Home > Our Publications > New Zealand Outlook > 2003 > July

THE New Zealand government is to appeal a High Court decision against retrospective application of some of the new immigration rules introduced on 20 November 2002.
In a judgement delivered in May, the High Court held that temporary Job Search Visas (JSVs) were an integral part of applications for residence and that both JSV and residence applications should be decided on the rules in place when residence applications were lodged.
The November rules changes had stipulated that JSVs could only be granted to applicants with skills covered by the Occupational Shortages List. The New Zealand Association for Migration and Investment (NZAMI) filed proceedings in the High Court last December against the new provision being applied retrospectively where applications had already been lodged but were still being processed.
"Literally thousands of applications were suddenly placed in jeopardy by the retrospective operation of this new rule. The Occupational Shortages List is subject to frequent alteration. A consequence was that applicants suddenly had no way of knowing whether their particular skills would still be deemed appropriate when their applications came to be decided," said NZAMI's chairman, Bill Milnes.
"It's deeply disappointing to learn that the government is now seeking to appeal the High Court's decision. This means that our government is again playing football with the lives of would-be New Zealanders.
"It was bad enough that people who had applied in good faith under the old rules suddenly found last November that the rules had been altered. It's even worse that further uncertainty and anxiety have been injected into the mixture by the government's unwillingness to accept the verdict of the court.
"Some of the people affected have spent more than two years with their lives on-hold as they go through the complex and time-consuming process of applying for residence. Just like the rest of us, they crave a degree of hope and certainty but these have now been snatched away for a second time in a matter of months as a result of the government's decision to contest the High Court's ruling," Mr Milnes said.
"General legal principles tend to loom large in Court of Appeal decisions. Retrospective rule-making is just not the way we do things in New Zealand." he said.
The New Zealand Association for Migration and Investment represents more than 200 members, including immigration and investment consultants, banks, business specialists and financial advisers. The Association seeks consistent, fair, reliable immigration policies of long-term benefit to New Zealand.
Mr Milnes said that NZAMI members feel let down by the announcement of an appeal as they have been seeking a more constructive relationship with the New Zealand Immigration Service and with the Minister of Immigration following May's High Court decision.