor Visa and Permit Processes

People who visit New Zealand may or may not require a visa depending on if they are a citizen of a visa-waiver country. For instance, Australians and Americans do not have to apply for a visitors visa.

If they do require a visa then they need to fill out an application form and submit it to their nearest immigration branch. The application is checked in the first instance to ensure all the necessary documents have been included.

An application is approved or declined on its merits. An immigration officer will profile the person by assessing character, health, likelihood of overstaying or working illegally (i.e. do they have ties in their home country, do they have enough funds to support themselves).

They will check to ensure that what a person has said in their application is true. This can involve contacting an applicant's employer, requesting bank statements or the educational institute they studied at.

The documents will be verified to ensure they are genuine and the Department's files checked to see if they have been any previous contact with the applicant or if there are any alerts/warnings against their name.

Security and intelligence checks may also be carried out if deemed necessary. The Department also routinely updates its records which help officers identify high-risk individuals or those who have had immigration issues in the past such as overstaying or working illegally

The Department maintains several lists of groups who are banned from entering New Zealand. Others can be refused a visa or permit if:

• They are not eligible under section 7 (1) of the Immigration Act (e.g. are involved in criminal activities, have been removed/departed from other countries, involved with criminal or terrorist organisations);
• If they are unlawfully in New Zealand when they apply for a permit;
• If they do not meet acceptable standards of health or character; or
• If the Department believes they are likely to overstay;

A visitor can only stay in New Zealand for a maximum of 12 months after which they must leave the country. They can not return until they have been away for as long as they were in New Zealand.

Visitor visas are normally approved in the first instance for three, six or nine months. Applicants must then reapply to stay longer.

If a visitor wishes to stay in New Zealand they are able to apply under another category such as work, student, business or residence as long as they genuinely want to stay in New Zealand for that purpose. Applicants may be asked for evidence to support this.

Applying for residence

The process for applying for residence is much more detailed then applying for a temporary permit.

Applicants have to fill out an application form as well as provide a police certificate from their country of citizenship (and any other country they have lived in the past 10 years for more than 12 months), a medical and x-ray certificate.

As well as meeting, character and health requirements (these are not negotiable - every applicant has to meet these) they also have to meet the criteria of the policy they are applying under.

An immigration officer can, at any stage of the process, investigate claims made in an application. They can request further information, an interview, or verify information with other agencies (as outlined above).

When a person signs an application form, whether it be a visitor or residence application, they agree to the Department making any enquiries necessary to confirm the information they have provided.

Staff who assess applications are warranted immigration officers. They have to attend and pass an introductory course which is followed up with on-going training.

There is a quality assurance process in place and dealing with applications on a daily basis means officers become expert at detecting inconsistencies, false information, security risks, fraudulent applications and so on. If they are unsure, they will check with other branches, Government departments or other countries immigration agencies.

Note: A permit is approved on-shore (i.e. you are permitted to stay in New Zealand) and visa is approved off-shore (i.e. you have a visa to land in New Zealand). When you arrive at the border an immigration officer will then decide whether to issue a permit.

Revocation

If a person's permit is revoked, they have either 14 or 21 days right of reply (depending on if the revocation order is issued in person or by post). During this time they can write to the Department outlining the reasons why they should not be removed.

They also have 42 days to appeal the revocation. The department cannot remove a person from New Zealand until this period has expired.

Note: Only New Zealand residents can be deported. People here on temporary visas or in New Zealand illegally are removed.