Reconsideration vs IPT Appeal vs Section 61: Which Route Applies
Three mechanisms exist after a New Zealand visa problem, and they are not alternatives to each other. Reconsideration is an internal INZ review of a declined temporary visa (NZ$220). An IPT appeal is an external judicial appeal against a residence class decline (NZ$964). Section 61 is a discretionary request for a visa while you are unlawfully in New Zealand. Each has its own eligibility test.
Quick Facts
| Reconsideration | IPT appeal | Section 61 request | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Internal review by INZ | External appeal to an independent tribunal | Discretionary request to INZ |
| Who decides | A different INZ immigration officer | The Immigration and Protection Tribunal | INZ |
| What it covers | A declined temporary entry class visa | A declined residence class visa; deportation liability; refugee and protection decisions | A visa for someone unlawfully in New Zealand |
| Fee | NZ$220 | NZ$964 for residence and deportation appeals; no fee for refugee and protected person appeals | Nothing to make. NZ$640 (temporary) or NZ$1,510 (residence) if granted in principle |
| Fee waivable | — | No | — |
| Do you need lawful status | Yes — a valid visa, including an interim visa | No | No — it exists precisely because you have none |
| Do you need to be in New Zealand | Yes, and you must have applied here | No | Yes, by definition |
| Attempts | One only | One appeal per decision | No published limit; closed once a deportation order is issued |
| Published timeframe | 80% within 5 weeks | Residence appeals generally 10–12 months; non-resident deportation appeals generally 8–10 months | No set timeframe |
| Is it an appeal | No — internal | Yes | No |
| Time limit | A strict deadline runs from receipt of the decision — confirm from your own letter and INZ's page | A strict deadline runs from notification — confirm from your own letter and the MoJ guide for your appeal type | No published deadline, but delay increases exposure to deportation |
Fees and timeframes as published by INZ and the Ministry of Justice, checked 20 August 2026.
The fact that decides most people's route
A declined temporary visa has no right of appeal to a tribunal.
That one sentence resolves the majority of cases that reach this page. Visitor, student, work, and most partner work and visitor visas are temporary entry class visas. If one of those is declined, the Immigration and Protection Tribunal has no jurisdiction over it. Reconsideration by INZ is the only review mechanism in the system.
Residence class visas are the exception. A declined residence application gets a real external appeal, before a tribunal that sits outside INZ and is chaired by a District Court Judge.
If you do not know which class you applied for, temporary vs resident visas sets out the two families.
Route 1 — Reconsideration
An internal second look at a declined temporary visa, by a different officer inside INZ.
The eligibility test is four conditions, and all four must be met:
- You made the application while you were in New Zealand
- You are still in New Zealand when you request reconsideration
- You hold a valid visa, including an interim visa
- INZ receives the request within the published time limit
The first two conditions close the route for offshore applicants entirely. If you applied from outside New Zealand, reconsideration does not exist for you, and there is no equivalent that does. The third condition closes it for anyone whose visa has already expired.
What it does: a different officer either grants the visa, if the first decision was incorrect, or maintains the decline, if it was properly made. The published grounds are that your circumstances have genuinely changed, or that you believe the original decision was wrong.
Fee: NZ$220. Processing: 80% within 5 weeks. Attempts: one. INZ's wording is "You cannot ask us to consider our decision a second time."
What it does not do: it does not extend your current visa. INZ publishes only that deportation proceedings will not commence while the review is pending.
Full detail: reconsideration of a declined temporary visa.
Route 2 — Appeal to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal
An external, judicial appeal. The Tribunal is administered by the Ministry of Justice, chaired by a District Court Judge, has 18 appointed members, and operates under the Immigration Act 2009. It is not part of INZ.
The five things it hears:
- Decisions about residence class visas
- Decisions about recognition as a refugee or protected person
- Liability for deportation
- Decisions to stop recognising a person as a refugee or protected person
- Decisions to cancel the recognition of a New Zealand citizen as a refugee or protected person
The five appeal types and their fees:
| Appeal type | Fee |
|---|---|
| Residence Appeal | NZ$964 |
| Refugee and Protected Person Appeal | No fee |
| Deportation Appeal by a Resident or Permanent Resident | NZ$964 |
| Deportation Appeal by a Non-Resident | NZ$964 |
| Deportation Appeal – Cancelled Refugee and Protected Person | NZ$964 |
Fees include GST. Dependent children under 18 included in an appeal require no additional fee. "The fee must be paid or your appeal will not be accepted. The fee cannot be waived." Withdrawing an appeal does not produce a refund.
That refugee and protection appeals are free is a deliberate policy choice and worth stating plainly, because the $964 figure attaches to every other appeal type and is easy to misapply.
Published timeframes: residence appeals generally determined within 10 to 12 months; non-resident deportation appeals generally within 8 to 10 months.
Full detail: appealing to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal.
Route 3 — Section 61
A section 61 request asks INZ to grant a visa in special circumstances while you are unlawfully in New Zealand. It exists for people who have no lawful status, which is exactly the group locked out of reconsideration.
Say this first, because it is the most common misunderstanding in the whole topic: section 61 is not an appeal and not a reconsideration. It does not review the decision that declined you. It is a separate discretionary mechanism that asks INZ to grant something new.
How it is made: by email to [email protected], with your personal details, your circumstances and supporting documentation.
What INZ publishes about it:
- "Making a section 61 request does not automatically stop deportation."
- "You cannot be granted a visa under section 61 if a deportation order has already been issued to you."
- There is no set timeframe for assessment.
The fee, precisely. There is no fee to make a section 61 request. 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, per INZ 1028 (May 2026). A great deal of content online says "section 61 is free" and stops there. That is only half the sentence, and the missing half is $640 or $1,510.
Full detail: section 61 requests.
Route 4 — Special direction, the fourth mechanism nobody explains
There is a fourth thing, and it is distinct from all three above.
INZ 1028 (May 2026) lists a fee for a special direction: NZ$260 Band A, NZ$255 Band B, NZ$260 Band C. The existence of that fee line is the clearest published confirmation that the mechanism is live and in use.
What INZ does not publish is the mechanism itself — who may request a special direction, on what grounds, and by what process. This site does not fill that gap with a guess, because this topic attracts scam offers and a confident invention here would be worse than silence.
The recurring question is "what is the difference between section 61 and a special direction?" The honest answer as at 20 August 2026 is that they are two separately fee'd mechanisms with different names, that section 61 is documented by INZ and a special direction is not, and that anyone who needs to know which applies to their situation needs a licensed adviser or a lawyer rather than a web page. See special directions and ministerial intervention.
The comparison in prose: which route corresponds to which situation
This section describes the mapping the rules create. It does not tell you which row is yours — that assessment is regulated advice, and it depends on facts only you and a licensed adviser have.
Where a temporary entry class visa was declined, the rules provide reconsideration, and only if the applicant applied onshore, is still onshore and holds a valid visa. Where any of those conditions is not met, the rules provide no review route at all, and a fresh application is what remains.
Where a residence class visa was declined, the rules provide a Residence Appeal to the Tribunal, unless the decline was on the basis of being an excluded person, which is a published exclusion from the appeal right.
Where a person is unlawfully in New Zealand, reconsideration is unavailable because it requires a valid visa, and a section 61 request is the only published mechanism for obtaining a visa in that position — until a deportation order is issued, at which point section 61 closes too.
Where a person has been made liable for deportation, the Tribunal hears deportation appeals, but appeal rights are not automatic. INZ publishes that you "may be able to appeal against your deportation liability, depending on your circumstances and the time the liability arose", and that you cannot appeal if the last visa you held was a limited visa.
Where a refugee or protection claim has been declined, or recognition has been cancelled or ceased, the Tribunal hears the appeal and charges no fee.
Time limits — what this site will and will not publish
Every route above has a deadline, and in most cases missing it ends the route permanently.
This site publishes exactly one appeal-related day count: the 14 calendar days for reconsideration, running from receipt of the decision. That figure is verified against INZ's own review page with two-source agreement, checked 20 August 2026. Confirm it against your own decision letter before relying on it.
For every Tribunal route, this site publishes no day count, and that is deliberate. The periods live in the Ministry of Justice guide PDFs for each of the five appeal types. The calendar-versus-working-day basis is not settled across the sources checked. A reader who misses a statutory deadline because a website published the wrong number suffers harm that cannot be undone.
What binds you is:
- the deadline written in your own decision letter or notice, and
- the period published for your route by INZ or the Tribunal.
The Ministry of Justice states that "each of the guides contains information on how to calculate the timeframe in which you can appeal". Read the guide for your appeal type at justice.govt.nz/tribunals/immigration/immigration-and-protection/make-an-appeal/forms-and-fees/.
Two mechanical points that apply across the Tribunal routes: the Tribunal must receive the appeal and the fee within the period, and the postal address rules matter — the Tribunal warns that ordinary post to its Federal Street address will not be delivered.
Section 61 has no published deadline. That is not the same as having no urgency: the request cannot succeed once a deportation order has been issued, and exposure to other consequences increases with time spent unlawful.
What none of these routes are
None of them is a fresh application. A fresh application is a new application, decided against the rules in force when it is lodged, with a new fee.
None of them can be bought faster. New Zealand has no paid expedited processing at any price. An offer to accelerate a reconsideration or an appeal for money is a scam marker — see immigration scams to avoid.
None of them is a second bite at the same review. Reconsideration is once. An appeal is one appeal per decision. There is no appeal from a maintained reconsideration.
Getting help lawfully
Choosing between these routes for a specific person, and preparing the request or appeal, is immigration advice under the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007. Giving it without a licence carries up to NZ$100,000 and seven years' imprisonment, and the Act applies "whether or not for gain or reward".
- Licensed immigration advisers — verify anyone before you engage them, on the IAA register at app.mbieregisters.govt.nz/iaa/ui/start/searchForAnOccupationalRegistration
- New Zealand lawyers with a current practising certificate are exempt from IAA licensing
- Community Law Centres — employees and volunteers are exempt where a lawyer is on the employing body or supervising the work
See how to check an adviser's licence and unlicensed immigration advice penalties.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between reconsideration and appeal in NZ?
Reconsideration is internal: INZ reviews its own decision on a temporary visa through a different officer, for NZ$220. An appeal is external: the Immigration and Protection Tribunal, an independent judicial body, reviews a residence class decline for NZ$964. A temporary visa decline has no tribunal appeal; a residence decline has no reconsideration.
Is section 61 an appeal?
No. Section 61 is a discretionary request to INZ for a visa while you are unlawfully in New Zealand. It does not review the decision that declined you, it does not automatically stop deportation, and it is unavailable once a deportation order has been issued.
What is the difference between section 61 and a special direction?
They are separate mechanisms with separate fee lines. INZ publishes how a section 61 request is made and what it cannot do. INZ does not publish the mechanism, grounds or process for a special direction, and its fee appears in INZ 1028 (May 2026) at NZ$260 Band A. Anyone who needs to know which applies to their own case needs licensed advice, not a web page.
Is section 61 free?
Making the request is free. If INZ decides in principle to grant a visa, you then pay NZ$640 for a temporary entry class visa or NZ$1,510 for a residence class visa. Saying "section 61 is free" without that qualification is one of the most commonly repeated errors on this topic.
Which is cheaper, reconsideration or an IPT appeal?
Reconsideration costs NZ$220 and an IPT residence or deportation appeal costs NZ$964. They are not alternatives, though — the visa class you applied for determines which one exists for you, and you cannot choose the cheaper route.
Can I do both a reconsideration and an appeal?
They apply to different visa classes, so in the ordinary case only one exists. Reconsideration covers temporary entry class declines; the Tribunal covers residence class declines, deportation liability and protection decisions.
Can I request reconsideration if my visa has expired?
No. Reconsideration requires that you hold a valid visa, including an interim visa. Once your visa has expired you are unlawfully in New Zealand and the only published mechanism for obtaining a visa is a section 61 request. See overstaying a visa in New Zealand.
How long do I have to appeal a New Zealand visa decision?
Read your decision letter, then read the official page for your route. For reconsideration, INZ publishes 14 calendar days from receipt of the decision. For every Tribunal appeal type, the period is set out in the Ministry of Justice guide for that appeal type, which also explains how the period is calculated — this site does not publish those day counts because the sources do not agree closely enough to make it safe.
