Character Issues

If Immigration New Zealand identifies a character issue that is preventing you from being granted a visa, we can help you get a character waiver or a special direction.

Character waiver is a decision to waive good character requirements for a person who does not meet them, so Immigration New Zealand can grant him a visa. However, immigration will not consider character waiver requests if you have character issues described in section 15 or 16 of the Immigration Act 2009.

When immigration makes a decision about whether you are eligible to be granted a character waiver, it takes into account things like:

• How long ago the event that created the character issue occurred
• The circumstances surrounding the offence or incident
• Your circumstances, including your ties to New Zealand and reasons for applying for a visa
• The nature of any information falsely provided or withheld during a visa application (if this applies), and whether you deliberately intended to mislead or withhold information from immigration.

In the event that you have to ask for a character waiver to Immigration New Zealand, it is prudent to look for expert help by approaching us at Immigration Advisers New Zealand, in light of the fact that if you can’t resolve the issue, you will keep on having problems down the track with all future visa applications.