Y4.20 People who must be refused entry permission unless granted as an exception to instructions: stowaways

See also Immigration Act 2009 ss 101, 115, 116.

1. Entry permission must be refused to any person who is a stowaway and is not otherwise dealt with under Y4.1.
2. A stowaway:
   1. is a person who is carried in or on a craft without the consent of the carrier, or the person in charge, of the craft; and
   2. is unlawfully in New Zealand; and
   3. does not have any rights of appeal on humanitarian grounds so long as section 115 of the Immigration Act 2009 applies to the person; and
   4. is liable to be arrested and detained under Part 9 of the Immigration Act 2009; and
   5. is liable for turnaround.
3. The carrier and the person in charge of a craft must report the presence of a stowaway on board the craft as soon as practicable (see Y2.20(a)). In most cases the ship's agent will have informed New Zealand Customs Service (Customs) or Immigration New Zealand well in advance of the craft's arrival.
4. If there are reasonable grounds for believing that there are stowaways or other people intent on avoiding arrival procedures on board a craft, members of the New Zealand Police (Police) and Customs officers undertaking immigration duties have powers under the Immigration Act 2009 to enter and search that craft (see Y3.25).
5. Action to deal with stowaways may begin as soon as the craft on which they are travelling crosses into New Zealand's territorial limits. The territorial limit is any point 12 miles seaward from the New Zealand shore or baseline, as defined by the Territorial Sea and Exclusive Economic Zone Act 1977.
6. Stowaways must be arrested and detained within 72 hours of the person first reporting or presenting to an immigration officer (see D4.25). After 72 hours have passed stowaways can only be dealt with by way of deportation.

Effective 1/12/2021