S4.25 Community Organisation Refugee Sponsorship Category Pilot

S4.25.1 Objective

The objective of the Community Organisation Refugee Sponsorship (CORS) category pilot is to:

1. provide an opportunity for community organisations to actively engage in supporting successful refugee settlement and to build local communities that welcome refugees; and
2. enable sponsored mandated refugees and any associated partners and dependent children, with the support of community organisations, to quickly become independent and self-sufficient so that they are able to enter the labour market, navigate their communities and access mainstream services without requiring additional support; and
3. provide an alternative form of admission for refugees and any associated partners and dependent children to complement New Zealand’s refugee quota and, in doing so, demonstrate New Zealand’s response to the scale of refugee movement and commitment to international responsibility sharing.

S4.25.5 Overview

1. The extended CORS category pilot will operate with an intake of up to 150 sponsored mandated refugees and their partners and dependent children over a three-year period ending 30 June 2024.
2. Approved community organisations are selected through an application process (S4.25.35).
3. An approved community organisation may elect to support:
   1. mandated refugees and any associated partners and dependent children, which the organisation has nominated; and/or
   2. mandated refugees who have been identified by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and matched by Immigration New Zealand (INZ) with an approved community organisation and any associated partners and dependent children.
4. The CORS category extended pilot is only open to mandated refugees who are residing in a country that is a UNHCR priority area and one of the international regions Immigration New Zealand’s Refugee Quota Programme resettles from (Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East), and any associated partners and dependent children who may reside elsewhere and are not required to be mandated refugees.
5. An approved community organisation must provide settlement services to sponsored mandated refugees and any associated partners and dependent children for two years.

Notes:
- A mandated refugee under these instructions is someone who falls within the UNHCR International Protection Mandate and is recognised as meeting the definition of refugee under the Refugee Convention.
- If the evidence provided by the principal applicant does not show they have been recognised as a refugee under the Refugee Convention by the UNHCR or their host country, then the assessing officer may refer the expression of interest to INZ’s Refugee Status Unit for advice about recognition of the person.
- A UNHCR priority area is an area or population defined in the annually published UNHCR Projected Global Resettlement Needs report.

S4.25.7 Requirements for a Community Organisation to become an approved organisation

1. Approved community organisation status will be granted where an immigration officer who is the National Manager of Refugee and Migrant Support is satisfied that a community organisation:
   1. is a legal entity (such as incorporated society, registered company, registered charitable trust or religious organisation with legal standing); and
   2. has the financial resources to provide settlement services to sponsored mandated refugees, including any associated partners and dependent children, for two years; and
   3. has experience working successfully with refugees or other vulnerable people; and
   4. has capability and capacity to secure suitable accommodation, and support mandated refugees and associated partners to enter the labour market and secure meaningful and sustainable employment; and
   5. has entered into a Deed of Agreement for Services with INZ for the provision of settlement services to the agreed standard.
2. An application for approved community organisation status will be declined if it is considered approval would create unacceptable risks to the integrity of New Zealand's immigration laws or policies.
3. To apply for approval, a community organisation must complete the Approved Community Organisation application form (INZ 1238) and provide evidence that demonstrates they meet requirements set out in (a) above.

Note: The Deed of Agreement for Services is a contract which sets out the settlement services the approved Community Organisation will provide to refugees it supports along with the performance measurement framework to assess the provision of settlement services, evaluation and reporting requirements.

S4.25.8 Approval in principal process

1. An application for approved community organisation status will be approved in principle at such time the National Manager of Refugee and Migrant Support is satisfied that all requirements necessary to demonstrate eligibility under the relevant instructions have been met with the exception of S4.25.7(a)(v).
2. The National Manager of Refugee and Migrant Support will consult with Refugee and Migrant Services (RMS) Senior Advisors when determining whether the community organisation meets the requirements for approval in principle.
3. Where, in consulting with RMS Senior Advisors, information is received which may be prejudicial to the positive outcome of the community organisation status application, that adverse information will be put to the community organisation for comment before a decision is made on their application.
4. The date of approval in principle is the date of the letter to the community organisation advising that approval in principle has been given.
5. If the outstanding requirement is not fulfilled within 90 days, the application must be declined.
6. Subject to S4.25.9(a) below, an approved community organisation will retain their approved status for the duration of the pilot.

S4.25.9 Revoking approval

1. INZ may revoke a community organisation’s approved status where it considers that the community organisation’s conduct has created an unacceptable risk to the integrity of New Zealand's immigration laws or policies.
2. If an immigration officer has concerns, the community organisation will be notified in writing and provided an opportunity to provide comment before a final decision to revoke approval is made.
3. Any decision to revoke approval status under these instructions must be approved by an INZ RMS National Manager.
4. Community organisations that have their approval status revoked will be notified of this and informed of the reasons in writing.

S4.25.10 Expression of interest and invitation to apply for a Community Organisation Refugee Sponsorship category pilot permanent resident visa

See also Immigration Act 2009 ss 92-95

1. A person may express interest in applying for a CORS permanent resident visa if he or she is:
   1. a mandated refugee; and
   2. residing in a country that is a UNHCR priority area and one of the international regions Immigration New Zealand’s Refugee Quota Programme resettles from (Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East); and
   3. either:
      • nominated by an approved community organisation; or
      • identified by the UNHCR as a potential candidate for the CORS pilot.
2. A person may express interest in applying by completing the CORS expression of interest (EOI) form and submitting it to an immigration officer.
3. An EOI made in the prescribed manner may be entered into the EOI Pool, and will be valid for a period of six months. EOIs that are still in the Pool after six months, or rejected because they do not meet the criteria to be invited to apply, will be withdrawn.
4. EOIs are selected in the order in which they are received.
5. An immigration officer may invite a person to apply if:
   1. the person has been nominated by, or matched to, an approved community organisation; and
   2. The principal applicant included in the expression of interest is a mandated refugee; and
   3. the cap on approvals under the CORS category will not be exceeded as a result of an application resulting from the invitation to apply (see S4.25.5(a)); and
   4. the information provided:
      • does not indicate the presence of health or character issues that may adversely affect the ability of any person included in the expression of interest to be granted a CORS permanent resident visa; and
      • does not indicate any person included in the expression of interest is eligible to be sponsored for residence under any other family category, including the Refugee Family Support Category; and
      • indicates the information provided regarding the principal applicant’s age, English language proficiency, and work experience or qualifications, appears credible at face value.
   5. An invitation to apply for a visa may at any time be revoked by the Minister of Immigration or an immigration officer. A revocation takes immediate effect.
   6. An immigration officer’s decision to issue an invitation to apply does not guarantee a positive assessment of any factor in any subsequent application for a residence class visa, or that the person will be granted a permanent resident visa.
6. Evidence that may be provided to help an immigration officer determine whether a principal applicant is recognised as a mandated refugee includes:
   1. a UNHCR Refugee Status Determination (RSD); or
   2. evidence of recognition of refugee status by responsible government authorities in their current country of refuge; or
   3. evidence that they are known to UNHCR as a Person of Concern.

Note: If an applicant is only able to provide evidence that they are a mandated refugee under S4.25.10(f)(iii), the immigration officer, before exercising absolute discretion whether to issue an invitation to apply, can refer the application to the Refugee Status Unit (RSU). The RSU may undertake an internal assessment of whether the person is a refugee as per the Refugee Convention, based on the information provided, before returning to the immigration officer.

S4.25.15 Lodging an application for a Community Organisation Refugee Sponsorship category permanent resident visa

See also Immigration Act ss 71(2) and (3), 92

1. A person may only apply for a CORS permanent resident visa if they invited to do so. Applications must be made within four months of the date INZ advises of that invitation.
2. Applications for a CORS permanent resident visa must be made in the prescribed manner (subject to any applicable special direction) and be processed and decided by immigration officers from the Refugee Quota Programme.
3. If an original or certified copy of a birth certificate or identity card for any person included in the application is unavailable, a signed declaration confirming their full name, date and place of birth and the full names of both parents must be submitted.
4. If documents relating to the custody of any child under the age of 16 included in the application are unavailable, a UNHCR Best Interest Assessment or Determination or a statutory declaration confirming the legal custody of the child must be submitted.
5. The principal applicant and partner included in the application must supply evidence to show the nature and duration of their partnership, and that it is a genuine and stable partnership (see F2.20). A signed declaration confirming the duration and nature of the partnership must be submitted by the applicants if an immigration officer is satisfied that such evidence would be unduly difficult to obtain because there are circumstances beyond their control which prevent them obtaining that evidence.
6. All applicants aged 17 and over must provide a police clearance certificate, less than 6 months old at the time the application is lodged, for each country in which they have lived for 12 months or more during the past 10 years except where:
   1. the certificate is required from the applicant’s home country, where they have a well-founded fear of approaching the authorities; or
   2. the authorities of any such country do not generally provide police certificates; or
   3. the immigration officer deems it unsafe for the applicant to approach the authorities of that country.
7. If overseas police clearances are unavailable, a signed declaration must be provided by each applicant aged 17 years or older, stating whether they have been convicted, or found guilty of, or charged with, any offences against the law in the country or countries for which police clearance certificates are unavailable.

Notes:
- Applicants under this category are exempt under immigration regulations from paying the prescribed application fee. The following mandatory requirements for lodgement have been waived by special direction: two passport-sized photographs, completed medical certificate and chest x-ray. There is no immigration levy payable for this application.
- Appropriately delegated immigration officers may waive by special direction any other mandatory requirement for lodgement.
- Any lodgement requirement waived by special direction may be required by an immigration officer at a later date.

S4.25.20 Determining a Community Organisation Refugee Sponsorship category pilot permanent resident visa application

Permanent resident visas under the CORS category extended pilot may be granted if an immigration officer is satisfied that:

1. the principal applicant has been nominated by an approved community organisation, or identified by the UNHCR and matched by INZ to an approved community organisation; and
2. the principal applicant is aged between 18 and 45 years old (inclusive); and
3. the principal applicant can demonstrate English language ability that is sufficient that they can read, understand and respond to basic questions in English by completion of an INZ approved assessment; and
4. the principal applicant has:
   1. a minimum of three years’ work experience in the same occupation, or the same or related sector; or
   2. a qualification that required a minimum of two years’ tertiary study; and
5. the identity of all applicants has been confirmed; and
6. the principal applicant is a mandated refugee, and their claim is credible; and
7. all applicants have been interviewed by an immigration officer; and
8. all applicants have an acceptable standard of health (see A4.10); and
9. all applicants meet character requirements at A5, except the requirement to provide police certificates at A5.10 (applicants must instead meet the requirements of S4.25.15(f)); and
10. there are no significant barriers to the ability of any of the applicants to settle in New Zealand; and
11. no applicant is eligible to be sponsored for residence under any family category, including the Refugee Family Support Category; and
12. the approval of the application would result in no more than 150 permanent resident visas being granted within the three year duration of the CORS category extended pilot ending 30 June 2024.

S4.25.25 Evidence of work experience or qualification

1. Evidence of work experience may include but is not limited to written confirmation from the employer of the duration of employment, role and responsibilities.
2. Evidence of qualification may include but is not limited to a copy of the qualification gained or an academic transcript.
3. If evidence of work experience or qualifications are unavailable, a declaration signed by the principal applicant confirming the details of employment or study should be provided.

S4.25.30 Status of people granted a permanent resident visa under the Community Organisation Refugee Sponsorship category extended pilot

All applicants granted a permanent resident visa under this category are to be treated as principal applicants for the purpose of any future requests to sponsor family members under any applicable categories.

Effective 14/09/2023