While we welcome people from overseas we need to protect the interests of New Zealand citizens and residents.
If an immigration or visa officer believes a prospective employee from overseas has not made a genuine application for a visa or permit, or that they don’t intend to meet the conditions of the visa or permit we may grant them, we will not issue a visa or permit.
A person may be refused a visa or permit if:
- they’re not eligible for a visa or a permit under Section 7(1) of the Immigration Act 1987. In summary, this covers:
- people involved in criminal activities:
- who’ve been sentenced to, or have served, specified prison terms
- who’ve committed other criminal or drug offences
- people who’ve been required to leave countries:
- who’ve been served with a removal order from New Zealand that is currently in force
- who’ve been deported from New Zealand or any other country
- people involved in any way with criminal or terrorist organisations or activities
or
- they’re in New Zealand unlawfully when they apply
or
- in our view, they do not meet an acceptable standard of health or character
or
- we believe they’re likely to stay in New Zealand unlawfully or that they would break the conditions we’d apply to the visa or permit granted to them.
Want to see the wording of the policy?
Go directly to the Operations Manual, sections E2.20 - E2.28.