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142: Claim treated as withdrawn if claimant leaves New Zealand
or “Refugee claim ends if you leave New Zealand”
You could also call this:

“When refugee or protected person status can be ended”

If you’re recognised as a refugee or protected person in New Zealand, a refugee and protection officer can stop that recognition in certain situations. This can happen if the original decision to recognise you was made by a refugee and protection officer, or if you were recognised as a refugee under an older law, or if you were recognised as a refugee outside New Zealand and came here under a special government programme.

The officer can also stop your recognition if the Refugee Convention no longer applies to you, or if there’s no longer a good reason to believe you’d be in danger of torture if you were sent back to your home country. They can also stop it if there’s no longer a good reason to believe you’d be in danger of having your life taken away unfairly or being treated cruelly if you were sent back.

When we talk about torture or cruel treatment, we’re using specific definitions that are explained in other parts of the law. You can find out more about what counts as torture in section 130(5), and more about what counts as cruel treatment in section 131(6).

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Next up: 144: Application to Tribunal for cessation of recognition as refugee or protected person

or “Tribunal can review and possibly end your refugee or protected person status”
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Part 5 Refugee and protection status determinations
Cessation or cancellation of recognition

143Cessation of recognition as refugee or protected person

  1. A refugee and protection officer may cease to recognise a person as a refugee or a protected person, as the case may be, if—

  2. 1 of the following applies:
    1. the original determination to recognise the person as a refugee or a protected person was made by a refugee and protection officer; or
      1. the original determination to recognise the person as a refugee was made under the former Act by a refugee status officer or before 1 October 1999; or
        1. the person was recognised as a refugee outside New Zealand and has travelled to New Zealand under a government mandated programme on the basis of that recognition; and
        2. 1 or more of the following apply:
          1. the Refugee Convention has ceased to apply to the person in terms of Article 1C:
            1. there are no longer substantial grounds for believing that the person, if deported from New Zealand, would be in danger of being subjected to torture (as defined in section 130(5)):
              1. there are no longer substantial grounds for believing that the person, if deported from New Zealand, would be in danger of being subjected to arbitrary deprivation of life or cruel treatment (as defined in section 131(6)).