Immigration New Zealand has repaid approximately $44,000 in infringement fines to 21 companies after discovering staff lacked the proper authority to issue the penalties.
The agency withdrew 23 infringement notices dating back to 2024 after finding the penalties were approved by staff who did not hold the required delegations as acting managers. Immigration NZ could not reissue the fines because the three-month statutory timeframe from when the violations occurred had expired.
A further 17 companies received 12-month stand-down periods when they should have been given six-month bans. All affected employers have been notified and removed from the public stand-down list, and eight companies that had their accreditation revoked received fee waivers for new accreditation.
Infringement penalties apply to employers who allow employees to work without valid visas, fail to provide documents to Immigration NZ, or are not accredited employers. Fines can reach $1,000 for individuals and $3,000 for companies. Immigration NZ fined 118 employers in the 2024/25 year.