R4.5 Character requirements

Immigration Regulations 1999 regs 4(1)(g) and 10(1)(h)

1. All persons included in residence applications must be of good character, or qualify for a waiver of character requirements and must not pose a potential security risk (full information on character requirements policy is set out in the Administration chapter, A5).
2. If any person included in the application fails to meet those necessary character requirements and the character requirements are not waived, the application may be declined.

R4.5.1 Evidence of character

1. Applicants aged 17 or over must provide police certificates for their country of citizenship and for every country in which they have lived for 12 months or more (whether on one visit or intermittently) in the 10 years before the date they lodge their application.
2. Certificates must be less than 6 months old when the application is lodged.
3. Instructions on how to obtain police certificates from specific countries can be obtained from the INZ website at www.immigration.govt.nz/policecertificate.
4. If an applicant requires a police certificate from a country that:
   1. does not issue police certificates to individuals; and
   2. for which no instructions in respect of how to obtain a police certificate are available,

   a visa or immigration officer may proceed to assess the application without a police certificate and obtain any necessary clearances before a decision is made.

5. If a police certificate is not available from a particular country, the applicant must provide a separate statutory declaration in both English and the applicant's first language, which must:
   1. detail the applicant's attempts to obtain a police certificate; and
   2. state whether the applicant and any accompanying family members have been convicted, or found guilty of or charged with any offences against the law of that country; and
   3. be corroborated by other information confirming the applicant's character.

R4.5.5 Assessment

If an application is received from a person about whom character issues arise, officers assess the application against the assessment guidelines given in the Administration chapter (A5.15 - A5.40).

Effective 30/07/2007