Contents
Residence : Contents

Unlawful residence or presence

To reside in New Zealand lawfully a person must:

People with recognised refugee or protected person status under the Immigration Act 2009 generally cannot be deported from New Zealand. However, they must have a valid visa or have been granted entry permission to be considered lawfully resident and present in New Zealand.

If a person in New Zealand does not fulfil one of the above, the person is deemed to be in New Zealand unlawfully.

Any periods of unlawful residence are excluded when calculating the person's period of residence when deciding if a person meets the residence criteria for financial assistance from MSD (where relevant).

For more information see:

Legislation

  • Residential requirement section 16 Social Security Act 2018
  • General limitation on receiving benefit: persons unlawfully resident or present in New Zealand and persons holding temporary entry class visa section 19 Social Security Act 2018
  • Meaning of unlawfully in New Zealand (in relation to person who is not New Zealand citizen) section 9 Immigration Act 2009
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Temporary entry class visas are issued to people who have arrived in New Zealand legally, but are only allowed to stay for a temporary period for the duration and purposes indicated on the visa.

A temporary entry class visa means:

Legislation

A refugee means a person recognised under the Immigration Act 2009 as:

or

Legislation

A residence class visa means a:

A residence class visa allows people to live in New Zealand indefinitely. The visa also lets people work and study in New Zealand. There are different travel conditions based on the type of residence class visa.

Residence class visas are granted by Immigration New Zealand.

For the purpose of deciding if a person meets the residence criteria for financial assistance from MSD, people who ...

A protected person under the Immigration Act 2009 means a person recognised as a protected person in New Zealand under the:

Legislation

A person can be a New Zealand citizen by either:

For New Zealand citizenship, New Zealand includes the self-governing states of:

Citizenship is granted by the Department of Internal Affairs.

Note people born in New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, or Tokelau may not automatically be New Zealand citizens. To be considered a New Zealand citizen from birth, a person born on or after 1 January 2006 must have: