Blog
Section 61 Requests – A Change in the Air?
In my Visas for Overstayers blog post in March last year I highlighted the "no reasons, no records" approach by Immigration New Zealand to requests for a visa by people unlawfully in the country. We've just heard that INZ has set up a dedicated team to handle these...
Visa-Free Overstayers
There is a list of (mainly Western) countries, the citizens of which may travel to NZ without needing to apply for a visa. Sometimes, the visa of someone from a visa-free country expires and the person becomes an overstayer. If they leave NZ voluntarily, the airport...
Variations of Work Visa Conditions – Watch Your Step
In April Immigration made a small, quiet change to its policy which could be a headache for a lot of people. Essential Skills Work Visas are the most comoon type of visa based on a job offer. It used to be fairly straightforward to apply for a Variation of Conditions...
Is the bar too high on Skilled Employment for Residence?
A recent article raises the point that expecting almost everyone applying for Skilled Migrant Residence to have "Skilled Employment" in order to apply is forcing people into management jobs where they are being exploited (by being underpaid, for instance). The...
Family Migrants are Bad News for the Economy
People who are thinking of sponsoring their brothers and sisters for Residence may have only days or weeks to get the application in before they lose the chance forever. The Labour Party recently discovered and leaked a briefing paper for the new Minister of...
Visas for Overstayers – Another Rough Game
Following on from my recent post about the problems with applying for visas offshore, here's another example of how Immigration is chipping away at what is often called the "right to natural justice" for people in New Zealand without a visa - otherwise known as...