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Investigations and compliance
Immigration compliance and investigations play a vital role in ensuring the integrity of the immigration system is maintained and immigration harm is minimised.
Our investigations and compliance teams investigate immigration offending, ensure employers comply with immigration law, ensure migrants comply with the conditions of their visas and are in New Zealand lawfully.
This includes managing breaches and investigating offences against the Immigration Act 2009. Breaches or offences range from residing in New Zealand unlawfully, employing a migrant outside of the conditions of their visa, providing false information on a visa application, or trafficking in persons. A breach or offence could result in deportation from New Zealand or criminal charges being laid.
Managing reports of an immigration breach or offence
All reports are taken seriously. They are treated with confidence and can be made anonymously.
When a report is made about a possible immigration breach or offence, an assessment is made to determine the veracity and severity of the allegation and how it is best addressed. All reports receive a response proportional to the issue, which means not all reports will be referred to an Investigator or Compliance Officer. A report will be referred to the team best placed to address the issue, whether that be the investigations team, compliance team, the most appropriate team within Immigration New Zealand (INZ), wider MBIE (such as the Labour Inspectorate) or other agencies.
Investigations
Our investigations team investigate complaints of immigration offending. They focus on the most serious criminal offending such as people trafficking, migrant exploitation and transnational organised crime.
Our investigation teams operate in the criminal jurisdiction and if they decide to pursue a prosecution they are required to reach the criminal burden of proof, that being beyond reasonable doubt for any prosecution.
Due to the nature of this offending, and the high threshold for criminal investigations, immigration investigations can be complex and take time to complete.
But not all allegations considered by an Investigator will lead to a prosecution. Investigators consider a number of options available to them when conducting an investigation, depending on the severity of the offending. These include:
- criminal prosecutions
- issuing infringements
- issuing formal warnings
- educating people on the right thing to do
- referring to other regulatory bodies as appropriate.
Last financial year, our investigations team received 2881 complaints. We completed 402 immigration investigations. Each investigation may result in multiple actions taken.
Of the investigations in 2023/24 financial year (1 July 2023 – 30 June 2024), there were 860 investigation actions taken, including prosecuting 9 individuals. There were 1338 complaints which resulted in outcomes other than a formal investigation. If no sufficient evidence of criminal offending is found, the investigation will be closed.
| The following figures represent the raising of 1 allegation as a case for Investigations to consider. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Financial year 1 July – 30 Jun | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
| Complaints received by Investigations | 2169 | 1331 | 1253 | 1284 | 2881 |
| Non-Investigation outcomes | 1566 | 589 | 1758 | 1117 | 1338 |
| Investigations completed | 86 | 165 | 219 | 164 | 402 |
| One Investigation does not always have only 1 outcome. The following information covers all individual actions taken by an Investigator from the total Investigations completed. This reflects that 1 case can have multiple defendants and victims. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Financial year 1 July – 30 Jun | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
| Total Investigation actions taken | 96 | 294 | 467 | 303 | 860 |
| Warnings issued | 7 | 36 | 34 | 19 | 36 |
| Prosecutions | 5 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 6 |
| Number of individuals prosecuted | 8 | 6 | 9 | 14 | 9 |
| Number of charges | 40 | 12 | 28 | 40 | 66 |
| Reparation for victims | $215,000 | $23,100 | $27,100 | $127,400.14 | $91,000 |
| Custodial or community sentence | 5 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 6 |
Compliance
People coming to New Zealand need to have a valid visa and comply with their visa conditions.
Compliance officers engage with individuals who may be unlawfully in New Zealand without a visa or in breach of their visa conditions. They assess the severity of the case and prioritise cases where there is higher risk of immigration harm.
Not every case will result in a deportation order or deportation liability notice. Our approach is tailored based on each migrant’s personal circumstance to address situations effectively and promote compliance.
People who are in New Zealand after their visa expires will receive a letter telling them they must leave the country if they do not have a valid visa. We monitor these cases and individuals are encouraged to leave the country voluntarily or, if they can, get a new visa to remain here lawfully, in the first instance.
Options include:
- working with people to voluntarily depart New Zealand
- deporting people from New Zealand
- making people liable for deportation
- issuing employers with infringement notices
- work with individuals to regularise their immigration status so they can remain here lawfully
- informing and educating people — providing accessible information and making it easy for people to do the right thing.
Last financial year (1 July 2023 – 30 June 2024), our compliance team received 5268 complaints. As a result, we issued 225 deportation orders, 93 deportation liability notices and 15 infringements under the new infringement scheme.
| These figures represent the raising of 1 allegation as a case for Compliance to consider. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Financial year 1 July – 30 Jun | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
| Complaints received by Compliance | 6879 | 4809 | 3459 | 4705 | 5286 |
| Deportation liability notices issued | 140 | 149 | 71 | 65 | 93 |
| Deportation orders issued | 323 | 213 | 129 | 237 | 225 |
| Total deportations (including self and voluntary deportations) | 1270 | 700 | 539 | 717 | 845 |
| Infringements issued | - | - | - | - | 15 |
| Referrals for revocation / suspension of accreditation | - | - | - | - | 11 |
Immigration Employment Infringement Scheme
Making a report of an immigration breach or offence
You can report an immigration offence by calling our Customer Service Centre, submitting an anonymous Crime Stoppers report or emailing our Investigations team.
Customer Service Centre
Crime Stoppers
Making a report of exploitation
If you are being exploited, do not be afraid to ask for help. INZ and Employment New Zealand will treat you fairly if you tell us about your exploitation at work. You can report exploitation to Employment New Zealand by using their online form or by phoning them.
Reporting migrant exploitation — Employment New Zealand
Employment New Zealand (The number is free to call from any landline or mobile in New Zealand.)