Post
by Eternal_Howl » Thu Aug 09, 2007 11:06 am
Hi Karma,
I'm currently exploring this with my partner who is not from NZ - I am.
You will have to produce some kind of criminal record history. In the US it's an FBI certificate that documents your history. In other countries it may just be a police certificate that details your criminal history.
If you have criminal convictions that are fairly mild violations and haven't spent 5 years or more in jail, your chance of getting clearance to enter (according to a lawyer I saw today) is probably around 70% good - so long as you haven't been in jail in the last ten years and have been out of trouble for quite some time (I'd say ten years or more just to be on the safe side - but don't quote me verbatim as I'm not a lawyer.)
If you have spent 5 or more years in jail and you still wish to get permission to enter NZ on a visitor visa you will need a special clearance from the Minister of Immigration. (The title of that particular person may vary slightly but it's the same thing.) This will no doubt cost a bit more and apparenty, at the moment, the chances of this minister denying such applications based on 5 plus years jail is moderate. This may change soon as the minister will probably change also with a government election in 2008.
