E-visa problems create border control fears for NZ residents

A 78-year-old New Zealand permanent resident says she feared being deported back to the UK after officials in Brisbane couldn’t read her electronic visa and scoffed at the letter from Immigration New Zealand she was carrying as back-up. And Australia is not the only country that has problems reading New Zealand e-visas, with travellers reporting issues in China, Germany and even on return to Aotearoa. Immigration New Zealand, however, said it had issued more than 1 million e-visas and was not aware of any issues for travellers as a result of using one.

Last week RNZ revealed the immigration service had been issuing permanent resident electronic visas and in the same breath insisting visa-holders carry a letter confirming they have those very same visas. The service warns that without the letter people may not be able to board planes flying to New Zealand or face delays at border control.

But the letter proved of little use to Lynne Holden when Australian officials couldn’t read her eVisa on her return from a European holiday last month. “Arriving in Brisbane from Greece I was told that there was a very good chance I’d be shipped back to Britain, which was so alarming and I said ‘why would you say that to me?’ and they said ‘well there’s this piece of paper but you don’t have a visa in your passport’.”

A Waikouaiti resident, who has lived in New Zealand since 1994, Ms Holden said the situation was frightening.

“I felt like I was going to have a heart attack. I felt terrified. I thought this isn’t happening, this only happens to Tom Hanks in movies. Basically, what they were saying to me was that I’d be stateless, which is a very serious thing to say when you think about it. “If you’re not sending me back to New Zealand and you’re sending me back to the UK, where I’ve not been resident for so many years, that’s terrifying.”

Ms Holden said eventually she was allowed on her flight, but no explanation or apology was offered for her treatment.

In an email, Aucklander Iris Tscharntke said she had twice had trouble returning from Germany to New Zealand when her eVisa could not be read.