2017-Oct 27: Residence decline decisions

Visa Pak 332 - Information for immigration processing staff regarding the contact address the residence decline decision must be posted to.

Visa Paks

27 October 2017

Residence decline decisions 

Residence class visa applicants who have a right of appeal to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal must bring their appeal within 42 days of being notified of a decision to decline their application. Section 386A of the Immigration Act 2009 sets out how the decision must be notified to the applicant. A key factor in this is that the decline letter must be sent to the address nominated by the customer as their contact address. Section 387A of the Immigration Act 2009 sets out what the applicant’s contact address is. In particular, the general rule is:

387A Contact address

A person’s contact address is whichever of the following addresses the person has designated as his or her contact address, unless any of subsections (2) to (4) applies:

(a) the person’s postal address:

(b) an electronic address for the person:

(c) the postal address or electronic address of a lawyer or other person who is acting as an agent for the person.

Where an applicant states in the application form that they prefer to be communicated with by email but the decline letter is sent by post, then they can claim that they have not been formally notified of the decision. The decision would need to be re-sent by email to the nominated address in order to trigger the 42 day appeal period.

Note that where an applicant has provided their own contact details but has also employed an adviser, then Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has the option to send the decline letter to the adviser. If no adviser has been employed, then the advice above must be followed.

It is the duty of the applicant to provide a contact address for communication about their application and to advise INZ if this address changes for any reason. The reciprocal duty of INZ is to ensure that all communication is sent to the correct address.