Difficult situations & visa declines

Has your visa been declined? We may be able to help!

Dealing with complex immigration matters

While we cannot ‘take over’ an application after it has been lodged by the applicant directly, we may be able to lodge a new one after it has been declined and show it on a different light.

My visa has been declined…

You have lodged an application and is has been declined. Possible reasons include:

• Your application has not been lodged in a prescribed manner
• Your application has not been prepared correctly or is missing information
• You may not have applied for the most suitable visa for what you intend to do in New Zealand
• Immigration New Zealand has identified health or character issues that make you ineligible

Let us reassess your situation. You now have a declined visa against your client number, but we may be able to advocate in your favour in a subsequent application. We endeavour to address medical and character issues from the start, and years of experience seeking medical and character waivers to present your application in its best light from the initial lodgement.

Potentially prejudicial information

It is quite common for Immigration New Zealand to come back to you with a ‘PPI’ letter after having identified information that may be prejudicial to your application.

In accordance with the principles of fairness and natural justice (…), applicants will be given the opportunity to comment before a decision is made on the basis of any potentially prejudicial information.

INZ are providing you with an opportunity –and short timeframe– to respond before they make a decision. If you do not respond, or if your response does not satisfy their concerns, your application will be declined.

Do you respond, or would you rather trust our expertise to do so on your behalf?”

You may have invested considerable time and money in the application, and its outcome now rests on how well your response will advocate in your favour. To be successful, the response may involve complex matters, highly specific immigration instructions, and past tribunal decisions.

If you have any doubt in your ability to address INZ’s concerns, talk to us about your situation. We will assess your chances of achieving a positive outcome and allow you to make an informed decision on how to best respond.

Unlawful status and deportation

Staying unlawfully in New Zealand is a serious matter.

Whether or not you have been served a Deportation Liability Notice (DLN), you should attempt to regularise your situation as soon as possible: in some instances, you only have a very limited timeframe to regularise your situation before you are liable for deportation.

Once unlawful, you are under a legal obligation to leave and:

• You are not allowed to work or study and you will not be allowed to access healthcare
• You are at risk of being detained and deported even if you intend or have requested a visa because you think you have special circumstances
• If you remain in New Zealand for longer than 42 days after your visa has expired it is likely to affect your ability to travel to NZ in the future.
• You place other people at risk, especially family members, if they help you to remain in New Zealand unlawfully because it is an offence under the immigration act and it could affect their own immigration status
• The longer you remain, the higher the risk you run of being deported and of being declined visas in the future.

Depending on your situation, we may be able to contest your DLN, or appeal to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal. You will require professional advice in order to provide a full response to Immigration New Zealand or lodge an appeal to the IPT.

Alternatively, if you have good reasons for being unlawfully in New Zealand, that are outside of your control, we may be able to make a request under Section 61 of the Immigration Act for INZ to grant you a visa.

Special directions

Immigration Instructions are very strict and in certain cases, a person is just not eligible for a visa, usually due to a health or character issue.

If you can bring significant benefit to New Zealand, that would outweigh the strict policy criteria that make you ineligible, there is still a chance to obtain a visa. We can make a request to the Minister of Immigration for the grant of a special direction. This means that the Minister may, at its own discretion, consider and possibly grant a visa under exceptional circumstances.

Each person's situation is different. Discuss you case with a Licensed Immigration Adviser today.