The nature of immigration is such that there will always be special individual, family or employment situations that are not able to be accommodated within existing immigration policies.

These cases need to be assessed and progressed on a case by case basis. This may involve a request for the application to be approved as an “exception to policy” within the authority of the relevant INZ Branch office or a special submission to the Office of the Minister of Immigration may be another option. In order for these requests to have any realistic prospect of success there must be especially compelling circumstances which could be;

• The tangible benefits that are available, or potentially available, to New Zealand and New Zealanders as a consequence of the specialist skills, talents (eg: sport, art or culture), investment, particular employment or business background and/or any international reputation of those involved
• The circumstances of the application and the nature and significance of any departure from policy (eg: an applicant has the ability to make a special or needed contribution to New Zealand and can satisfy all policy requirements excepting they may be just outside the policy age range. In this case the Minister may consider waiving the age requirement)
• The person’s character and their previous immigration record
• The relationship with, and support of, any immediate family in New Zealand
• That approval would not be against the interests of New Zealand

PathwaysNZ has assisted with the successful processing of many such cases of wide ranging circumstances. Examples include internationally recognised sports people, professional people such as nurses over 55 years, aged parents who do not meet parent policy etc. We are prepared to consider special requests but will only accept instructions for cases of suitable merit and/or where the circumstances of the case are such that the person has no other option available to them and are fully aware of the risks and outcomes if the submission is not successful. The advice and contribution available from an immigration specialist like PathwaysNZ can be very helpful in deciding on the best course of action and its implementation.

Special submissions are also required to support applications where there are particular health or character issues which prejudice the normal processing of the application.