Complaint exposes errors in a visitor visa decision

[Applicant A], a New Zealand resident, wanted his brother [Applicant B] to visit the family. The brother is an Indian citizen who had lived and worked lawfully in Portugal since 2019, holding ongoing residence cards and continuous employment, and had an application for Portuguese citizenship under way. His only New Zealand history was two student visa refusals back in 2015.

We made a formal complaint setting out each factual error and arguing it was unreasonable to lean on decade old refusals, and we asked for an apology and a reassessment. Immigration accepted the complaint, apologised for the errors, agreed his full history had not been properly considered, and arranged for a senior officer to reassess. When that reassessment raised fresh concerns about ties, we provided a detailed response showing more than six years of lawful residence and work in Portugal, tax and social security records, and a pending citizenship application that depends on him staying based there.

Immigration New Zealand apologised, admitted the mistakes and reassessed the case with a senior officer. Even so, the visit was refused again on 19 February 2026, with immigration still not satisfied about ties to home, and there was no right of reconsideration for an application made from overseas.

Reading immigration’s own assessment notes can reveal concrete mistakes, such as wrong dates and confused refusal years, and a complaint built on provable errors is far more persuasive than one that simply argues the decision was unfair. Because the rules require a decision to focus on a person’s current circumstances, heavy reliance on refusals from many years ago can be challenged, especially where the person has since built a stable, lawful life abroad. It is important to be realistic, though, that winning a complaint on process and securing a reassessment does not guarantee a different answer, because the officer reassessing the case applies the genuine visitor test again from scratch.