Marriage basis for residence —Mr Gill

Press, 13 April 1978, Page 10

Marriage basis for residence —Mr Gill

PA Wellington Marnage to a New Zealander was a basis for granting permanent residence in this country but did not bring this status by right, said the Minister of Immigration (Mr Gill). He outlined immigration policy as it affects marriages between New Zealand citi-1 zens or residents and nonNew Zealanders. "The policy broadly is that; such a marriage is the basis for considering the granting of permanent residence to the non-New Zealand partner" Mt Gill said "Where a marriage appears to be genuine, not one' of convenience, where there has been no offence against the Immigration Act and where no other contrary reason emerges, the granting of permanent residence will I normally follow. , “Cases have occurred, and will no doubt continue to 1 occur, in which an anplicantl for permanent residence is' turned down hut invariably u there are complicating factors involved and these are ; very often found to relate roll ‘he Immigration Act.” Mr i Gill said. ••here a marriage was one of'

11convenience, designed solely, to secure residence in this ’ country for the non-New i Zealand partner, he said. ' New Zealand was no , different from other countries in wanting to avoid a I reputation for accommodat- j mg such marriages, the Minister said. He said it was usual for an overseas person with a New Zealand fiancee or ; fiance to be granted a temporary permit enabling him or her to enter this country, and marrv A condition of] such a permit was that the applicant had booked and paid for a passage to leave. New Zealand again. Altem-I atively, a sum of money i could be deposited with the immigration authorities as a bond, Mr Gill said. In either case, the appli-■ cant could reclaim the money;, .after the marriage, provided! this was within the validity |i of the temporary permit and; that the applicant had then j sought and been granted]: permanent residence status. ]: i “Instances also arise where] a person already on a tern-]’ , porary visit to this country ] < meets a New Zealander j whom he or she wishes to < marrv." the Minister said. i “Ordinary caution should <

• I suggest that those involved nought to make inquiries first , with our immigration authorities but, even if this were not done, such a marriage i would be regarded sympathetically unless some ad- . Iditional factor dictated ! otherwise,” he said. “A breach of the Immigration Act — for example, staying in New Zealand after a temporary permit has expired — would preclude conIsideration of an application for permanent residence.” The immigration offence would first need to be dealt with by the court, Mr Gill said. He said a 1977 amendment Ito the act made provision ; for appeals to the Minister of Immigration because of exceptional circumstances of a humanitarian nature in cases where the court had ordered deportation. . Replying to recent stateI ments by the member of Par- , liament for Auckland Central (Mr R. W. Prebble), Mr Gill said he could not comment ;on unidentified cases. The cases Mr Prebble ] was making controversial [were a small handful compared with the volume of work the Immigration Division handled, the Minister said.