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Immigration Act 2009

Compliance and information - Disclosure of information to or by other agencies, bodies, or persons

304: Disclosure of information to employers

You could also call this:

“Immigration can tell employers if someone can legally work for them”

This law lets the Department of Immigration share information with employers to check if someone can legally work for them. If an employer in New Zealand asks, the Department can tell them if a person is allowed to work for them, how long they can work, and if there are any special rules about their work. The Department will only share this information if they’re sure the employer is really asking to check if someone can work for them. When the Department gives this information to an employer, they must remind the employer to follow the Privacy Act 2020 when handling the information.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM1441093.

Topics:
Immigration and citizenship > Visas
Immigration and citizenship > Border control
Work and jobs > Worker rights
Rights and equality > Privacy
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Part 8 Compliance and information
Disclosure of information to or by other agencies, bodies, or persons

304Disclosure of information to employers

  1. The purpose of this section is to facilitate the disclosure of information by the Department to an employer to enable the employer to verify that a person is entitled under this Act to work in the employer’s service.

  2. On receipt of a request from an employer, the chief executive may, for the purpose of this section, disclose the information specified in subsection (4) to the employer.

  3. The chief executive must not disclose the information specified in subsection (4) unless satisfied that the request—

  4. has been made by an employer in New Zealand; and
    1. is for the purpose of enabling the employer to verify that a person is entitled under this Act to work in the employer’s service.

      1. The information that may be disclosed under this section is as follows:

      2. whether the person is entitled to undertake that work in New Zealand:
        1. if the person is entitled to undertake that work in New Zealand,—
          1. the duration of the entitlement; and
            1. any conditions imposed on that entitlement.

            2. Where the chief executive discloses information under this section to an employer, the employer must be informed of the requirement to comply with the Privacy Act 2020 in relation to that information.

            Notes
            • Section 304(5): amended, on , by section 217 of the Privacy Act 2020 (2020 No 31).