27 July 2020
J Smith
[FYI request #13198 email]
Ref: DOIA 2021-0010
Dear J Smith,
Thank you for your email of 1 July 2020 requesting under the Official Information Act 1982 (the OIA), the
following information:
“In the past 15 years, how many citizens of the People's Republic of China who were
previously members of the fol owing organisations, at or above a rank equivalent to
NATO code OF‐4 have been awarded temporary or permanent residency or citizenship
in New Zealand:
People's Liberation Army, including
People's Liberation Army Ground Force
People's Liberation Army Air Force
People's Liberation Army Navy
People's Liberation Army Rocket Force
People's Liberation Army Strategic Support Force any and all associated People's
Liberation Army training facilities
and col eges
People's Armed Police Force
Chinese People's Armed Police Coast Guard Corps
People's Police of the People's Republic of China
Ministry of Public Safety
Ministry of State Security
Hong Kong Police Force
Macau Security Force
any and all relevant, training and educational facilities associated with these
organisations.
We wrote to you on 8 July inviting you to clarify, re-scope or narrow your request. We advised that as
the request stands, it is likely that the Ministry may refuse your request because while we are able to
provide the number of nationals from People's Republic of China who have been granted temporary
or permanent residence visas in New Zealand during a certain period, we would not be able to easily
obtain information on whether they were previously members of the organisations you have listed
and their ranks.
You responded by refining your request to the past five years (2015 – 2020).
Our Response
Your request is being refused under section 18(f) of the OIA, because the information requested cannot
be made available without substantial collation.
1
Please see table below showing the number of Permanent Residence Visas and Temporary Visas issued
to nationals of the People’s Republic of China, during calendar years 2015 – 2020 (Jan - Jun):
Visa type
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Permanent
4425
4236
5439
7644
8115
2565
Residence
(General)
Temporary
31887
34740
35847
34440
33039
9789
Student
Temporary
31887
34740
35847
34440
33039
9789
Work
Temporary
357174 402879 422934 454803 413055 42228
Visitor
Information on whether the people included in the above table were previous members of the
organisations you have listed in your request, and their ranks, is not held in a reportable format. To
obtain this information would require an INZ staff member to manually review the physical application
for each individual.
Providing this information would remove Ministry staff from their core duties and therefore the greater
public interest in the effective and efficient administration of the public service would not be served. I
have considered whether the Ministry would be able to respond to your request given extra time or the
ability to charge for the information requested. I have concluded that, in both cases, the Ministry’s
ability to undertake its work would stil be prejudiced.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of the decision to refuse
parts of your request. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request or this response, please contact Lautalie Leausa Vaa,
Senior Business Advisor, Operations Support, Immigration New Zealand at
[email address].
Yours sincerely,
Nicola Hogg
General Manager - Border and Visa Operations
Immigration New Zealand
2
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