New Zealand Visa News

Latest 10 news items tagged New Zealand Visa

Family waiting for visa decision because of son?s health13 Jun at 5 AM 2015

A New Zealand family has been left in limbo after one of the sons has been left without a visa. Jo-Lene Mahon, mother to Liam, 3, and Nolan, 1, has a permanent resident visa. Her husband Andreas, 32, was born in Germany but has a New Zealand father and therefore is a citizen by decent. However, after returning to New Zealand after living abroad for three years Immigration New Zealand would only grant permanent residency to one of the young boys. Liam has been diagnosed with William’s syndrome, and the immigration authorities are...

New Zealand man deported from UK ahead of blessing ceremony5 Jun at 8 AM 2015

A New Zealand man has been deported from the UK after flying in for a blessing ceremony with his wife to be. Gareth Macrae and fiancée Lliwen Roberts had been planning to celebrate their nuptials in July in Wales. However, following the deportation the wedding may now have to be held in New Zealand. Mr Macrae explained that he had applied for a marriage settlement visa, but had had the application denied because the couple could not provide proof of a bank account holding the required minimum of £62,000. The groom to be said he was...

Immigration New Zealand cracks down on short-term visa abuse6 May at 8 AM 2015

A crack down on workers violating short-term visa rules appears to have been initiated by Immigration New Zealand. The move comes following an investigation into a company based in China that was contracted to do work for KiwiRail. The Chinese locomotive provider has been told that any future visa extensions would require a high level of scrutiny and would only be provided in exceptional circumstances. A probe by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment was conducted in April into employees who were on short-term visas...

INZ targets visa test imposters23 Apr at 9 AM 2015

Immigration New Zealand is implementing new measures to help identify prospective immigrants who may be cheating in order to get their visa applications approved. According to INZ some applicants have been attempting to cheat the system by getting others to sit English language examinations and medical tests. Michael Carley, operations manager for INZ, said a Chinese man had recently applied for an investor visa but had used another person to take the required English language exam. Immigration staff became suspicious when they...

NZ immigration advisor demanded sex from clients8 Apr at 5 AM 2015

A court in New Zealand has heard that a former immigration consultant would attempt lure female clients into providing sexual services in exchange for visas. Hakaoro Hakaoro was sent to prison last year for failing to produce a license to practice. The prison term handed to him was 20 months. However, it has come to light that the 55-year-old is also guilty of a number of new complaints. The Immigration Advisors Disciplinary Tribunal charged Hakaoro Hakaoro with six further complaints including asking women back to his house for sex as...

New powers for INZ officers to be closely monitored2 Apr at 5 AM 2015

New Zealand immigration officers will be given more power to monitor employers if a new bill is passed. However, there have been calls for greater checks to be put into place. Officers will be permitted to enter an employer’s home and search for documents as well as interview anyone within the residence without having to produce a warrant. Labour and the Greens have voiced concerns about the Immigration Amendment Bill and have called on the government to include stronger monitoring. The reforms have been put in place following...

Support for unrestricted Commonwealth movement25 Mar at 5 AM 2015

An online petition suggests that the majority of people would support a system that would allow free movement between the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. However, the complications of such a system would have to go further than simply doing away with restrictions on work permits and visas. A poll set up by the Commonwealth Freedom of Movement Organisation found that around 90 per cent of the 63,000 respondents would be in favour of unrestricted movement between the four countries, which have similar linguistic, historic,...

Increase in the number of New Zealanders working in Britain24 Feb at 6 AM 2015

Recently published figures indicate that more New Zealand and Australian nationals are choosing to leave their home countries to find work in the UK. The increase in numbers comes despite fears that too many people are being excluded by strict visa restrictions. The latest data shows that 91,000 workers from New Zealand and Australia have found jobs in Britain. This is an increase of 9 per cent on the numbers working in the UK in 2013. There have recently been debates about how it has become more difficult for Commonwealth citizens to...

Queenstown relaxes immigration rules20 Feb at 8 AM 2015

In an attempt to encourage more skilled labour to Queenstown, Immigration New Zealand has said it will be relaxing the requirements for overseas job applicants. Previously employers wishing to employ a worker from another country have had to prove the job had been offered to New Zealand nationals or residents first. However, until the end of June this requirement is to be suspended in an effort to combat the drastic labour shortages in Queenstown. The move comes as the hospitality industry complained that the need to advertise jobs to...

NZ immigration medicals go online16 Feb at 5 AM 2015

Medical clinics across the country have been selected by Immigration New Zealand to conduct immigration medical examinations. An onshore panel physician network will use the eMedical system which allows doctors to submit x-rays and medical certificate online. The system has been developed by the immigration departments of Canada and Australia and is now in use in more than 120 countries. According to Stephan Dunstan, General Manager at INZ, the eMedical system will mean an end to all onshore paper medical certificates. He added that...