WARNING - INZ residency decline letters containing wrong advice about appeal deadlines

[MrMark]

Good morning everyone,

Please, if anyone receives a decline letter from immigration New Zealand providing a summary of your appeal rights, double-check with the Immigration & Protection Tribunal about the appeal time frames.

The template refusal letter being used by INZ has the wrong advice about the calculation of the appeal period. The Immigration Act 2009 was amended last year to remove the postal delay whereby the 42 day appeal period was deemed to begin seven days after the immigration decision was posted (onshore applicant) and 14 days after the immigration decision was posted (offshore applicant).

I repeat this appeal deadline rule has been REPEALED (removed). The 7 or 14 day delay for postal processes no longer applies.

The Immigration & Protection Tribunal CANNOT accept an appeal unless lodged within 42 days of the decision being notified to (by email, by post, whatever). For the moment appellants who have missed the deadline because of this error are being invited to resubmit the residence application (without payment of fee) and have the application declined again in order to reactivate the proper appeal deadline.

Although this problem has been known for several weeks, as recently as Friday immigration was still issuing decline letters with the wrong summary of appeal rights. PLEASE BE CAREFUL. This is not a trap, but it is very sloppy INZ case management, and a good example of how templates can lead to endemic bad practice.

[JandM]

Thank you very much for this VERY important information.