Two-year overstayer window welcomed but advocate says trust remains bigger hurdle

Pacific families caught in long-running immigration cases could be given two years to sort out their status under a New Zealand First policy aimed at giving overstayers a fresh start.

Those who leave New Zealand within the proposed window would be able to return home with a clean slate and reapply for a visa to come back.

But Pacific community leader Anae Arthur Anae says the policy must go further than changing the rules around overstaying.

Speaking with William Terite on Pacific Mornings, Anae said Pacific communities had heard the issue raised repeatedly, while many of the cases being counted as overstaying were historical.

"This is part of just the thing we've talked about in the past, that first of all we are continuously hammered with overstaying, overstaying and overstaying. And some of these are historical numbers for a start."

Anae says the bigger problem is trust. "The biggest problem we always face is there is no trust from Pacific people to anything that New Zealand Immigration says."

Listen to Anae Arthur Anae's full interview below.

That concern comes as Pacific voters head towards the general election with a wider trust gap around the major parties.

The PMN News-Horizon Research Pacific Issues Election Survey found 72 per cent of Pacific respondents said National did not understand Pacific communities well, compared with 74 per cent for ACT and 59 per cent for New Zealand First.

Anae pointed to the case of a young woman who applied for a visa to attend her dying brother’s funeral, providing a death certificate as evidence.

Applying for visas can can take longer then expected. Photo/RNZ/Yting Lin

Her visa was approved a month after the funeral had already taken place. "That's how we're treated," Anae told Terite, "and that's why we have to stop."

The NZ First proposal comes as immigration becomes a key election issue, with other parties also putting forward changes.

ACT wants permanent residents to spend at least 730 days in New Zealand within any rolling five-year period to keep their travel facility.

ACT immigration spokesperson Dr Parmjeet Parmar said in their latest Immigration policy release, the change would not be retrospective and would include exemptions for people such as those working overseas for New Zealand employers, military personnel and people with compelling humanitarian reasons.

“The strangest immigration policy we have is that permanent residents don't have to be permanently resident,” she said in a statement.

Labour has proposed migrant workers to move between accredited employers after three months, rather than being tied to one job.

Labour Party Immigration spokesperson Phil Twyford and ACT Party Immigration spokesperson Dr Parmjeet Parmar. Photo/PMN News composite

In a Labour Party media release last week, immigration spokesperson Phil Twyford has also proposed extending the standard wait for permanent residence from two years to four, saying the change would encourage migrants to put down roots saying,

"If you choose to build your life here, work here and raise your family here, a Labour government will back you to get ahead."

Anae says Pacific families need an immigration system that starts from trust than treating them as a compliance risk.

He points to 2025 figures showing 99.8 per cent of Sāmoans who travelled to New Zealand on visitor visas stayed within the rules and returned home.

"Don't talk about that," he said. "But that's the fact."

Anae also expects a report on the Visa Free petition presented to the Government earlier this year, which calls for of Pacific Islands Forum countries to have the same entry rights as nationals of visa-waiver countries eligible to apply for an NZeTA.

Anae Arthur Anae presents Visa Free petition to Parliament. Photo/PMN/Ala Vailala

He expects the report from Parliament’s Petitions Committee before the House rises on 24 September.

If the petition moves to a select committee process next year, Anae says hearing directly from Pacific families could shift the debate.

"Once those around Parliament hear from the stories of the Pacific people and have them entreated, they will look at things differently."

His message to Pacific communities is simple. "All I can say to our people is we have done everything we can. We await the powers."

New Zealanders head to the polls on 7 November.

Watch Dr Parmjeet Parmar's full interview below.