If your visa application declined then, you probably did not meet the requirement of being a bona fide applicant.  Bona fide means genuine.  It means the intention of every applicant for a temporary visa application must be real.
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Bona fide means:
  • You genuinely intend to stay in NZ for a short period.
  • You will remain in NZ legally which means you will not demonstrate any risk to overstay.
  • You will not break any law or rule while you are in NZ.
  • You will not break conditions in your visa.

If you are not from visa waiver country, sometimes it is tricky to prove you are a bona fide visitor.  If your temporary visa (visitor, student, etc.) application was declined and you were given an explanation by Immigration Officer that he or she didn't believe you are a bona fide visitor, then please consult your case with Immigration Trust.  

Your immigration officer must give you written reasons for his or her decision to decline your application based on immigration instructions.  If there are other reasons for Immigration Officer to decline your application.  In this case, you could apply for a reconsideration of your declined visa application. 

When your residency visa application is declined, you can engage with us to appeal Immigration New Zealand decision to Immigration Protection Tribunal.

3 week grace period

In the past, if you applied for a visa and you were on an interim visa, then when your visa application was declined, you became unlawful.  However thanks to the recent change announced by the Minister of Immigration, Iain Lees-Galloway, now you have a three week grace period.  
According to the Immigration Policy I 1.15 and I 1.20.1, and the last visa has expired, the applicant has a three-week grace period where an interim visa will still be valid.  This solved a lot of cases that people suddenly became unlawful. During this three week grace period, you can decide to leave this country, or you apply for a reconsideration.  It means during this period; you can stay in New Zealand lawfully and challenge the decision of your case officer. 

The reconsideration is possible when you think your case officer has been unfair to you or possibly applied a wrong policy or probably the decision was biased.  If you believe so, then you should apply for the reconsideration. Your reconsideration application will be assessed by a different case officer. 

​Immigration Trust has been very successful in many re-consideration applications.  If we think if your case has no chance we will say so.

Would like to know whether your case has a chance?

Please have your declined letter you received from your case officer handy as you will be asked to upload or take a photo to be uploaded.