subject to a special patient order<\/a>, so that he could return to China, live with his parents and receive treatment.<\/p>\nBut the judge agreed with prosecutors that Meng posed a significant and ongoing risk to others.<\/p>\n
\u2018Degree of trust\u2019 in visa application<\/p>\n
Meng, a carpenter assistant, reportedly said the cost of medication prompted him to stop taking anti-psychotics before moving to New Zealand.<\/p>\n
He arrived in Auckland in March 2023 on an accredited employer visa, but lost his job only weeks before the June attack because his employer did not have enough work available.<\/p>\n
He had been suffering from delusional beliefs about being attacked himself.<\/p>\n
His victims and staff at the affected restaurants questioned how Meng came to be granted a three-year work visa, given his health condition.<\/p>\n
RNZ asked Immigration New Zealand (INZ) what medical tests visa applicants underwent, and whether INZ assessors would have seen medical documents from Meng\u2019s own doctors.<\/p>\n
In a statement, INZ acting deputy chief operating officer Peter Elms said it empathised with Meng\u2019s victims.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe case of Fanrong Meng has been deeply traumatic for everyone involved,\u201d he said. \u201cAs Mr Meng applied for a temporary work visa that was valid for more than 12 months, he was required to undergo an immigration medical examination and provide a chest X-ray as part of his visa application. Applicants in these circumstances cannot simply self-certify that they are healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Medical examinations are completed by INZ-approved \u201cpanel\u201d physicians based in New Zealand and overseas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe immigration medical examination includes questions about an applicant\u2019s medical history, with a physical examination and blood and urine tests,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr Meng underwent the required immigration medical examination in November 2022. Based on the information available through that process, INZ\u2019s Health Assessment Team assessed him as having an acceptable standard of health. The medical assessment did not identify any pre-existing psychiatric condition.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elms said INZ medical assessors do not see applicants in person, instead reviewing information they receive. \u201cThis includes the assessment completed by panel physicians, as well as any specialist reports or test results provided with an application. INZ did not receive any medical documentation from Mr Meng\u2019s doctors in China.\u201d<\/p>\n
Applicants were warned that if they provide false or misleading health information they can face a visa decline or deportation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a degree of trust involved in the immigration system, and while not every piece of information supplied by every applicant can be independently verified, all applicants are required to declare that the information they provide is true, complete and correct.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is also important to note that psychiatric conditions can be difficult to identify through a general immigration medical examination. Where an applicant does not disclose a pre-existing psychiatric condition, a panel physician may have no basis to identify that condition through the standard assessment process.\u201d<\/p>\n
INZ said requiring specialist psychiatric assessments for all visa applicants would add significant cost and administrative burden, as serious undisclosed psychiatric conditions would only occur in a \u201cvery small proportion\u201d of applications.<\/p>\n
November 2022\u00a0– Meng had medical examination after making a work visa application.30 March 2023\u00a0– Arrived in New Zealand, lost his AEWV job after about two months19 June 2023\u00a0– Attacked guests at three Albany restaurants, remanded at Mt Eden prisonNovember 2023\u00a0– Acquitted on all charges due to insanityApril 2024\u00a0– Detention as a special patient in a secure psychiatric facilitySeptember 2024\u00a0– Special patient\u2019 status changed by health panel11 February 2025\u00a0– Government agencies meet to discuss deportation25 March 2025\u00a0– Meng deported to China<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three people were hospitalised, and one needed emergency surgery to his skull. The attacks only ended when his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":557056,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[110932,51,13612,45784,607,125,45783,42,43,77617,61,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-557055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-attacker","tag-auckland","tag-axe","tag-bonnett","tag-china","tag-deported","tag-gill","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-quietly","tag-to","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=557055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/557056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}