Kia ora Markus Voudouris,
 
On behalf of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment I
acknowledge your email of 27/11/2025 requesting, under the Official
Information Act 1982, the following:
 
"I am requesting information under the Official Information Act 1982 about
the way Immigration New Zealand (INZ) and MBIE obtain, use, verify, share,
store, and retain immigration-status information relating to Australian
citizens, permanent residents, and temporary visa holders. This includes
any data used by INZ to determine eligibility for travel to New Zealand,
visa and ETA issuance, and “OK-to-board” decisions.

Please provide all information on when, how, and to what extent New
Zealand receives immigration-related data from the Australian Government,
including any real-time status checks, background verification, API
interfaces, data-matching systems, or other automated or manual processes
used to confirm a traveller’s Australian citizenship, permanent residency,
temporary visa status. I also request all documents describing the purpose
of these checks, the system architecture, identity-matching logic, and the
criteria INZ applies when interpreting Australian-supplied information.

Please provide copies of current Memoranda of Understanding, inter-agency
agreements, protocols, privacy impact assessments, or internal policy
documents that regulate data sharing between MBIE/INZ and Australian
agencies including the Australian Department of Home Affairs, ABF, or the
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade that provides or receives
immigration-status information.

I also request all material describing how MBIE and INZ ensure the
accuracy, currency, and correctness of Australian-origin data, including
procedures for correcting errors, ensuring data integrity, resolving
conflicting information, and dealing with false matches or
misidentification. This includes audits, internal reviews, risk
assessments, and quality-assurance processes. Please also provide
information about how individuals can challenge or correct incorrect data
received from Australia.

In addition, I request the retention periods, destruction schedules,
metadata retention rules, and disposal policies for all Australian-derived
immigration information, including status checks, verification logs, visa
assessment notes, and any data captured or stored as part of an
“OK-to-board” process. Please also include any documents describing how
long this information is held, where it is stored, and under what
authorities it can be disclosed, reused, or matched with other databases.

Finally, I request any briefings, internal emails, meeting minutes, staff
guidance, technical memos, ministerial advice, or internal Q&A notes that
explain or discuss New Zealand’s access to Australian immigration-status
data, the operation of these verification systems, or any risks or issues
associated with the use of Australian-supplied information. To minimise
the workload, please prioritise current documentation, and all other
records such as emails may be limited to those dated from 1 January 2025
to the present."
 
We will endeavour to respond to your request as soon as possible, and no
later than 16/01/2026, being 20 working days after the day your request
was received. If we are unable to respond to your request by then, we will
notify you of an extension of that timeframe. Please note that the days
from 25 December 2025 to 15 January 2026 (inclusive) are defined as
non-working days in the Act and are not counted in the calculation for the
response due date. This will affect the time period for responding to your
request. If you have any enquiries regarding your request feel free to
contact us via email to [1][MBIE request email].
 
Nāku noa, nā
Ministerial Services
Strategy and Assurance
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
15 Stout Street, Wellington 6011 |  P O Box 1473 Wellington 6140

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[MBIE request email]