Government to end citizenship shortcut

By KEVIN TAYLOR, political reporter

Preferential treatment for spouses of New Zealand citizens seeking citizenship will be abolished under tough changes to passport and citizenship laws.

Spouses of New Zealand citizens can get citizenship after only two years of residency.

But a bill tabled in Parliament yesterday extends the residency requirement to five years for everybody.

The change is one of many in the Identity (Citizenship and Travel Documents) Bill.

Internal Affairs Minister George Hawkins told the Herald last night the change to the spouses provision followed a review of all legislation to ensure it was consistent with the Human Rights Act and Bill of Rights.

"That found the Citizenship Act to be inconsistent because it discriminated based on marital status."

Labour's coalition partner, the Progressive Party, is still deciding whether to support the bill, and the views of other parties were not known last night.

Mr Hawkins said he had support for the bill although he would not say from whom.

But Progressive MP Matt Robson said Mr Hawkins had been "premature in calling it a Government bill".

Mr Robson said he was concerned about several provisions including the removal of special treatment for spouses.

Green MP Keith Locke also said there was no reason for the Government to make it harder for spouses to get citizenship.

The bill also halves the valid period of passports to five years and specifies the grounds on which the minister can cancel or refuse to issue a passport where national security is threatened.

In April, Prime Minister Helen Clark said passport and citizenship laws would be changed after the case of two Israeli men, believed by senior Government figures to be Israeli secret agents, was revealed by the Herald.

The changes were being planned at the time.

The bill increases the period of residence required to qualify for citizenship from three to five years.


Citizenship officials will be given restricted access to immigration data in assessing applications.

The bill creates new offences of unlawfully issuing a citizenship document and unlawfully altering citizenship records, with penalties of up to 10 years jail and/or fines of up to $50,000.

Maximums rise from three months jail or a fine of $3000 to five years jail and a $15,000 fine.

The bill also writes into legislation an existing Internal Affairs Department requirement that people becoming citizens take their oath of allegiance at a public ceremony.

Mr Hawkins said the 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States and other terrorist incidents, as well as increasing international identity fraud, had highlighted border security and passport integrity.

New Zealand had visa-free arrangements with 53 countries, so its passports were highly sought-after by fraudsters and other criminals.

But Mr Locke said the Greens would not support the bill because it undermined "precious citizenship rights".

"The greatest threat to New Zealanders in this bill is the power given to a minister to take away our passport on national security grounds.

"The present citizenship and passport arrangements are not broke, so why do we need to fix them by making them so much more restrictive?"

United Future MP Marc Alexander said he had been briefed on the bill but no decision on whether to support it had been made.

A New Zealand First spokesman said the party would discuss the bill at its caucus on Tuesday.

The changes

Passports will be valid for five instead of 10 years.

The minister will be able to cancel passport if "national security" is threatened.

Spouses of New Zealand citizens will not get preferential treatment when citizenship applications are being considered.

The period of residence required to qualify for citizenship will be increased from three to five years.