A9.5 Commissioners and INZ

An individual or group may make complaints about INZ to the Office of the Ombudsman, Privacy Commissioner and other commissioners (including the Human Rights Commissioner and the Race Relations Commissioner) and the United Nations Human Rights Committee, or investigations may originate from within these organisations themselves.

A9.5.1 Enquiries relating to investigations by commissioners

1. If a person enquires about an investigation that an Ombudsman is currently conducting (following a complaint under the Ombudsmen Act 1975, or the Official Information Act 1982), they must be advised to approach the Office of the Ombudsman about the matter.
2. It is a long established principle that the parties to a complaint should remain "at arm's length" while the matter is under investigation.
3. The same principles in (a) and (b) apply to investigations conducted by the Privacy or other commissioners.
4. Nothing at paragraphs (a) - (c) above prevents a complainant from approaching INZ to:
   • make an enquiry
   • make a visa application
   • make a request for a visa under section 61 of the Immigration Act 2009.
5. Any correspondence or queries regarding this type of investigation should be referred to Complaints team, Assurance. This applies to any approach by investigators from the Office of the Ombudsman, Privacy Commissioner, or other commissioners.

In such cases INZ may as appropriate, communicate directly with the complainant.

Effective 05/10/2020