Reconsideration of a Declined Temporary Visa
Reconsideration is the only review route for a declined New Zealand temporary visa. A different immigration officer looks at the same decision again. It costs NZ$220, INZ publishes 80% completed within 5 weeks, and you get one attempt. It is open only to people who applied in New Zealand, are still here, and hold a valid visa.
Quick Facts
| What it is | An internal second look at a declined temporary visa decision, by a different INZ officer |
| What it is not | An appeal, a tribunal, or a fresh application |
| Applies to | Temporary entry class visas — visitor, student, work, and most partner work and visitor visas |
| Fee | NZ$220 |
| Processing | 80% within 5 weeks (INZ published measure) |
| Attempts | One only |
| Eligibility | Applied in NZ · still in NZ · hold a valid visa (including an interim visa) · request received in time |
| Deadline | 14 calendar days from receipt of the decision — confirm against your own letter and INZ's page |
| Does it extend your visa | No |
| Leads to residence | No — it restores the temporary visa decision only |
Fees and timeframes as published by INZ, checked 20 August 2026.
The four conditions, and why most people fail the first two
INZ publishes four conditions for reconsideration. All four must apply. There is no partial qualification.
- The application was made while you were in New Zealand.
- You are still in New Zealand when you make the request.
- You hold a valid visa, including an interim visa.
- INZ receives the request within the published time limit after you received the decision.
Offshore applicants cannot request reconsideration at all.
If you lodged your application from outside New Zealand — from India, the Philippines, Nigeria, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, anywhere — condition 1 fails, and nothing else on this page is available to you. There is no offshore equivalent, no paid alternative, and no tribunal. The only remaining route is a fresh application, if you are eligible to make one.
That is worth stating plainly because it is the honest answer that most search results skip. A very large share of New Zealand's declined temporary visa applications are offshore applications, and for those applicants the review system does not exist. Understanding that in the first hour is better than discovering it in the third week.
Condition 3 catches a second group: people whose visa expired while they were waiting for the decision, or shortly after it. Once your visa has expired you are unlawfully in New Zealand, and reconsideration is closed. What remains at that point is a section 61 request, which is a different mechanism entirely.
If you are unsure whether you applied onshore or offshore, offshore vs onshore applications sets out how INZ uses those terms.
The deadline
INZ publishes a time limit of 14 calendar days, and it runs from receipt of the decision — not from the date printed on the letter, and not from the date you opened the email.
Fourteen calendar days is short. It includes weekends and public holidays. It is the one appeal-related day count this site states as fact, because it is verified with two-source agreement against INZ's published review page as at 20 August 2026.
Even so: confirm it from your own decision letter and from INZ's "how to get a temporary visa decision reviewed" page before you rely on it. Your letter is the document that binds you. If it names a different date or a different period, the letter governs, and any discrepancy is a question for INZ directly.
Two practical notes:
- The clock runs from receipt, which means the day the decision reached you. If your decision was delivered to an Immigration Online account rather than by email, receipt is when it became available to you there.
- Nothing in the process pauses the clock while you gather documents. A late request is not a request.
What the reconsideration actually is
A different immigration officer reviews the decision. INZ describes two possible outcomes:
- The officer grants the visa, if the first decision was incorrect.
- The officer maintains the decline, if the first decision was properly made.
The grounds INZ publishes are equally narrow. You can ask for reconsideration where:
- your circumstances have genuinely changed since the decision was made, or
- you believe the original decision was wrong.
That is the whole test as published. Note what it is not. It is not a rehearing on fairness. It is not a second chance to submit the evidence you meant to attach. It is not an opportunity to argue that the rules should be different in your case. Reconsideration asks whether the decision INZ made on the material before it was the right decision, or whether something material has genuinely changed since.
One attempt, and no appeal from it
INZ's wording is unambiguous: "You cannot ask us to consider our decision a second time."
There is one reconsideration per declined decision. If the decline is maintained, there is no further internal step and no tribunal. A fresh application is the only remaining route, and only if you are eligible to lodge one.
This is the reason people take the one attempt seriously, and it is the point at which a great many readers decide to instruct a licensed immigration adviser or a lawyer.
Reconsideration does not extend your visa
This trips people up badly.
Making a reconsideration request has no effect on the expiry date of the visa you currently hold. If your visa expires in nine days and your reconsideration is still being assessed on day ten, you are unlawfully in New Zealand on day ten. The request does not create a bridging status. New Zealand has no bridging visa of the kind Australia operates — see bridging visa New Zealand for why that term does not map onto the New Zealand system.
What INZ does publish is narrower: deportation proceedings will not commence while the reconsideration is pending. That is a protection against one specific consequence. It is not lawful status, it does not give you work rights, and it does not stop your visa expiring.
What it costs
NZ$220. The figure appears on INZ's review page and independently on the INZ 1028 fee schedule dated May 2026, as the line "Reconsideration of decision to decline temporary visa: 220". Two sources agree, checked 20 August 2026.
There has been no general fee or levy increase across the New Zealand visa system in 2025 or 2026. INZ's fee page still carries the "as of 1 October 2024" stamp.
The $220 is separate from, and additional to, the fee you already paid for the declined application — which is not refunded, because the application was processed. See NZ visa fee refunds explained.
Related reconsideration fees
Two other reconsiderations exist in the system, and they belong to employers rather than to workers:
| Reconsideration type | Fee |
|---|---|
| Declined temporary visa (the applicant's route) | NZ$220 |
| Employer accreditation application | NZ$250 |
| Job Check | NZ$250 |
INZ 1028, May 2026, checked 20 August 2026.
If your work visa was affected by an employer's declined accreditation or Job Check, the reconsideration that matters is the employer's, not yours. See accreditation and Job Check reconsideration.
How long it takes
INZ publishes 80% within 5 weeks, checked 20 August 2026. That is a distribution measure, not a promise: one in five requests takes longer than five weeks, and INZ does not publish the tail.
Five weeks is longer than most people's remaining visa validity at the point of a decline, which is why the "does not extend your visa" rule above matters so much in practice.
Step 1: Note the date you received the decision
Not the date on the letter. The date it reached you. Write it down, because everything else runs from it.
Step 2: Check all four eligibility conditions against your own facts
Where were you when you applied. Where are you now. Do you hold a valid visa, including an interim visa, today. Is the request going to reach INZ in time. If any of the four fails, reconsideration is not available and you are looking at a different page.
Step 3: Read the decline letter for the actual ground
The letter states what the application failed on. A reconsideration that does not address the stated ground is unlikely to be doing anything useful, because the officer is reviewing whether that finding was correct.
Step 4: Confirm the deadline and the submission method with INZ
INZ's page for reconsideration is "How to get a temporary visa decision reviewed". Confirm the current deadline, the current fee and the current submission channel there. Channels and forms change; a screenshot from a forum post does not.
Step 5: Decide whether you want licensed representation
Preparing a reconsideration request for a named person is immigration advice under the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007. Unlicensed advice carries penalties of up to NZ$100,000 and seven years' imprisonment, and the Act applies "whether or not for gain or reward", so an unpaid friend or agent is not exempt.
Who can lawfully help:
- Licensed immigration advisers — searchable on the IAA register at app.mbieregisters.govt.nz/iaa/ui/start/searchForAnOccupationalRegistration
- New Zealand lawyers holding a current practising certificate, who are exempt from IAA licensing
- Community Law Centre employees and volunteers, where a lawyer is on the employing body or supervising the work
See how to find a licensed immigration adviser and who is exempt from immigration adviser licensing. One narrow exemption is worth knowing about: advice given outside New Zealand about student visa applications is exempt from licensing. That exemption covers student visas only. An offshore agent advising on a work, visitor or residence application is not exempt and must be licensed.
If you are already unlawful
Reconsideration requires a valid visa. If yours has expired, that door is shut and a different one is the only one left open.
A section 61 request asks INZ to grant a visa in special circumstances while you are unlawfully in New Zealand. It is not an appeal and not a reconsideration. It costs nothing to make, but if INZ decides in principle to grant a visa, the fee then payable is NZ$640 for a temporary entry class visa or NZ$1,510 for a residence class visa. INZ states that making the request does not automatically stop deportation, and that no visa can be granted under section 61 once a deportation order has been issued.
That mechanism is set out on section 61 requests, and the position of someone whose visa has expired is set out on overstaying a visa in New Zealand.
How reconsideration differs from the other two routes
| Reconsideration | IPT appeal | Section 61 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nature | Internal INZ review | External judicial appeal | Discretionary request to INZ |
| Visa class | Temporary entry class | Residence class (plus deportation and protection matters) | Any, while unlawful |
| Decided by | A different INZ officer | The Immigration and Protection Tribunal | INZ |
| Fee | NZ$220 | NZ$964 (residence and deportation appeals); no fee for refugee and protection appeals | Free to make; NZ$640 or NZ$1,510 if granted in principle |
| Requires lawful status | Yes | No | No — it exists because you are unlawful |
| Attempts | One | One appeal per decision | No published limit; unavailable after a deportation order |
The side-by-side is expanded on reconsideration vs IPT appeal vs section 61.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get a temporary visa decision reviewed in NZ?
By requesting reconsideration from INZ, if you applied in New Zealand, are still in New Zealand and hold a valid visa including an interim visa. The fee is NZ$220 and INZ publishes 80% completed within 5 weeks. Confirm the current process and deadline on INZ's own review page and in your decision letter.
Can I appeal a temporary visa decline in New Zealand?
There is no tribunal appeal for a temporary entry class visa. The Immigration and Protection Tribunal's jurisdiction covers residence class visas, refugee and protection recognition, and deportation liability — not visitor, student or work visa declines. Reconsideration by INZ is the only review mechanism.
How much does reconsideration cost in NZ?
NZ$220, confirmed on INZ's review page and on the INZ 1028 fee schedule dated May 2026. Reconsideration of an employer accreditation application or a Job Check is a separate process costing NZ$250 each. Checked 20 August 2026.
How long does a reconsideration take?
INZ publishes 80% within 5 weeks, checked 20 August 2026. One in five takes longer, and INZ does not publish how much longer.
Can I request reconsideration twice?
No. INZ states: "You cannot ask us to consider our decision a second time." If the decline is maintained, a fresh application is the only remaining route, if you are eligible to make one.
Does requesting reconsideration extend my visa?
No. Your current visa expires on its existing date regardless. INZ does publish that deportation proceedings will not commence while a reconsideration is pending, but that is not the same as lawful status or work rights.
Can I request reconsideration from outside New Zealand?
No. Reconsideration requires that you applied in New Zealand and are still in New Zealand. Offshore applicants have no review route, and a fresh application is the only option available to them.
What happens if my reconsideration is declined?
The decline stands, there is no further review, and there is no appeal from a maintained reconsideration. The only remaining route is a fresh application, assessed against the rules in force when it is lodged.
