What you can and cannot appeal in New Zealand immigration

Residence declines: the 42-day appeal

If an immigration officer declines your residence application, section 187 of the Immigration Act 2009 gives you an appeal to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal, brought not later than 42 days after you are notified of the decision. The grounds are that the decision was not correct in terms of the residence instructions, or that your circumstances are special enough to warrant a recommendation that an exception be considered. The filing fee is $964 (it rose on 1 July 2026), it cannot be waived, and the appeal will not be accepted without it — though one fee covers family members included in the application. The appeal success rates guide shows how often each appeal type succeeds, computed from every published decision.

Temporary visa declines: no appeal — but a reconsideration

There is no appeal to the tribunal against a declined visitor, work or student visa — the Act simply provides none, and Immigration New Zealand's own guidance confirms it. What exists instead is reconsideration under section 185: if you applied for a further temporary visa while holding a current one and were declined, you can ask for the decision to be reconsidered by a different officer of equal or senior grade. The conditions are strict — the request must be lodged within 14 days of receiving the decision, you must still be lawfully in New Zealand when it is decided, and the fee is $220. The reconsideration outcome is final and conclusive.

If you were declined and your visa has since expired, reconsideration is closed and your options shift to a fresh application, a section 61 request if you are now unlawful, or — within 42 days of becoming unlawful — a humanitarian appeal against deportation liability. The clock decides which doors are still open, which is why acting inside the first fortnight matters so much.

Complaints and the Ombudsman

INZ's complaints process covers its service and process failures — including not following its own instructions — but expressly cannot be used to dispute a visa decision. INZ aims to respond within 25 working days. If the complaint concerns how a decision was handled and INZ's answer does not resolve it, the Ombudsman can investigate INZ's administrative conduct — how the decision was made, not its merits — at no charge, and generally expects you to have complained to INZ first. An Ombudsman investigation cannot overturn a decline, but it can produce findings that support a fresh application or reveal process failures worth putting before a court.

Judicial review and refugee appeals

Judicial review in the High Court examines the lawfulness of the process — not whether the decision was right on its merits — and immigration review has special rules: proceedings must be commenced within 28 days of being notified of the decision unless the court allows more time for special circumstances, and decisions that could have been appealed to the tribunal generally cannot be reviewed until the tribunal has finally determined the matter, and then only with the court's leave. Review is the main challenge to absolute-discretion decisions such as refused section 61 requests, precisely because no appeal exists.

Refugee and protection declines have their own fast deadlines: an appeal to the tribunal within 10 working days of notification, or 5 working days if you are in detention — though unlike every other immigration deadline on this page, the tribunal may extend these where special circumstances warrant it. There is no fee for refugee and protection appeals, and legal aid is available for them.

The deadline table

• Residence decline → IPT appeal: 42 days from notification, $964 fee, no extensions
• Further temporary visa decline → reconsideration: 14 days from the decision, $220, must still be lawful
• Deportation liability notice (residents and temporary holders) → IPT appeal: generally 28 days from service
• Becoming unlawful → IPT humanitarian appeal: 42 days from first becoming unlawful
• Refugee or protection decline → IPT appeal: 10 working days (5 if detained), extendable for special circumstances, no fee
• Judicial review: 28 days from notification, extendable for special circumstances
• INZ complaint: no deadline, ~25 working day response; Ombudsman after INZ, free