If you do not leave New Zealand before your visa expires

If you stay after your visa expires

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You are breaking the law if you stay after your visa expires. You:

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• cannot work or study, and will have to pay for your health care

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• may not be able to come back to New Zealand again if you are here without a visa for 42 days or longer

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• risk being detained or deported.

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Your actions can also affect other people. For example, if family members or other people help you to stay in New Zealand they:

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• commit an offence under the Immigration Act, and

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• may put their own immigration status at risk.

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Actions you can take after your visa expires

You can:

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• leave the country immediately, or

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• make a request for a special temporary or resident visa under Section 61 of the Immigration Act, but only if you believe you have a special case.

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Making a Section 61 request

Requests under Section 61 are only granted in some cases. Immigration New Zealand cannot grant you a visa under Section 61 if you have already received a deportation order.

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How INZ assesses your request

The process for assessing your request is different from assessing a visa application. 

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Under the law, the officer has no obligation to consider your request and does not have to:

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• provide any reasons for their decision

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• make any enquiries about the information you provide in support of the request or about other information INZ holds about you

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• grant a visa of the type or length you asked for — for example, they can give you a visitor visa instead of a work visa

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• grant a specific visa even if you seem to meet the criteria for that visa.

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