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Complex Immigration Matters

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Appeals

If your residence class visa is declined by Immigration New Zealand, and/or, you are liable for deportation, you may be able to appeal to Immigration and Protection Tribunal, depending on your circumstance and your current visa status. For example: you cannot appeal if the last visa you held was a limited visa.

APPEALING DEPORTATION

You may become liable for deportation on following basis:

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    If you are unlawfully in New Zealand

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    If your visa was granted in error or due to fraud, forgery etc

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    If your visa was held under false identity

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    If you breach conditions of your visa

You may appeal to the Tribunal on the facts against your liability for deportation within 42 days of becoming unlawful, or within 42 days of receiving confirmation that your last visa application was declined.

If you are deported, you may not return while any prohibition period is in force and until any costs of deportation are repaid. If you wish to return to New Zealand, you can ask to be granted a visa via a special direction/ministerial intervention.

Character Issues

It is a requirement that the applicants for all visas must be of good character, not pose a security risk and not threaten New Zealand’s international reputation. Applicants with serious character issues can’t be granted any visa or entry permission, except in very special circumstances.

Serious character issues where applicant is normally ineligible to be granted a visa unless granted character waiver includes but not limited to:

  • Conviction of an offence against immigration, citizenship or passport laws in any country.
  • Guilty of providing false or misleading information, or withheld material information when applying for a New Zealand visa, or when supporting another person’s New Zealand visa application.
  • Conviction of an offence which lead to imprisonment.
  • Conviction of an offence in New Zealand for which the court has the power to order imprisonment for three months or longer.
  • Ongoing investigation, wanted for questioning, or have been charged with an offence which, if convicted, has a term of imprisonment of 12 months or longer.

Immigration New Zealand cannot automatically decline a visa on character ground. It is a requirement that the character issue is considered for a character waiver at first instance and put in front of the applicant for comment/explanation before making the final decision.
If you have any character issue you should consider taking a professional advice.

Health Issues and medical waiver

All applicants for visas must have an acceptable standard of health unless they have been granted a medical waiver. A person is considered to have an acceptable standard of health if they are unlikely to be danger to public health and unlikely to impose significant costs or demands on New Zealand’s health services or special education services and able to undertake the work or study on the basis of which they are applying for a visa, or which is a requirement for the grant of the visa.

PPL Letter

A potentially Prejudicial Information (PPI) letter is served to the applicant if Immigration New Zealand holds concerns about the application and where the outcome of the application may adversely be affected.

Reconsideration Request

If your temporary visa application has been decline, in some circumstances you may request to reconsider INZ’s decision. You must meet certain conditions in order to file a reconsideration request, such condition includes, that you are in New Zealand when you make your request, you still hold a valid visa and your apply reconsideration within 14 calendar days after the receipt of decline decision.

Section 61 Requests

If you are unlawfully in New Zealand you may apply for a visa under section 61 of the Immigration Act. In order to apply for a visa under this provision your circumstances must be unique and compelling. By law, Immigration New Zealand has absolute discretion in these cases. INZ is not required to even consider your application or give any reason for doing so. However, in practice INZ considers all applications made under section 61 at least to some degree. Hence, it is important that you take a professional advice and present your case in a persuasive manner.