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Immigration Act 2009

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

300: Information matching to determine eligibility or liability to pay for services

You could also call this:

“Sharing information between immigration and health departments to check health service eligibility”

This section of the law allows the Department of Immigration and the department responsible for health services to share information about people. This helps determine if you can get health services or if you need to pay for them.

The heads of these two departments can make agreements about how to share this information. The health department can give the immigration department information about people who want or have received health services.

The immigration department can then check this information against what they know. If they have immigration information about you, they can share it with the health department. This includes details about your visa, when you entered New Zealand, and any conditions on your stay.

They can also share similar information about people connected to you, like your partner or parent, if it’s relevant.

The departments agree on how often and in what way they share this information. From 1 December 2020, they must follow specific privacy rules when sharing this information.

The law defines some important terms:

  • An ‘authorised officer’ is someone from the health department allowed to receive this information.
  • ‘Identifying information’ is details that can identify you, like your name or birth date.
  • The ‘responsible department’ is the one in charge of health services.
  • ‘Services’ means health services as defined in another law.

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 It might be out of date or be missing some parts.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=DLM2391009.

Topics:
Immigration and citizenship > Visas
Immigration and citizenship > Border control
Health and wellbeing > Healthcare services
Government and voting > Government departments
Rights and equality > Privacy
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301: Disclosure of immigration information to verify eligibility for publicly funded services, or

“Sharing immigration details to check if you can use public services”

Part 8 Compliance and information
Disclosure of information to or by other agencies, bodies, or persons

300Information matching to determine eligibility or liability to pay for services

  1. The purpose of this section is to facilitate the disclosure of information between the Department and the responsible department to enable the responsible department to determine—

  2. a person's eligibility for access to services; or
    1. a person's liability to pay for services the person has received.

      1. The chief executive of the Department and the chief executive of the responsible department may, for the purposes of this section, make arrangements between them in writing for the disclosure of information under this section.

      2. In accordance with those arrangements, the chief executive of the responsible department may supply to the chief executive of the Department identifying information about—

      3. a person who seeks access to services; or
        1. a person for whom access is sought to services; or
          1. a person who has received services.

            1. The chief executive of the Department may compare the information he or she receives with information that the Department holds about the person.

            2. If the Department holds immigration information about the person, the chief executive of the Department may supply the information described in subsections (6) and (7) to an authorised officer in accordance with the arrangements made under subsection (2).

            3. The information is—

            4. the person's identifying information:
              1. the person's immigration status, including—
                1. the start date of any visa granted to the person:
                  1. the expiry date of any visa granted to the person:
                    1. the date on which the person was granted entry permission:
                      1. the conditions, if any, relating to the person’s immigration status:
                        1. any changes to the person's immigration status and the dates of the changes:
                          1. any action taken under this Act in relation to the person and the date of the action:
                          2. the date or dates on which the person leaves or has left New Zealand:
                            1. the start date of any permit granted to the person under the former Act:
                              1. the expiry date of any permit granted to the person under the former Act:
                                1. if the person was exempt from the requirement to hold a permit under the former Act, the period of the exemption.

                                  1. The information is also, if it is relevant to the matter to be determined by the responsible department,—

                                  2. the immigration status of an associated person (for example, the person's spouse, civil union partner, de facto partner, or parent), including—
                                    1. the start date of any visa granted to the associated person:
                                      1. the expiry date of any visa granted to the associated person:
                                        1. the date on which the associated person was granted entry permission:
                                          1. the conditions, if any, relating to the associated person's immigration status:
                                            1. any changes to the associated person's immigration status and the dates of the changes:
                                              1. any action taken under this Act in relation to the associated person and the date of the action:
                                              2. the date or dates on which the associated person leaves or has left New Zealand:
                                                1. the start date of any permit granted to the associated person under the former Act:
                                                  1. the expiry date of any permit granted to the associated person under the former Act:
                                                    1. if the associated person was exempt from the requirement to hold a permit under the former Act, the period of that exemption.

                                                      1. The chief executive of the Department and the chief executive of the responsible department may, for the purposes of this section, determine by agreement between them—

                                                      2. the frequency with which information may be supplied; and
                                                        1. the form in which the information may be supplied; and
                                                          1. the method by which the information may be supplied.

                                                            1. On or after 1 December 2020, no information may be disclosed under this section except under—

                                                            2. an information matching agreement entered into under Part 10 of the Privacy Act 1993 and continued by clause 11 of Schedule 1 of the Privacy Act 2020; or
                                                              1. an approved information sharing agreement entered into under subpart 1 of Part 7 of the Privacy Act 2020.

                                                                1. In this section,—

                                                                  authorised officer means an officer, employee, or agent of the responsible department who is authorised by the chief executive of the responsible department to receive information from the chief executive of the Department in accordance with this section

                                                                    identifying information means information that identifies a person, such as the person’s full name, date or place of birth, gender, or alias or a unique identifying number used for the person

                                                                      responsible department means the department of State for the time being responsible for the administration of the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022.

                                                                        services has the meaning in section 4 of the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022

                                                                        Notes
                                                                        • Section 300 heading: amended, on , by section 104 of the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022 (2022 No 30).
                                                                        • Section 300(1)(a): amended, on , by section 104 of the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022 (2022 No 30).
                                                                        • Section 300(1)(b): amended, on , by section 104 of the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022 (2022 No 30).
                                                                        • Section 300(3)(a): amended, on , by section 104 of the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022 (2022 No 30).
                                                                        • Section 300(3)(b): amended, on , by section 104 of the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022 (2022 No 30).
                                                                        • Section 300(3)(c): amended, on , by section 104 of the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022 (2022 No 30).
                                                                        • Section 300(8A): inserted, on , by section 190 of the Privacy Act 2020 (2020 No 31).
                                                                        • Section 300(9) publicly funded health and disability support services: repealed, on , by section 104 of the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022 (2022 No 30).
                                                                        • Section 300(9) responsible department: amended, on , by section 104 of the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022 (2022 No 30).
                                                                        • Section 300(9) services: inserted, on , by section 104 of the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022 (2022 No 30).