Mackenzie Elvin

The new Immigration Act 2009 came into effect on 29 November 2010.

For those of you who employ foreign nationals, there are two major implications

These are:

1. 1. There is a more stringent requirement for employers to check whether a person they are employing is entitled to work in New Zealand. The wording of the test in the new Act is that an employer must be able to show that they took… “reasonable precautions and exercised due diligence…”. If it is not already part of your processes then your standard employment application should include questions as to resident status. If an employee is a non resident then you need to see clear evidence of their right to work in New Zealand. The Department of Labour has created an internet based enquiry system called “VisaView”. This enables employers to enquire about any foreign national who they are employing to see whether or not they have a work permit or other right to work. The Department is working to extend the system to include New Zealand passport holders which will give information to help employers who are concerned about asking New Zealand passport holders to prove they are citizens. It would seem that we are moving to a situation where this background check will need to be made as part of your routine pre-employment checks.

   2. Where an employee’s work permit has expired they can continue to work for you during any notice period that you are required to give them in terms of their Employment Agreement even if this is beyond the expiry of their permit. This, of course, means that you need to have a system where your employees’ work permit expiry dates are noted so that you can give termination on notice once the permit expires.

2. We also bring to your attention the Immigration Advisors Licensing Act which came into force in May 2010. This requires anyone providing immigration advice to be licensed. The definition is quite wide and you should take care to ensure that you do not give any immigration advice to employees. Even staff giving well meaning assistance could potentially be caught. (Lawyers, of course, are exempt.)

3. If you would like any more information concerning these matters please let contact us. In the first instance, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   or telephone (07)5785033 and ask to speak to Marcus’ secretary to make an appointment.

4. The main thing to remember is that simply relying on holding an IR330 form is no longer going to be enough and you will need to have systems and processes that show you have taken “reasonable precautions and exercised due diligence” to check whether someone you are employing is entitled to work in New Zealand.

Oct 2010