Photo: RNZ
A planned law change will make it so criminals can be deported if they have been permanent residents for up to 20 years, up from the current 10 years.
The limit applies to those who have committed serious crimes.
Immigration Minister Erica Stanford announced the move alongside other changes to the Immigration Act:
Providing false or misleading information, and historical crimes committed before coming to New Zealand will also be able to trigger deportation
Penalties for migrant exploitation to increase from 7 years in prison to 10 years
People granted a visa by mistake may also be liable for deportation
Deportation liability notices will be able to be issued electronically
Immigration officers will have more capacity to request identity-based information where they have reason to suspect a breach of visa conditions or potential deportation liability
It comes alongside statistics released on Thursday estimating there are 20,980 visa overstayers in New Zealand.
It is the first estimate using a new methodology Immigration NZ says is more accurate.
A previous study in 2017 estimated about 14,000 overstayers, but the agency warned the difference in methodologies meant direct comparisons between the two figures should not be made.
Stanford said 1259 people unlawfully in New Zealand had departed – either through deportation or voluntarily – in the past financial year.
“We know most people comply with their visa conditions and New Zealand laws while they are here. For those who do not, it’s important we have the right tools in place,” she said.
“Where migrants don’t follow the conditions of their visa, I’ve made it clear to Immigration NZ compliance and enforcement actions are a priority.”
Stanford said migrant exploitation was unacceptable, and the increase in penalties “recognises the seriousness of this crime and builds on a suite of changes made by this government to reduce the opportunity for exploitation”.
Immigration NZ compliance manager Steve Watson said that with about a million visa applications and 1.6 million electronic travel authority requests each year, the number of people overstaying their visa was “a very small proportion of temporary migrants”.
The statistics showed the top nationality of overstayer based on the past 30 years of data was Tonga, followed by China, then the United States.
Tonga: 2599
China: 2577
US: 2213
Samoa: 1697
India: 1582
Great Britain: 1256
Philippines: 938
Malaysia: 753
Canada: 510
Germany: 498
Other: 6356
The highest percentage of people overstaying their visa who had arrived in the two years ending July was also Tonga, followed by Samoa – but the rate was less than 2 percent of the visas from each of those countries, with Tonga at 1.93 percent and Samoa at 1.66 percent.
Malaysia was the next-highest at 0.34 percent. Overall, the percentage of those overstaying their visa who arrived in the two-year period was less than 0.2 percent of temporary visas.
The Prime Minister says it’s important there is legal immigration in New Zealand.
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
‘It’s about rights and responsibilities’ – Luxon
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon did not directly answer whether the changes were a crackdown on overstayers.
“Well, look, it’s really important we have legal immigration in New Zealand,” he said.
He went on to compare the 2017 overstayer figures with those announced on Thursday, despite the agency’s warning not to.
“I think the numbers have gone from 14,000 in 2017, the estimate today is 21,000, and just we want to make sure Immigration is doing everything it can to enforce legal migration,” he said.
“The people who feel strongest about this is about the new New Zealanders that have come to New Zealand, followed all the processes, done it right, and we expect people in a culture of rights and responsibilities to uphold the terms of their immigration and their visas.”
Asked if the balance was right given the low proportion of overstayers, he indicated it was preventative.
“It’s really important on immigration given you would have seen in other countries around the world that when you don’t stand up and defend legal immigration and you end up with illegal immigration that is something we just want to make sure we’ve got good strong enforcement practices around.
“It’s about rights and responsibilities.”
Government treating overstayers as ‘expendable’ – Greens
Green Party immigration spokesperson Ricardo Menendez March reiterated the party’s calls for a clear pathway for overstayers to become residents and for the government to bring in an amnesty programme.
“People without a visa need support. Most are active participants in our communities, have family here, and are also more vulnerable to exploitation,” he said. “Today the government chose to spin the latest overstayers figures to paint our communities as criminals while introducing a bill to separate more families.”
He said the government should be ensuring migrants were treated with dignity and respect.
“Successive governments have enabled too many people to fall through the cracks, with no pathways to residency, treating them as expendable instead of members of our communities.”