Dear Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment,

If a former New Zealand permanant resident becomes a New Zealand citizen, and he does not want to apply for a citizenship endorsement on his foreign (Chinese) biometric passport, and he does not want to travel with his New Zealand passport, and there is no visa sticker on his foreign (Chinese) biometric passport, and he relied on his Permanent Residency eVisa attached to his foreign (Chinese) biometric passport travelling to New Zealand in the past when he was not a New Zealand citizen,

(1) can he still use his foreign (Chinese) biometric passport to board a plane to New Zealand from overseas without showing his New Zealand passport?

In this scenario, he is not concern with entering the New Zealand border, but he is concern with how the NZ 'Visa Verification Service' will respond to verification requests from a foreign airport.

(2) Will the NZ 'Visa Verification Service' still respond to verification requests from a foreign airport that the foreign (Chinese) biometric passport holder is allowed to enter New Zealand?

(3) Last but not least, how much information will the NZ 'Visa Verification Service' disclose to verification requests from a foreign airport?

(4) Will the NZ 'Visa Verification Service' disclose what category of visa (i.e. Permanent Residency, Visitor, etc.) the foreign (Chinese) biometric passport holder has?

(5) Will the NZ 'Visa Verification Service' disclose whether the foreign (Chinese) biometric passport holder has New Zealand citizenship or a New Zealand passport?

There are five questions in this correspondence, and I have labelled all of them with numbers in brackets. Please make sure that you answer all of them.

Thank you for your information.

Yours faithfully,
20 December 2023
Paul Zhao

Dear Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment,

It has been many working days since the request was submitted.

Have you started processing this request?

Yours faithfully,

Paul Zhao

Dear Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment,

It has been many working days since the request was submitted.

Have you started processing this request?

Yours faithfully,

Paul Zhao

8 January 2024

Dear Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment,

I trust this letter finds you well.
This is a reminder that by law you should formally respond no later than February 09, 2024.

Thank you.

Yours faithfully,

Paul Zhao

This is a reminder that by law you should formally respond no later than February 09 2024.

A complaint against the Ministry will be presented to Ombudsman NZ after Feb 09 2024.

Thank you.

Paul Zhao

Dear Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment,

I would like to ask you to clarify two points:

1:

You said "During check-in at the airport, if the individual holds an endorsement in their foreign passport, the check-in system will give the airline an ‘OK to Board’ response and they would be able to issue a boarding pass. The airline cannot see any visa type or endorsement via the check-in system."

I would like to talk about the Chinese border control, such as the China Immigration Inspection (CII) and the Exit and Entry Administration of the People's Republic of China (NIA).

Without looking at the boarding pass, will the Chinese border control at the checkpoints of international airports, marine entry points, and land crossing points in/of China be able to see any visa type or endorsement through the check-in system?

Without looking at the boarding pass, will the Chinese border control at the checkpoints of international airports, marine entry points, and land crossing points in/of China be able to use the check-in system to receive an ‘OK to Board’ response or a ‘deny board’ response?

2:

You said “IBO would speak with the individual about getting an endorsement and there may be situations where IBO may have to mention to the airline that the individual is a New Zealand Citizen. However, this would be assessed on a case by case basis. IBO is able to give the airline an override which would allow the individual to board the flight.”

What does "override" mean?
Does it mean the process that the IBO speaks with the individual, and manually sends an 'OK to Board' to the check-in at the airport, if the individual is really a New Zealand citizen?

Thank you.

Yours sincerely
Paul Zhao
6 August 2024