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Immigration Act 2009

Visas - Visas generally - Waiver of requirement for visa permitting travel to New Zealand in certain cases

69: Waiver of requirement for visa permitting travel to New Zealand in certain cases

You could also call this:

“When visa requirements for entering New Zealand can be waived”

The law allows for the requirement to have a visa to travel to New Zealand to be waived in certain situations. Rules can be made to remove this requirement for groups of people, and set conditions for the waiver.

The Minister can make special decisions to waive the visa requirement for groups of people for up to three months. They can also pause a waiver that’s already in place, or waive or pause the requirement for individual cases.

When waiving or pausing a waiver for groups, people can be sorted based on their nationality, where they’re travelling from or to, or what travel documents they have.

If the Minister makes a special decision to waive or pause a waiver for a group, they must tell the countries involved in writing. These decisions last for up to three months unless cancelled earlier. They can’t be extended by making another similar decision.

Just because the visa requirement is waived doesn’t mean you’ll automatically be allowed to enter New Zealand.

The Minister’s decisions about waivers for groups are considered ‘secondary legislation’, which means they’re part of the law, even if they haven’t been published yet.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM1440682.

Topics:
Immigration and citizenship > Visas
Immigration and citizenship > Border control
Government and voting > Government departments
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Part 3 Visas
Visas generally: Waiver of requirement for visa permitting travel to New Zealand in certain cases

69Waiver of requirement for visa permitting travel to New Zealand in certain cases

  1. Regulations made under section 400 may waive the requirement to hold a visa permitting travel to New Zealand in relation to any class of persons, and provide for any conditions of such a waiver.

  2. The Minister may, by special direction,—

  3. waive for a period not exceeding 3 months the requirement to hold a visa permitting travel to New Zealand in relation to any class of persons, subject to any conditions specified by the Minister:
    1. suspend for a period not exceeding 3 months a waiver made by regulations referred to in subsection (1):
      1. waive, in any individual case, the requirement to hold a visa permitting travel to New Zealand:
        1. suspend, in any individual case, a waiver made by regulations referred to in subsection (1).

          1. Any waiver or suspension of a waiver made in accordance with subsection (1) or (2)(a) or (b) may, without limiting the generality of the manner in which persons may be classified, classify persons to whom the waiver or suspension of waiver applies by reference to any or all of the following:

          2. their nationality:
            1. the country or place from which they are travelling (whether it be their original or an intermediate point of departure):
              1. their immediate or ultimate destination after being in or transiting through New Zealand:
                1. whether or not they hold, or are required to hold, any particular type of travel or immigration documentation, by whomever issued.

                  1. Any special direction made under subsection (2)(a) or (b)—

                  2. must be notified in writing through diplomatic channels to any country concerned:
                    1. expires at the end of the period of 3 months (or such shorter period as is specified in the direction) following the day on which the direction was made, unless sooner cancelled by the Minister by a further special direction, or by regulations:
                      1. is secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements), but commences in accordance with section 378(3), even if it is not yet published.

                        1. A special direction under subsection (2)(a) or (b) may not be effectively continued in force by the making of a further special direction to the same or similar effect.

                        2. A waiver under this section does not of itself entitle a person subject to the waiver to be granted entry permission.

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                        Notes
                        • Section 69(4)(a): amended, on , by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).
                        • Section 69(4)(c): replaced, on , by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).