Immigration (Covid-19 Response) Amendment Bill
Section 61
Amended to allow the Minister to grant a visa to any person or class of persons who:
- is not in New Zealand
- who is in New Zealand lawfully on a valid temporary visa
Currently section 61 only applied to overstayers.
Therefore the Minister now has the power to grant any kind of visa to any kind of person.
Previously section 61 only applied to overstayers. Under the amended section 61, anyone can make a request to the Minister for the grant of a visa.
I am presuming that the logic of making this amendment is to allow people who think they have a comkpelling case for the grant of a visa to request the Minister to grant them a visa.
There is no indication of how the Minister intends to use this power, but TDA considers that this amendment offers an opportunity to people who consider they have a compelling case but who may not otherwise qualify for any type of visa.
This amendment gives the Minister the power to grant any kind of visa to any kind of person.