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Reconsideration of a Declined NZ Visa: How the Rules Work

INZ can reconsider a declined work, student or visitor visa only if the person applied in New Zealand, is still there, still holds a valid visa (an Interim Visa counts) and INZ receives the request within 14 calendar days of the decline. The fee is NZD 220 and there is one review only.

When Immigration New Zealand (INZ) declines a temporary visa, the decision letter starts a short clock. The only review INZ itself offers for a declined work, student or visitor visa is called reconsideration, and it has four conditions that all have to be met at the same time. Miss one and the route is closed. This guide sets out those conditions as INZ publishes them, how a request is made, what the fee buys, what happens to a person's immigration status while the review is running, and what is left if the decline is confirmed. Everything below was read from INZ's own pages and fee finder on 9 October 2026. It explains how the rules work. Whether reconsideration, a new application or no application at all is the right step for a particular decline depends on the reasons in that person's letter and their circumstances, and that is an assessment only a licensed immigration adviser or a lawyer can give.

What reconsideration is, and what it is not

INZ describes reconsideration on its page "How to get a temporary visa decision reviewed". The page says: "If we decline your application for a temporary visa to visit, work or study in New Zealand, in some cases you can ask us to reconsider our decision." Three points follow from that wording.

First, it is a review by INZ itself. INZ says the review "is not done by the immigration officer who declined your application originally". A different officer looks at the application again. It is not an independent tribunal.

Second, it is for temporary visas only: visitor, work and student visas. A declined residence class visa has a different route, an appeal to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal (IPT), which is independent of INZ and run by the Ministry of Justice. INZ's "If your visa is declined" page splits the two routes into separate guides for exactly this reason. Our guide to the IPT residence appeal covers the 42-day route.

Third, the phrase "in some cases" matters. Reconsideration is not available to everyone who is declined, and the conditions in the next section decide who can use it. INZ also does not describe it as a second chance to fix an application. INZ states the outcome plainly: "If our first decision was wrong, we will give you a visa. If our first decision was correct, you will not be given a visa."

The four conditions, one at a time

INZ says a declined work, student or visitor visa can only be reconsidered if all four of these are true:

  1. The person applied for the visa while in New Zealand.
  2. The person is still in New Zealand when they make the reconsideration request.
  3. The person still holds a valid visa. INZ adds that "this could be an Interim Visa".
  4. INZ receives the request no more than 14 calendar days after the person "received our decision to decline your visa".

Taking each in turn.

Applied in New Zealand. The fee finder repeats the point in its notes for the reconsideration product: "You must be in New Zealand to request reconsideration of a declined work, student or visitor visa." INZ's page describes no reconsideration route for a temporary visa applied for from outside the country.

Still in New Zealand. A person who has left, even briefly, no longer meets condition 2 on the face of INZ's wording.

Still holds a valid visa. This is the condition that catches people whose visa runs out soon after the decline. A valid visa can be the current work, student or visitor visa. An Interim Visa also counts, but INZ's Interim Visa page says that an Interim Visa "will expire 21 days after your application is declined". So an Interim Visa can keep condition 3 satisfied for the 14-day window, but only just, and it is not a long-term position.

Fourteen calendar days. Calendar days include weekends and public holidays. INZ's wording counts from when the person "received" the decision, not the date printed on the letter. INZ's page does not define "received", for example whether it means the day an email was sent or the day it was opened, so how INZ applies it in a close case is a question for an adviser. The practical point the rule creates is that decline emails need to be found quickly: INZ itself tells people waiting on decisions to check junk and spam folders for its emails.

How a request is made and what it costs

The fee is NZD 220. INZ's fee finder lists "temporary-visa-reconsideration" at NZD 220 with a processing time of "80% of applications are currently completed within this time", 4 weeks (read 9 October 2026). That is INZ's own figure for how quickly most are completed, not a promise for any one request.

There are two ways to ask.

Online. INZ's page says: "We will notify you by email if you can apply online for a reconsideration." In other words, online access is switched on by INZ for particular applications rather than being open to everyone.

In writing. For people who applied on paper or cannot use the online system, INZ asks for:

a letter written in English, signed, "explaining everything you want us to consider";

any supporting evidence;

the person's passport or certificate of identity; and

credit or debit card details to pay the fee: card number, expiry date, the cardholder's name and the cardholder's signature.

The fee finder lists the paper payment methods as Visa or MasterCard credit or debit, and says payment is taken when INZ receives the application, with enough funds needed on that day or the request may be returned. The finder lists INZ's postal address for these requests as PO Box 76895, Manukau City, Auckland 2241, and a courier address at 20 Fairfax Avenue, Penrose, Auckland. Addresses can change, so INZ's "Postal addresses for sending paper documents" page is the place to confirm before posting anything.

Because the clock is measured to the day INZ receives the request, a paper request has a built-in postal risk that an online request does not. INZ's pages do not say that a posting date is enough.

What the reviewing officer does

INZ's description of the process is short: "We review your visa application and look at any further information you provide." The reviewer is a different officer from the one who made the first decision. The outcome is binary. Either the first decision was wrong and a visa is granted, or it was correct and none is.

Two things INZ's page leaves open are worth knowing, because people often assume otherwise. It does not say how much new evidence can be added, and it does not set out what counts as a wrong decision. Its sister page for employers, discussed below, is more specific: it says "We reconsider applications based on the information you provided when you applied" and that new information belongs in a new application instead. Whether and how that distinction applies to a particular temporary visa request is not spelled out on the temporary-visa page, which is another point to raise with an adviser rather than guess.

INZ also gives the other half of the choice in a note on the same page: "If your situation has changed since your application was declined, and you think you might now qualify for the visa, you should submit a new application with all relevant information." So INZ itself draws a line between asking for a decision to be re-examined and starting again with changed facts.

What happens to your status while it is reviewed

This is where most of the risk sits, because a reconsideration request does not protect a person's visa. INZ states: "Asking us to review our decision about a visa application does not stop your current visa expiring."

The same page gives the one protection INZ does describe: "You are breaking the law if you stay in New Zealand without a valid visa, but we will not start the deportation process if we are still reviewing our decision about your application." That is a statement about INZ not starting deportation while it reviews. It is not a statement that the person has a visa, and it does not give work or study rights.

Here is how the pieces interact, as INZ publishes them:

If the person holds a current visa that has not expired, it keeps running to its expiry date regardless of the request.

If an Interim Visa was granted while the application was being decided, it expires 21 days after the decline. A request inside the 14 days therefore sits within the Interim Visa's life, but the Interim Visa does not extend to cover the review.

A person on an Interim Visa cannot simply apply for another temporary visa. INZ's page on staying after expiry says: "You cannot get a new temporary visa such as a work, student or visitor visa if you are in New Zealand on a limited, interim or transit visa."

If the visa has already expired, the person is in New Zealand unlawfully and, under condition 3, no longer meets the test for reconsideration at all.

Staying unlawfully has its own consequences. INZ says a person who stays without a visa cannot work or study, may be detained and deported, and "may be banned from returning to New Zealand if you stay unlawfully for 42 days or more".

If the decline is confirmed

INZ says: "You cannot ask us to consider our decision a second time." After a confirmed decline, the page gives two paths depending on status:

If the person has a valid visa, they "can submit an application for any visa that fits the purpose of your stay in New Zealand". INZ does not say that a particular visa will be granted, only that an application is open to them.

If the visa has expired, the person "must leave New Zealand".

Two further routes exist for people who are unlawful, and both are narrower than they sound. A section 61 request is a written request to INZ for a visa in a special case. INZ states there is no obligation to consider it, no guarantee, no appeal, and the person remains liable for deportation while it is pending. A deportation appeal to the Tribunal has its own deadline of 42 or 28 days depending on the reason. The reconsideration connection is useful here: INZ's deportation page says that where reconsideration was requested while the person still held a current visa, the 42 days run from the later of the day they became unlawful and the day they received confirmation of the reconsideration decision. Our guides to section 61 requests and deportation liability notices explain those routes.

The employer-side reconsiderations

Reconsideration also exists for Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) employers whose accreditation or job check application is declined, and the rules differ in ways worth seeing side by side. On INZ's page "If your AEWV employer accreditation or job check application is declined":

the request must be made "within 14 days (starting from the day after your application was declined)";

it is made online through Immigration Online, using the "Request reconsideration" option on the declined application, and the link disappears once the 14-day period has ended;

the fee finder lists each of the two employer reconsideration products at NZD 250 (read 9 October 2026); and

INZ says it is "unlikely to change" its decision where the application was declined because it was missing information or did not meet all the requirements, and adds: "Only request a reconsideration if you think we have incorrectly assessed your application."

Notice the differences from the worker-side rule: 14 days counted from the day after the decline rather than from receipt, a higher fee, and a candid statement from INZ about when reconsideration tends not to change anything. The worker-side AEWV route is covered in our guide to AEWV declines.

When an adviser or lawyer is usually brought in

Choosing between reconsideration and a new application is immigration advice under New Zealand law, because it means applying the rules to a specific decline letter and a specific set of facts. Only a licensed immigration adviser, a lawyer with a practising certificate, or a person exempt under the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act can give it.

The timing explains why people usually seek help on the day a decline arrives. A request has to reach INZ within 14 calendar days, the Interim Visa may end 21 days after the decline, and the evidence needed to show the first decision was wrong takes time to collect. A typical first step is for the adviser to read the decline letter and the original application, then agree the scope and fee in writing before work starts. An adviser's fee is separate from INZ's NZD 220.

Migratio lists licensed immigration advisers so you can compare them and contact one directly. Every listing shows the adviser's licence number, which you can check on the IAA's public register before you book. We don't assess cases and don't tell anyone which visa or route fits them; that is the adviser's job.

Questions people ask

How long do I have to ask for reconsideration of a declined NZ visa?

INZ says its reconsideration page requires the request to be received no more than 14 calendar days after the person received the decline (read 9 October 2026). The 14 days are calendar days, so weekends and public holidays count.

Can I ask INZ to reconsider a visa I applied for from outside New Zealand?

INZ's conditions require the person to have applied while in New Zealand and to still be in New Zealand when requesting. The fee finder repeats that a person must be in New Zealand to request reconsideration of a declined work, student or visitor visa.

How much does reconsideration of a declined visa cost?

NZD 220 for a temporary visa reconsideration, according to INZ's fee finder on 9 October 2026. The employer-side reconsiderations of a declined job check or accreditation are listed at NZD 250.

Does asking for reconsideration keep my visa valid?

No. INZ says asking for a review does not stop a current visa expiring. It adds that it will not start the deportation process while it is still reviewing the decision, but that is not the same as holding a visa.

Can I ask for reconsideration twice?

No. INZ says that if it confirms the decline, a person cannot ask it to consider the decision a second time.

Is reconsideration the same as an appeal?

No. Reconsideration is a review by a different INZ officer for declined temporary visas. An appeal to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal is a separate, independent route INZ describes for declined residence class visas.

Sources

Last checked 2026-10-09.

Related guides

  • NZ Visa Declined: Reconsideration, IPT Appeals and Reapplying — Which routes exist after a decline depends on the visa type and where the person is. Temporary visa declines can be reconsidered by INZ in limited cases (14 days, NZD 220); residence declines can be appealed to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal (42 days, NZD 964).
  • IPT Residence Appeals: 42 Days, NZD 964 and Form 1 — A declined residence class visa can be appealed to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal on the grounds that the decision was wrong and/or special circumstances. The Tribunal must receive Form 1 and the NZD 964 fee within 42 days of notification, it cannot extend that deadline, and appeals are currently taking 12 to 13 months.
  • Section 61 Requests in New Zealand: How They Work — A section 61 request asks INZ to grant a visa to someone in New Zealand unlawfully. INZ is not obliged to consider it, gives no reasons, has no time frame and there is no appeal; a fee of NZD 640 (temporary) or NZD 1,510 (residence) is charged only if INZ decides to grant.
  • Deportation Liability Notices in NZ: Reasons and Appeal Deadlines — A person can become liable for deportation by staying after a visa expires or through a deportation liability notice. Appeals go to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal, which must receive them within 28 or 42 days depending on the reason, and cannot accept late appeals.
  • AEWV Declined: What the Options Are — A declined AEWV can be reconsidered by INZ for NZD 220 if the worker applied in New Zealand and meets the 14-calendar-day rule; a declined employer job check or accreditation can be reconsidered for NZD 250 within 14 days of the day after the decline. Otherwise INZ describes a new application.
  • NZ Interim Visas: When They Start and What They Allow — INZ normally grants an Interim Visa automatically, for no fee, if a temporary visa expires while a new temporary visa application is being assessed. It starts the day after the old visa expires, lasts up to 6 months, ends if the holder leaves New Zealand, and its work and study conditions depend on the old and new visa types.