C2.5 Claims for refugee status after arrival in New Zealand (26/07/1999)

1. To be eligible to claim refugee status, a claimant must be in New Zealand at the time of making a claim.
2. Claims for refugee status may be:
   1. made by people who are in New Zealand either lawfully or unlawfully, and
   2. lodged at any NZIS office in New Zealand, and
   3. delivered either in person or by mail.
3. Claims for refugee status must be:
   1. made in writing using the approved form Application for Refugee Status in New Zealand,
   2. completed in English, and
   3. accompanied by a written statement of the grounds for the claim.
4. There is no fee for applying for refugee status.
5. The claimant is responsible for providing the RSB with a street address at which they may be contacted, and the RSB may assume that the last address provided in writing to the RSB is correct.
6. Any documents submitted in support of the claim that are not written in English should be accompanied by a full English translation (for full requirements, see A13.5).
7. The RSB must inform the claimant of the procedures for determining the claim, as well as of the right to contact a representative of the UNHCR and a lawyer.

C2.5.1 Evidence of identity to be supplied with application form

Claimants should supply the following evidence of identity when lodging the form Application for Refugee Status in New Zealand:

1. a travel document (eg, a passport, certificate of identity or refugee travel document), or
2. a birth certificate or other identity document, or, if neither a travel document nor an identity document is available,
3. a statutory declaration outlining the claimant's personal details.

Effective 26/07/1999