Immigration Act 2009

Refugee and protection status determinations - Claims for recognition as refugee or protected person

134: Whether to accept claim for consideration

You could also call this:

“Decision on accepting a refugee or protected person claim for consideration”

When you make a claim to be recognised as a refugee or protected person, a refugee and protection officer decides whether to accept your claim for consideration. The officer can think about a few things when making this decision.

The officer can consider if you could have made a claim for refugee status or protection in another country because of an international agreement. They can also look at whether you did anything that wasn’t honest to create reasons for being recognised as a refugee or protected person.

The officer can say no to considering your claim if you could have made a claim in another country because of an international agreement. They must say no if they think you weren’t honest and did things just to create reasons for being recognised under section 129.

When the officer is deciding if you weren’t honest, they can’t consider anything other people did as a reason to be less strict with you.

An international agreement in this case means an agreement between New Zealand and other countries about how to process claims for refugee or protection status. The Minister must be sure that these countries follow important international rules about refugees and human rights, and have good ways of dealing with refugee and protection claims.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM1440811.

Topics:
Immigration and citizenship > Visas
Immigration and citizenship > Border control
Government and voting > Government departments

Previous

133: How claim made, or

“How to apply for refugee or protected person status in New Zealand”


Next

135: Claimant responsible for establishing claim, or

“You must prove your own claim to be a refugee or protected person”

Part 5 Refugee and protection status determinations
Claims for recognition as refugee or protected person

134Whether to accept claim for consideration

  1. In determining whether to accept a claim for consideration, a refugee and protection officer may take into account whether,—

  2. in light of any international arrangement or agreement, the claimant may have lodged, or had the opportunity to lodge, a claim for refugee status in another country:
    1. in light of any international arrangement or agreement, the claimant may have lodged, or had the opportunity to lodge, a claim for protection in another country:
      1. 1 or more of the circumstances relating to the claim were brought about by the claimant—
        1. acting otherwise than in good faith; and
          1. for a purpose of creating grounds for recognition under section 129.
          2. A refugee and protection officer may decline to accept a claim for consideration where,—

          3. in light of any international arrangement or agreement, the claimant may have lodged, or had the opportunity to lodge, a claim for refugee status in another country:
            1. in light of any international arrangement or agreement, the claimant may have lodged, or had the opportunity to lodge, a claim for protection in another country.
              1. A refugee and protection officer must decline to accept for consideration a claim for recognition as a refugee if the officer is satisfied that 1 or more of the circumstances relating to the claim were brought about by the claimant—

              2. acting otherwise than in good faith; and
                1. for a purpose of creating grounds for recognition under section 129.
                  1. For the purposes of determining the matter in subsection (3), the refugee and protection officer must not treat the actions of any other person in relation to the claim or the claimant as a mitigating factor.

                  2. In this section, international arrangement or agreement means an arrangement or agreement—

                  3. between New Zealand and 1 or more other countries in respect of the processing of claims for refugee or protection status; and
                    1. that was entered into only after the Minister was satisfied that—
                      1. the country is a party to the Refugee Convention, the Convention Against Torture, and the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; and
                        1. the country has appropriate processes for dealing with refugee and protection claims.