28 May 2025
Damien De Ment
[FYI request #30259 email]
DOIA-REQ-0011110
Tēnā koe Damien
Thank you for your correspondence of 13 March 2025 to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and
Employment (MBIE) requesting, under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act), the following:
Under the Official Information Act 1982, I request the fol owing information regarding the Global
Impact Visa (GIV) programme:
1. Statistics on Global Impact Visas Issued:
a. The total number of Global Impact Visas (GIVs) awarded since the programme’s inception.
b. A breakdown of the number of GIVs issued, categorized by the country of origin of each
applicant.
2. Qualifying Requirements for GIVs:
a. A detailed list of the specific qualifying requirements met by each successful GIV applicant,
including any variations in criteria applied across individual cases.
3. Communications Between Immigration New Zealand and the Edmund Hil ary Fel owship:
a. Copies of all communications between Immigration New Zealand (INZ) and the Edmund Hil ary
Fel owship (EHF) prior to the establishment of the GIV programme, including but not limited to
emails, meeting notes, and video recordings.
b. Copies of all communications between INZ and EHF since the programme’s inception, including
but not limited to emails, meeting notes, and video recordings.
4. Funding Details:
a. Any details regarding funding provided by Immigration New Zealand to the Edmund Hil ary
Fel owship in relation to the GIV programme, including amounts, dates, purposes, and
conditions of funding.
I request that this information be provided in electronic format where possible, preferably as PDFs
or other accessible digital files. If any part of this request is likely to be refused under the provisions
of the Official Information Act 1982 (e.g., for reasons of privacy, commercial sensitivity, or excessive
col ation effort), I ask that you specify the reasons for withholding and provide the information in
an aggregated or anonymized form where feasible, as per section 16(2) of the Act.
On 10 April 2025 we extended your request under section 15A(1)(b) of the Act, as consultations necessary
to make a decision on your request were such that a proper response to the request could not reasonably
be made within the original time limit, and we would notify you of a decision no later than 30 April 2025.
On 30 April 2025, we advised that MBIE had assessed and decided to grant your request and would provide
you the requested information as soon as it is ready and without undue delay.
Our response
Question 1
Please refer to table 1 of the appendix for the number of Global Impact Visa (GIV) applications approved
since the Global Impact Visa programme commenced in 2017, as at 9 April 2025.
Please refer to table 2 of the appendix for a breakdown of the number of GIVs issued, broken down by
nationality and visa type, as at 9 April 2025.
Question 2
MBIE does not hold information on the specific qualifying requirements that the successful applicants met
to be selected by the provider, the Edmund Hillary Fellowship, for the Global Impact Visa programme.
Therefore, this information is refused under section 18(g)(i) of the Act, as the information requested is not
held by MBIE and there are no reasonable grounds to believe it is held by, or more closely connected with
the functions of, another Minister or agency.
Reporting limitations mean that MBIE is unable to report on the detailed list of qualifying requirements for
GIVs that were assessed under immigration instructions. As such, this information is not available in a
reportable format, specifically, MBIE staff would need to manually check each requirement for over 400
applications. Therefore, this part of your request is refused under section 18(f) of the Act, as the
information requested cannot be made without substantial collation or research.
This task would remove Ministry staff from their core duties and therefore the greater public interest would
not be served. I have considered whether the Ministry would be able to respond to your request given
extra time or the ability to charge for the information requested but I have concluded, in both cases, the
Ministry’s ability to undertake its work would still be prejudiced.
To be granted a Global Impact work visa under immigration instructions, applicants must have been
selected and supported by the Edmund Hil ary Fellowship, and met the immigration requirements of the
Global Impact Visa categories.
Applicants who applied for Permanent Residence under the Global Impact Visa category were also required
to have held a GIV work visa for 30 months and must not have applied or been granted welfare assistance
under the Social Security Act 1964, since the grant of their GIV work visa.
Further information on the immigration requirements can be found in the Immigration New Zealand
Operations Manu
al:https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/#64024.htm
Question 3
This question is refused under section 18(e) of the Act, as the document alleged to contain the information
requested does not exist or, despite reasonable efforts to locate it, cannot be found.
Question 4
This is refused under section 18(g)(i) of the Act, as the information requested is not held by MBIE and there
are no reasonable grounds to believe it is held by, or more closely connected with the functions of, another
Minister or agency.
If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request or this response, or if you require any further assistance,
please contact
[email address].
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of our decision to extend the
time limit. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
freephone 0800 802 602.
Nāku noa, nā
Jeannie Melville
Deputy Chief Operating Officer
Immigration New Zealand
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
