Overstayer status shock after 30 years

David Bull has been living in New Zealand for 30 years. Photo / Dean Purcell

When David Bull lost his hotel maintenance job at the start of the recession last year, the last thing he expected was to lose his right to live in New Zealand - a land he has called home for 30 years.

Mr Bull, a former Royal Navy sailor, says he found out he had been overstaying almost half his life only when he applied for the benefit at Work and Income, where he was asked to produce his passport and proof of residency.

"I couldn't find them and had to write to Immigration for copies, and was totally shocked when I was told that I am an overstayer - and have been one for most of the three decades that I have lived in New Zealand," said Mr Bull, originally from Bedford, England.

The 64-year-old had married a Kiwi, Grace Teata Hirata, and together they have a 25-year-old son - which made Mr Bull believe he had the legal right to live here.

It had been his dream to live in NZ "to be with the woman I love" since their marriage in Timaru a year before he moved here.

"I was told in London by a New Zealand High Commission staffer in 1979 that he had deleted the return passage clause from my visa, which meant I could live here as long as I wanted to with my wife. Now I know that's just bullshit.

"But I have always considered New Zealand to be my home, and having been married to a New Zealander and having a New Zealand-born son, never in my wildest dream did I think I am an overstayer."

Mr Bull returned to Britain briefly in 2004, and was given a visitor's visa and advised to apply for residency within six months when he returned to New Zealand. He did not do so because he thought Immigration had "been mistaken" about his residency status.

Immigration NZ chief Andrew Annakin said Mr Bull's case seemed to be "unusual".

"We understand Mr Bull's distress," Mr Annakin said.

"It would be inappropriate to discuss the details before a decision has been made and communicated to Mr Bull. We can, however, provide assurances that full consideration will be given taking into account all the circumstances and information provided."

- ADDITIONAL REPORTING: Isaac Davison