Your options at a glance
| Your situation | The option | The clock |
|---|---|---|
| A further temporary visa declined, applied for from inside New Zealand while holding a valid temporary visa | Reconsideration by Immigration New Zealand, once, for a fee | No later than 14 days after you received the decline |
| A temporary visa declined, applied for from offshore | No reconsideration right: a new, stronger application that answers the decline reasons | None stated |
| A residence visa declined | An appeal to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal | 42 days from being notified, never extended |
| Your visa has expired and you are unlawful in New Zealand | A section 61 request | Speed matters most of all |
Find the parts of this guide that match your situation
For educational and illustrative purposes only. This is not immigration advice, and no warranty is given as to its appropriateness or accuracy. If in doubt, talk to an immigration adviser or an immigration lawyer about your specific circumstances.
Read the decline letter first
The letter states which instructions you failed to meet and why. Everything that follows (reconsideration, appeal, or a fresh application) turns on one question:
- Was the decision wrong on the information provided?
- Or was it right, but curable with better evidence?
If Immigration New Zealand relied on information you never got to comment on, note it: fairness requires potentially prejudicial information to be put to you, and that failure strengthens a reconsideration or appeal.
Reconsideration of a declined temporary visa
If you applied from inside New Zealand for a further temporary visa and still hold a valid temporary visa, you can request reconsideration no later than 14 days after you received the decline, for a fee.
It is a paper review, you get it once, and the second decision is final, so the request must squarely address the decline reasons with evidence, not simply ask Immigration New Zealand to look again.
Count the 14 days to apply for reconsideration
- If the decline was sent by registered post or by email, section 386A of the Immigration Act 2009 may treat it as received on a set day (7 days after it was posted to an address in New Zealand, 3 working days after it was emailed), which can be earlier than the day it reached you. Whether that section applies to this decision is not settled in terms, so count from the earlier of the two dates.
- Treat the date shown as the last day to act, not a target: the period may end later, but it cannot end earlier.
- Worked out from the Immigration Act 2009 and the Legislation Act 2019 as they read on 28 September 2026.
- The date you enter stays on this page in your browser. It is not sent anywhere or stored.
- A licensed immigration adviser or immigration lawyer can confirm whether the right applies to you and act within the period.
For educational and illustrative purposes only. This is not immigration advice, and no warranty is given as to its appropriateness or accuracy. If in doubt, talk to an immigration adviser or an immigration lawyer about your specific circumstances.
“The result of any reconsideration under this section of a decision to decline an application for a further temporary visa is final and conclusive, and no further application for reconsideration of that decision may be made.”
If you applied from offshore there is no reconsideration right; the realistic path is a new, stronger application that answers the decline reasons directly.
Appealing a declined residence visa
Declined residence applicants can appeal to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal within 42 days of being notified:
“An appeal under this section must be brought not later than 42 days after the date the appellant is notified of the decision appealed against.”
The tribunal decides two things:
- Whether the decline was correct under the residence instructions
- Whether you have special circumstances deserving a recommendation to the Minister as an exception
It can also cancel the decision and send the application back to Immigration New Zealand for a fresh assessment. Roughly half of decided residence appeals succeed (the full figures by category are in the appeal success rates guide), and represented appellants succeed materially more often than self-represented ones.
| Residence category | Succeeded | Dismissed or declined | Decided appeals | Success share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skilled migrant appeals | 1,747 | 1,893 | 3,640 | 48% |
| Partnership appeals | 724 | 607 | 1,331 | 54% |
| Parent appeals | 298 | 479 | 777 | 38% |
| Sibling & adult child appeals | 219 | 257 | 476 | 46% |
| Dependent child appeals | 242 | 179 | 421 | 57% |
| Special policies appeals | 267 | 124 | 391 | 68% |
| Business entrepreneur appeals | 142 | 192 | 334 | 43% |
| Business investor appeals | 111 | 119 | 230 | 48% |
| From work & Green List appeals | 125 | 85 | 210 | 60% |
| Permanent & returning resident appeals | 55 | 77 | 132 | 42% |
| 2021 Resident Visa appeals | 54 | 81 | 135 | 40% |
A base rate across hundreds or thousands of appeals says nothing about any single case.
Computed by this site from the published decisions of the Immigration and Protection Tribunal and its predecessor boards. A success means the appeal was allowed, the decision was cancelled and the application returned to Immigration New Zealand, or residence was granted after a referral to the Minister; withdrawn appeals and procedural rulings are left out. The appeal success rates guide explains the method. Figures as at 20 September 2026, the date of the most recent decision file in the data.
Section 61 once you are unlawful in New Zealand
Once your visa expires you become unlawful, liable for deportation, and lose ordinary application rights. Section 61 of the Immigration Act 2009 lets Immigration New Zealand grant a visa to an unlawful person as a matter of absolute discretion:
- It can decline without giving reasons
- There is no appeal
A section 61 request has to be all three when it arrives. This is the situation where professional help earns its fee most clearly, and where delay does the most damage. The section 61 guide sets out how a request is made.
Choosing help after a decline
Declines and appeals are the deep end of immigration work. A licensed immigration adviser or an immigration lawyer can run reconsiderations, tribunal appeals and section 61 requests. Judicial review in the High Court is different: acting for another person in a court is work the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 reserves to lawyers, so only a New Zealand lawyer with a current practising certificate can take that further step for you if the tribunal route fails or does not exist.
Published tribunal records are one honest signal of appeal experience: profiles on this directory show each professional's decided appeals and outcomes, and the directory search filters by appeal experience and appeal type.
Check your understanding
These questions check what this guide says. They say nothing about your own case.
For educational and illustrative purposes only. This is not immigration advice, and no warranty is given as to its appropriateness or accuracy. If in doubt, talk to an immigration adviser or an immigration lawyer about your specific circumstances.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Immigration New Zealand: appealing against a decision to refuse a visa
- Immigration and Protection Tribunal (Ministry of Justice)
- Immigration Act 2009, s 185 (reconsideration of a declined further temporary visa)
- Immigration Act 2009, s 187 (residence appeals)
- Immigration Act 2009, s 6 (how periods of time are calculated)
- Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006, s 24 (reserved areas of work for lawyers)
More on appeals and declined applications
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