Explanatory note
This note is not part of the regulations, but is intended to indicate their general effect.
Regulations 5, 6, and 10 are amended to enable a certified copy of an applicant’s passport or certificate of identity to be provided when identity documents are required to be submitted with an application for a visa (rather than requiring the original document to be submitted as is currently the case). Regulation 5 is also amended to provide that an application for a residence class visa must comply with the new requirement under regulation 20 relating to inclusion of family members.
Regulation 20 is amended to require an applicant for a residence class visa to include in the application any dependent child who holds or has applied for a temporary entry class visa based on the child’s relationship to the applicant, and any spouse or partner who holds or has applied for a temporary entry class visa based on the spouse or partner’s relationship to the applicant. The amendment to regulation 20 also provides that a dependent child or spouse or partner included in such an application cannot be removed from the application while the application is being processed, unless there is a change in circumstances that results in the child ceasing to be a dependent child or in the spouse or partner ceasing to be the applicant’s spouse or partner.
Schedule 3 is amended to replace the existing description of aircraft crew on a commercial aircraft flying between any other country and New Zealand with 2 new descriptions: one applying to aircraft crew of an aircraft on a flight between any other country and New Zealand in the course of a scheduled international service, and the other to aircraft crew of a private or commercial aircraft on a flight between any other country and New Zealand that is not part of a scheduled international service. A definition of scheduled international service is inserted in regulation 4 (which applies the definition in section 96(4) of the Act). The effect of these changes is to extend the period for which the crew of a private or commercial aircraft on an international flight that is not part of a scheduled international service are deemed to hold a temporary visa from 7 days to 21 days.
Schedule 4 is amended to reflect changes in the policy affecting accreditation of employers to hire foreign workers. The initial accreditation period is extended from 12 months to up to 2 years, and accreditation renewal periods are extended from up to 2 years to up to 5 years.
Schedule 6 is amended to add applicants for permanent resident visas, Family Category and Residence from Work Category, to the categories of applicant on whom an immigration levy is imposed. This amendment is to ensure that the immigration levy is payable on all substantive residence applications, whether the application leads to a resident visa or a permanent resident visa.
Regulatory impact statement
The Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment produced a regulatory impact statement on 25 August 2016 to help inform the decisions taken by the Government relating to the contents of this instrument.
A copy of this regulatory impact statement can be found at—
Issued under the authority of the Legislation Act 2012.
Date of notification in Gazette: 30 March 2017.
These regulations are administered by the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment.