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Immigration Act 2009

Offences, penalties, and proceedings - Procedural provisions relating to offences

372: Time for filing charging document

You could also call this:

“Time limit for charging someone with an immigration offence”

You have two years to file a charging document for most offences under the Immigration Act 2009. This time starts from when an immigration officer first knew about the incident or situation, or when they should have known about it, whichever comes first. This is different from the usual time limit for filing charging documents.

However, this two-year rule doesn’t apply to some specific offences. These exceptions are listed in other parts of the Act, which you can find by following the links to sections 342, 343, 345, 348, and 351.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM1441184.

Topics:
Immigration and citizenship > Visas
Immigration and citizenship > Border control
Crime and justice > Criminal law
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371: Presumption of authority, or

“Officials reporting immigration offences are assumed to have proper authority”

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373: Immigration status of persons born in New Zealand on or after 1 January 2006, or

“Rules for immigration status of children born in NZ since 2006”

Part 10 Offences, penalties, and proceedings
Procedural provisions relating to offences

372Time for filing charging document

  1. Despite anything to the contrary in section 25 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011, the limitation period in respect of an offence against this Act ends on the date that is 2 years after the earlier of—

  2. the date when the incident, situation, or set of circumstances to which the offence relates first became known to an immigration officer; or
    1. the date when the incident, situation, or set of circumstances to which the offence relates should reasonably have become known to an immigration officer.

      1. Subsection (1) does not apply to the offences set out in sections 342(1)(b), 343(1)(a), (b), or (c)(i), 345, 348, and 351.

      Notes
      • Section 372: replaced, on , by section 413 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 (2011 No 81).