April again was a month full of interesting articles in the various news papers, from an economical, political and climate view point.

The most interesting article was however about the immigrant who was booted out of New Zealand. For further details, follow this link for further information.

Its a very good example confirming that the various immigration instructions for permanent and temporary visas do not link with each other correctly.

According to immigration instructions, an applicant for a temporary visa requires to have a clean bill of health, the applicant needs to meet ASH (an acceptable standard of health). This was also the case with this person as he was in NZ on an approved business visa, meaning that his medicals confirmed an acceptable standard of health at that time.

When an LTBV is approved and issued, it is expected that you would lodge a residence application after having operated your business for two years and thus obtain residency. An LTBV is a much travelled pathway to residency for business people.

Medicals for residency and temporary visas have however different requirements, i.e. the medical requirements for residency have a higher threshold.

So why approve somebody for a temporary application when a logical and subsequent residence application may be declined on health grounds?  That in my view is incorrect and needs to be rectified by INZ as soon as possible. It hurts the industry, moreover, the good image and name of New Zealand as a destination.