Part One: What is a refugee/aslyum claim?

Claiming asylum in New Zealand – the basics

Claiming asylum (making a claim to be recognised as a refugee) in New Zealand in a complex legal matter. We are planning a series of short blog posts on this subject to give you an insight into what the process and procedures are when claiming asylum or refugee status in New Zealand.

To start with here, are some basics:

• You can only make a claim for asylum if you are in New Zealand (or at its border/airport).

• You can make a claim for asylum even if you do not have a visa.

• If you cannot afford one, you may be able to get legal aid to pay for a lawyer to help you with your claim.

• A person who claims asylum can be granted a special work visa while their claim is processed.

• Refugee claimants who have a work visa are entitled to Emergency Benefits and Temporary Accommodation
  allowance from Work and Income New Zealand (WINZ).

• People recognised as refugees or protected persons are eligible to apply for permanent residence of New Zealand and can include their partners and dependent children in that application.

To be recognised as a refugee in New Zealand you must be assessed to meet the definition of a refugee in the Refugee Convention. This means you must demonstrate you have a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, and you are unable or, owing to such fear, are unwilling to avail yourself of the protection of that country (or there is no such protection).

In our next installment, we will unpack the legal test to be recognised as a refugee.