Y2.50 Advance Passenger Processing

Immigration Act 1987 ss 125AA to 125AE

1. The Department of Labour requires airlines to initiate passenger checks and pre-processing of passengers prior to embarkation for travel to and through New Zealand by means of the Advance Passenger Processing (APP) system.
2. APP assists in the facilitation of efficient and effective processing of all passengers on entry to, and through, New Zealand

Y2.50.1 Provision of information for the purpose of Advance Passenger Processing

1. A carrier, and a person in charge of a commercial craft that proposes to travel to New Zealand, who is notified by the chief executive of the Department of Labour that they must comply with responsibilities under section 125AA of the Immigration Act 1987 must, prior to their departure from another country to travel to New Zealand, obtain information from every person who intends to board the craft for the purpose of travelling to New Zealand.
2. This information includes:
   1. the person's name, date of birth, nationality, sex, passport or certificate of identify number (if any) and passport or certificate of identity expiry date (if any); and
   2. the issuer of the person's passport or certificate of identity, if it is not the person's country of nationality (if any); and
   3. the person's status as a traveller (including but not limited to, whether the person is a member of the crew of the craft, a passenger whose destination is New Zealand, or a passenger whose destination is other than New Zealand).
3. Prior to their departure from another country to travel to New Zealand, carriers and a person in charge of a commercial craft, may also be required to provide to the chief executive of the Department of Labour, by means of an approved system (see Y2.50.15 below):
   1. information identifying the craft and its intended movements, and
   2. the electronic location of specified information in respect of those persons travelling to New Zealand on that craft that airlines hold in their electronic systems.
4. A carrier or person in charge of a commercial craft who fails to meet the responsibilities set out above commits an offence and may be prosecuted.
5. The chief executive of the Department of Labour may exempt a carrier or a person in charge of a commercial craft from complying (in whole or in part) with the requirements set out in (b) and (c) above.

Y2.50.5 Decisions about people boarding craft from the purpose of coming to New Zealand

1. The chief executive of the Department of Labour may decide (including by automatic means) that a person about whom passenger information has been received:
   1. may or may not board a craft for the purpose of travelling to New Zealand;
   2. may board a craft for the purpose travelling to New Zealand if he or she complies with specified conditions.
2. Where such a decision is made the chief executive must notify the relevant carrier or person in charge of the commercial craft of that decision.
3. Notification may be in any form or manner that the chief executive thinks is appropriate, including by means of an approved system.
4. The chief executive may make decisions about whether a person may or may not board or may only board subject to specified conditions, whether or not the person holds a visa to travel to New Zealand, or is exempt from the requirement to apply for and hold a visa to travel to New Zealand or is exempt from the requirement to hold a permit to be in New Zealand.
5. The chief executive may not make decisions about whether a person may or may not board or may only board subject to specified conditions if that person is:
   1. a New Zealand citizen who holds a New Zealand passport; or
   2. the holder of a returning resident’s visa who intends to travel to New Zealand during the currency of that visa; or
   3. a person who has been granted a pre-cleared permit entered or retained in the records of the Department of Labour under s 35E of the Immigration Act 1987 who intends to enter New Zealand during the currency of that pre-cleared permit on a flight designated by the Minister of Immigration as a pre-clearance flight under s35C of the Immigration Act 1987.
6. The chief executive is not obliged to give reasons for decisions about whether a person may or may not board or may only board subject to specified conditions, other than that the decision is made in terms of section 125AB(1) of the Immigration Act 1987 and section 23 of the Official Information Act does not apply in respect of such decisions.
7. A person about whom a decision is made in terms of (a) above may not appeal the decision and may not bring review proceedings in relation to the decision except on the grounds that the decision should not have been made because they are:
   1. a New Zealand citizen who holds a New Zealand passport; or
   2. the holder of a returning resident’s visa who intends to travel to New Zealand during the currency of that visa; or
   3. a person who has been granted a pre-cleared permit entered or retained in the records of the Department of Labour under s 35E of the Immigration Act 1987 who intends to enter New Zealand during the currency of that pre-cleared permit on a flight designated by the Minister of Immigration as a pre-clearance flight under s35C of the Immigration Act 1987.
8. Every carrier or person in charge of a commercial craft commits an offence if:
   1. they allow a person to travel to New Zealand before a decision is made by the chief executive in terms of (a) above; or
   2. they fail, without reasonable excuse, to ensure that such a decision is complied with.

Y2.50.10 Requirement to provide further information

1. If the chief executive has requested further information within 24 hours of the arrival in New Zealand of the craft on which the person to whom the requested information relates intended to or did travel to New Zealand, the relevant carrier or person in charge of the craft must provide the chief executive with information that they hold, or have access to, about:
   1. where and on what date the person booked the intended travel; and
   2. with whom, if anyone, the person intended to travel; and
   3. with whom the person has previously travelled; and
   4. whether or not the person paid for their own intended travel, and the manner of payment; and
   5. the person’s travel movements before the intended travel; and
   6. whether the route of the person’s previous travel has changed from the way that he or she originally booked the travel, and if so, in what way; and
   7. whether the person failed to undertake travel on a previous occasion; and
   8. whether the person has unchecked baggage.
2. The information specified in (a)(i)-(viii) above must be provided whether or not the person whom the information is about actually boarded the craft.
3. The chief executive may also have an ability to access the information specified in (a) (i)-(viii) above directly from the airline’s database in an approved form and manner for a period of 24 hours after the arrival in New Zealand of the craft on which the person whom the information is about intended to, or did, travel to New Zealand.
4. Information specified in (a) (i)-(viii) above may only be retained by the chief executive if:
   1. the chief executive decided that the person to whom it relates may not board a craft for the purpose of travelling to New Zealand; or
   2. that person has been refused, on arrival, a permit or exemption to be in New Zealand; or
   3. the information needs to be retained as part of a record of a particular action having been taken in relation to the person to whom it relates (e.g. a record that a person was interviewed on arrival; or
   4. the information gives the chief executive good cause to suspect that a risk to border security exists.
5. A carrier or person in charge of a commercial craft who fails, without reasonable excuse, to provide the information specified in (a) above, or access to such information, commits an offence and may be prosecuted.

Y2.50.15 Definition of ‘approved system’

An ‘approved system’ means a system, including an electronic system, approved by the chief executive of the Department of Labour for the purpose of:

1. providing the information set out in Y2.50.10 (a) and (b) above; or
2. notifying a carrier or person in charge of a commercial craft of a decision of the chief executive about a person boarding a craft for the purpose of travelling to New Zealand.

Y2.50.20 Delegation of Chief Executive’s powers in relation to the operation of Advance Passenger Processing

1. The Chief Executive of the Department of Labour has delegated to people occupying the positions set out in (b) below the following powers relating to the operation of Advance Passenger Processing:
   1. the power, in accordance with s125AB(1) of the Immigration Act 1987, to make a decision about whether or not a person may or may not board a craft for the purposes of travelling to New Zealand, including specifying conditions which must be complied with before a person boards a craft for travel to New Zealand; and
   2. the power, in accordance with s125AB(2) of the Immigration Act 1987, to determine the means by which any decision made under s125AB(1) of that Act is to be notified to a carrier or person in charge of a commercial craft to whom s125AA applies;
   3. the power, in accordance with s125AB(5) of the Immigration Act 1987, to predetermine the criteria by which an automated electronic system analyses information (if any) about a person that is held by the Department of Labour and to which the Department of Labour has access - the automatic electronic analysis of which may result in a decision in accordance with s125AB(1) of that Act;
   4. the power, in accordance with s125AD(2) of the Immigration Act 1987 to request information about a person who intended to board a craft for the purpose of travelling to New Zealand, whether or not he or she did in fact board the craft;
   5. the power, in accordance with s125AD(3) of the Immigration Act 1987, to have access to information of the kind specified in s125AD(5) of that Act about a person who intended to board a craft for the purpose of travelling to New Zealand, whether or not he or she did in fact board the craft, and to approve the manner and form of that access in accordance with ss125AD(4) and (7) of that Act; and
   6. the power, in accordance with s125AD(6)(d) of the Immigration Act 1987, to determine whether, in respect of information disclosed or accessed in accordance with ss125AD(1) and (3) of that Act, there is good cause to suspect that a risk to border security exists.
2. Deputy Secretary - Workforce
   Chief Operating Officer, Workforce
   Operations Manager, Workforce
   Market Manager Border and Investigations, Workforce
   Service Manager Border and Investigations, Workforce
   Service Leader Border and Investigations, Workforce
   Immigration Officer undertaking duties at Auckland Airport

Effective 04/04/2005