The government watchdog has has criticised Immigration New Zealand for an unofficial policy of cherry-picking highly-paid residence applications.
Staff were told informally in 2018 to queue all skilled migrant applications, except those with salaries over $106,000 or with occupational registration.
The chief ombudsman, Peter Boshier, found that continued for 18 months, until it became official policy in February last year. He says officials 'crossed the line' in using their discretionary powers and migrants were left in the dark.
A National Manager at INZ, Stephanie Greathead told immigration reporter Gill Bonnett the agency was sorry for what had happened.
