Migrant Rules get Scrutiny

This was the headline in the New Zealand Herald today (25 May 2005).

The Government wants more control over immigration decisions on who can live in New Zealand and may even disband agencies such as the one that declared Ahmed Zaoui a refugee.

Immigration Minister Paul Swain signalled the Government’s intention yesterday when announcing terms of reference for a "fundamental" review of the Immigration Act.

He said there was a feeling the balance had shifted away from "New Zealand’s right as a sovereign state to determine who comes or goes".

He wanted "firm, fast and fair immigration processes". The multi-layered appeal regime for some overstayers and spontaneous refugees - who, like Mr Zaoui, seek refugee status at borders - should be much simpler and faster.

I’ve quoted just the first few paragraphs of the news article because it was mainly about the policy on refugees and overstayers, which are not really relevant to Pinoys. Having said that, it is likely that all immigration rules will be reviewed. This year being election year in NZ, expect more news like this to come at increasing regularity. This might mean a slight delay in the processing of all visas. Expect things to pick up and go back to normal after the elections which is in about 4 to 6 months time.