Uncertainty remains for thousands still waiting for their visas under an immigration scheme, 2021 Resident Visas (21RV), that was meant to provide certainty for those who played a key role in supporting the economy through the Covid-19 pandemic.
More than 106,000 applications for the visas were received by Immigration NZafter applications closed on July 31 last year, but just about 80,000 have been approved so far.
Immigration lawyer Harris Gu, who is acting for several applicants said the delays were unreasonable, is also accusing the agency of “racial and nationality profiling” for conducting national security checks on his Chinese clients.
“About 26,000 applications are pending and I believe a large portion consists of people on whom INZ conduct national security checks,” Gu said.
“I believe there is racial profiling of applications or INZ is profiling them by nationalities as most of those facing delays because of these checks are Chinese nationals.”
The one-off residence visa scheme was introduced to provide certainty for those who had played a critical role in supporting New Zeaand’s economy while the border remained largely closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Gu has filed a formal complaint against the agency and suggested that NSC, in the way it is being carried out, was illegal.
“It is clear that the law says INZ cannot standardise NSC, INZ must consider the individual circumstances of each applicant then decide whether any one of them would pose a potential security risk to NZ,” Gu wrote in his complaint.
Gu said that as far as he was concerned, the approach the INZ had adopted to implementing the checks “is unlawful”.
Of the eight Chinese nationals he and his colleagues were acting for, all required NSC, and their application status were still at the “gathering information” stage.
“There was no indication that INZ had, in accordance with immigration policy, considered any of their individual circumstances in terms of their potential security risk to NZ before conducting NSC on them,” Gu said.
He also questioned why the PhD students with jobs could not qualify for the visas under the scheme.
Student visa holders, including PhD and masters students, are not eligible for 21RV, and INZ said there are no plans to broaden the eligibility criteria.
“This was a failed policy to start with, giving away resident visas to the unemployed but not the PhD students with fulltime employment,” Gu said.
Nicola Hogg, INZ general manager border and visa operations, said processing applications for the 21RV remained a priority for the agency.
“We are committed to deciding the vast majority of these residence applications by June 2023,” she said.
“Our staff have been working hard to process these applications and we are making good progress.”
Hogg said so mare more than 151,000 people have already become NZ residents under this new policy.
She also defended the need for NSC checks as an essential and necessary step.
“National security checks are an essential part of a process that ensures the necessary steps are taken to prevent people who may pose a risk to national security, and the wellbeing of New Zealanders, from entering the country,” Hogg said.
She said the checks may be required for a range of reasons, and the time taken to complete varies depending on the applicant and their circumstances.
“Within the timeframe of a visa application being considered, NSCs can take up to six months, with only a very small number of cases taking longer,” she said.
Hogg would not respond to allegations of racial or nationality profiling, stating that information relating to NSCs including information around nationality is withheld under s6(a) of the Official Information Act 1982.
