W3.145 October 2000 Transitional Policy (04/12/2000)

Immigration (Special Regularisation) Regulations 2000

1. People who:
   1. meet the character requirements for residence under Government residence policy (see R4.5), and
   2. lodge their application under this policy on or before 30 March 2001, and
   3. were in New Zealand on 18 September 2000 (unless they were at that date temporarily outside New Zealand and the holder of a temporary entry visa enabling their return to New Zealand), and
   4. are in New Zealand on the date their application under this policy is lodged, and
   5. meet the criteria for approval set out in (b) or (c) below, and
   6. are not people who are not eligible for approval in accordance with the criteria set out in (d) below,

   may, upon application, be granted a work permit and multiple entry work visa current for a period of 30 months, or, if they meet the criteria set out at (c) below and are under school age or are attending a school in New Zealand or are undertaking tertiary study and have enrolled as an overseas student and paid any applicable fees, a student permit and multiple entry student visa for a period of 30 months.

2. Applicants must:
   1. be over the age of 17 years, and
   2. have first arrived in New Zealand before 1 October 1999, and
   3. as at 18 September 2000 be living in a genuine and stable marriage (as defined at F2.1.1 of Government residence policy) with a New Zealand citizen or resident who supports their application and continue to be in a genuine and stable marriage with that person, or
   4. as at 18 September 2000 have been living in a genuine and stable relationship (as defined at F3.1.1 of Government residence policy) with a New Zealand citizen or resident de facto partner (who supports the application) for a period of at least two years immediately preceding 18 September 2000, and continue to be living in that genuine and stable relationship, or
   5. as at 18 September 2000 be the biological or adoptive parent of one or more dependent children who were born in New Zealand, and continue to be the parent of that child or those children, and that child or those children continue to reside in New Zealand, or
   6. as at the date their application is lodged under this policy, have remained in New Zealand continuously (see W3.145.5.1 below) for a period of five years.
3. As at 18 September 2000, applicants must be the spouse (see W3.145.5.5 below), de facto partner (see W3.145.5.10 below), or dependent child (see W3.145.5.15 below) of a person who meets the criteria set out in (b) above, and continue to be the spouse, de facto partner or dependent child of that person.

   NOTE: For the purpose of this policy, a child who has been adopted is no longer the dependent child of its biological parent or parents.

4. People are not eligible for approval under this policy if:
   1. at any time, they sought, in New Zealand, to be recognised as a refugee in New Zealand under the Refugee Convention, or
   2. they were at any time the holder of a permit granted under the Long Term Business category of Government immigration policy, or
   3. as at 18 September 2000, they were the holder of a student permit, or
   4. as at 18 September 2000, they were unlawfully in New Zealand and the last permit they held in New Zealand was a student permit, or
   5. as at 18 September 2000, they were the holder of a temporary permit and subject to obligations under any New Zealand Official Development Assistance (NZODA) programme, or
   6. as at 18 September 2000, they were unlawfully in New Zealand and during the currency of the last permit they held in New Zealand they were subject to obligations under any New Zealand Official Development Assistance (NZODA) programme, or
   7. as at 18 September 2000, they were the spouse, de facto partner or dependent child of a person described in (ii), (iii), (iv), (v) or (vi) above, or
   8. they have at any time after 1 October 2000, applied for or been granted welfare assistance under the Social Security Act 1964, or
   9. without a visa enabling their return to New Zealand, they have departed New Zealand after 1 October 2000.

W3.145.1 People who are subject to removal orders

For those people who are subject to a removal order, unless the removal order is cancelled at any time before 30 March 2001, they cannot apply for a temporary permit under the October 2000 Transitional Policy.

W3.145.5 Definitions

W3.145.5.1 Definition of continuously

For the purpose of this policy, a person will be treated as having been continuously in New Zealand during a particular period, so long as they have not been absent from New Zealand for any single continuous period of more than three months in that period.

W3.145.5.5 Definition of spouse

For the purpose of an application made under this policy a spouse is defined as a person who is legally married in a genuine and stable marriage (as defined at F2.1.1 of Government residence policy).

W3.145.5.10 Definition of de facto partner

For the purpose of an application made under this policy a de facto partner is defined as a person who is living in a genuine and stable relationship (as defined at F3.1.1 of Government residence policy) with their partner, and that relationship has existed for a period of at least two years immediately preceding 18 September 2000.

W3.145.5.15 Definition of dependent child

For the purpose of an application made under this policy, and despite the definition in section 2 of the Immigration Act 1987, a dependent child is defined as a person:

1. who is the biological or adopted child of their parent, and
2. who is:
   1. aged 17 to 19, with no child(ren) of his or her own, and
   2. single, and
   3. totally or substantially reliant on their parent and/or their parent’s spouse or de facto partner for financial support whether living with them or not; or
3. who is:
   1. aged 16 or younger, and
   2. single, and
   3. totally or substantially reliant on their parent and/or their parent’s spouse or de facto partner for financial support whether living with them or not.

W3.145.10 Grant of permits to people approved on the basis that they meet the criteria under W3.145 (c)

1. People approved on the basis that they meet the criteria under W3.145 (c) may be granted:
   1. if the spouse or de facto partner, a work permit and multiple entry work visa of the same duration as the work permit and work visa granted to their spouse or de facto partner approved on the basis that they meet the criteria under W3.145 (b), or
   2. if a dependent child and under school age or attending school in New Zealand, a student permit and multiple entry student visa of the same duration as the work permit and visa granted to their parent approved on the basis that they meet the criteria under W3.145 (b).
2. People approved on the basis that they meet the criteria under W3.145 (c) who have been granted a student permit and multiple entry student visa under (ii) above, will be granted a work permit and multiple entry work visa on completion of their secondary schooling.
3. Applicants under this policy will only be granted student permits for the purpose of undertaking tertiary study in New Zealand if they enroll as overseas students and pay any applicable fee.

W3.145.15 Lodgment of combined applications

For administrative purposes, people who are eligible for approval on the basis that they meet the criteria under W3.145 (c) may be included in the application of their spouse, de facto partner or parent who is eligible for approval on the basis that they meet the criteria under W3.145 (b), without the need to pay a separate fee.

W3.145.20 Lodgment requirements

Immigration (Special Regularisation) Regulations 2000

Applications must be lodged in the manner prescribed by the Immigration (Special Regularisation) Regulations 2000, which set out the mandatory requirements for lodging an application under the October 2000 Transitional Policy.

1. The mandatory requirements for lodging an application under the October 2000 Transitional Policy are as follows:
   1. completion of the approved application form, and
   2. the applicant’s valid passport or certificate of identity, and
   3. two passport-sized photographs of the applicant, and
   4. an original or certified copy of the full birth certificate of the applicant, or, if this is unobtainable, an original or certified copy of an identity card, and
   5. the appropriate fee (if any), and
   6. any information and evidence required by the approved application form which shows that the applicant fits the October 2000 Transitional Policy, and
   7. except in the case of an applicant under the age of 17 years, a police or similar certificate, less than 6 months old, indicating the applicant’s record of convictions or lack of a record of convictions for the applicant’s country of citizenship and for each country in which the applicant has lived for 12 months or more during the past 10 years, except where the authorities of any such country will not generally provide such certificates, and
   8. any information evidence or submissions that the applicant considers show fully that they are eligible to be granted a temporary permit under the October 2000 Transitional Policy.

W3.145.20.1 Additional requirements

Before determining the application, an immigration officer processing an application under the October 2000 Transitional Policy may require the applicant:

1. to appear before an immigration officer for an interview, and/or
2. to produce any other photographs, documents, evidence and information the officer thinks necessary to help in determining the application.

W3.145.25 Cessation of October 2000 Transitional Policy

The October 2000 Transitional Policy ceases, and no longer has effect, with the close of 30 March 2001.

Effective 04/12/2000