Application for New Zealand Citizenship under 16 years old
Adam Szokol made this Official Information request to Brooke van Velden
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From: Adam Szokol
Dear Brooke van Velden,
My name is Adam Szokol, I am 15 years old, and I currently live in Hungary. I have five siblings: Liliana (21 years old), Evelin (19 years old), Szonja (17 years old), as well as Attila (9 years old) and Peter (7 years old).
I am writing to you because I would like to live in New Zealand with my family and obtain New Zealand citizenship. Liliana and Evelin are currently attending university and are located in different parts of the world, so they will not be joining us.
We would like to apply for citizenship for myself, Adam Szokol, Attila, and Peter, with the consent and support of our mother, including her application if necessary.
To get straight to the point, I am able to meet all the requirements except for the residency conditions. I speak English at an advanced level, I have no criminal record, but I have not lived in New Zealand for an extended period.
We have read the current version of the Citizenship Act 1977, which states:
"Grant of citizenship in special cases
(1) Without limiting anything in section 8, the Minister may, upon application in the prescribed manner, authorise the grant of New Zealand citizenship to any person, including a person who may be a New Zealand citizen by descent,—
(a) who has not yet attained the age of 16 years; or
(b) whose father or mother was, at the time of that person’s birth, a New Zealand citizen by descent; or
(c) if the Minister is satisfied that granting a certificate of New Zealand citizenship to the applicant would be in the public interest because of exceptional circumstances of a humanitarian or other nature relating to the applicant; or
(d) if the person would otherwise be stateless.
(2) In considering whether to authorise the grant of New Zealand citizenship to any person under subsection (1), the Minister—
(a) may have regard to such of the requirements of section 8(2) (as subject to section 8(3) to (9)) as the Minister thinks fit; and
(b) must have regard to the requirements of section 9A(1) (but subject to the Minister’s discretion under section 9A(2) and (3))."
Therefore, paragraph 2(a) states that "may have regard to," which leads me to conclude that this is also within the Minister’s discretion. Additionally, paragraph 1(a) states that "Without limiting anything in section 8, the Minister may, upon application in the prescribed manner, authorise the grant of New Zealand citizenship to any person, including a person who may be a New Zealand citizen by descent,—(a) who has not yet attained the age of 16 years; (...)." This implies that it is a special case if neither I nor my siblings have reached the age of 16, but it is not clear how residency is considered in special cases.
I kindly ask for clarification on the circumstances under which the residency requirement might be waived by you, as the Minister.
I hope to hear from you soon, so we can proceed with our citizenship application. We are ready to start our lives as young kiwis and live there permanently.
Yours faithfully,
Adam Szokol
From: Brooke van Velden (MIN)
Brooke van Velden
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From: Nick Williamson
Dear Adam
Please find attached from Hon Brooke van Velden in response to your email
of 1 July 2024 regarding New Zealand citizenship for you and your family.
Kind regards
Office of Hon Brooke van Velden
Minister of Internal Affairs
Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety
MP for Tâmaki
Website: [1]www.Beehive,govt.nz
Private Bag 18041, Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6160, New Zealand
Authorised by Hon Brooke van Velden, Parliament Buildings, Wellington
Disclaimer: The information in this email (including attachments) is
confidential and may be legally privileged. If an addressing or
transmission error has misdirected this email, please notify the author by
replying to this email and destroy the message. If you are not the
intended recipient, any use, disclosure, copying or distribution is
prohibited and may be unlawful.
Please note information about meetings related to the Ministers’
portfolios will be proactively released (this does not include personal or
constituency matters). For each meeting in scope, the summary would list:
date, time (start and finish), brief description, location, who the
meeting was with, and the portfolio. If you attend a meeting with the
Minister on behalf of an organisation, the name of the organisation will
be released. If you are a senior staff member at an organisation, or meet
with the Minister in your personal capacity, your name may also be
released. The location of the meeting will be released, unless it is a
private residence. The proactive release will be consistent with the
provisions in the Official Information Act, including privacy
considerations. Under the Privacy Act 1993 you have the right to ask for a
copy of any personal information we hold about you, and to ask for it to
be corrected if you think it is wrong. If you’d like to ask for a copy of
your information, or to have it corrected, or are concerned about the
release of your information in the meeting disclosure, please contact the
sender. You can read more about the proactive release policy at
[2]https://www.dia.govt.nz/Proactive-Releas...
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2. https://www.dia.govt.nz/Proactive-Releas...
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