An Indian couple who had secured New Zealand residence after years of living here have lost their resident status over a procedural oversight.

The couple were granted resident visas under the one-off 2021 Resident Visa scheme in April 2022. But they left New Zealand for Canada the following year.

In their appeal against Immigration New Zealand's (INZ) decision, the couple told the country's appellate tribunal they dint't realise being overseas when their 24-month travel conditions expired would cause their resident visas to expire.

The Immigration and Protection Tribunal has now rejected their attempt to have their residence restored, despite accepting that the consequences of their mistake had been significant.

The 32-year-old Indian citizen first came to New Zealand on a student visa in July 2016. He later held post-study, student and essential skills work visas and worked as a welder.

His wife, also an Indian citizen, arrived as a student about three years later and the couple married the following year.

In February 2022, the man applied for residence under the "settled" criteria of the Special 2021 Resident Visa category, with his wife included in the application.

Both were granted resident visas in April that year. Their visas came with multiple-entry travel conditions valid for 24 months. A resident visa holder who is outside New Zealand when their travel conditions expire can lose the resident visa itself.

A trip to help family

The couple left New Zealand for Canada on March 21, 2023. They told the tribunal they had travelled there urgently to support the man's brother and sister-in-law after a miscarriage.

What was initially intended as a visit became a much longer stay. Later that year, the man gave his brother $20,000 towards buying a house.

When his brother's working hours were reduced and the family began struggling financially, the couple decided the man would obtain a Canadian work visa and help until his brother was financially stable.

He began working as a welder in Canada in March 2024. Their situation became more difficult after authorities found that part of the brother's house, including a finished basement, had been constructed without the required approval.

Tenants had to leave, cutting off rental income, while the family struggled with mortgage and other expenses. Documents supplied to the tribunal included utility arrears, bank correspondence and a notice of sale relating to the property.

The couple also had a son while living in Canada.

‘We had just seen congratulations’

By July 2025, the couple had decided they wanted to return to New Zealand. It was then, the man said, they realised the implications of the conditions attached to their New Zealand residence.

He told the tribunal they had made a "huge mistake" by not properly reading the letter granting their visas.

They had essentially seen the words "congratulations" and "your visa has been approved", he said, without noticing the condition they needed to meet.

By then, however, their New Zealand resident visas had already expired. The tribunal found the man's visa expired on April 12, 2024 because he was outside New Zealand after his travel conditions had expired.

When he applied for a permanent resident visa in July 2025, he no longer held a resident visa. He had also not held one during the preceding 90 days, as required by the relevant immigration rules.

He could have extended the travel conditions

The particularly costly part of the oversight was that the man appears to have had an opportunity to protect his status before the deadline.

A resident outside New Zealand can, in some circumstances, apply for a variation of travel conditions before their existing conditions expire. One route required the applicant to have spent at least 184 days in New Zealand as a resident during one of the relevant 12-month periods.

Immigration records showed the man had spent 309 days in New Zealand during the 12 months following the grant of his residence. The tribunal said it appeared that, had he applied for a variation before his travel conditions expired, the application would not have been declined on the time-spent-in-New-Zealand requirement.

"Unfortunately for the appellant, he did not make an application for a VOTC while his travel conditions were still valid," the tribunal said in its order on August 19.

There was also a possible route to a second resident visa after the original visa expired, but that opportunity was time-limited. The tribunal said such an application would have needed to be made before April 12, 2025.

The man did not apply for permanent residence until July 11, 2025.

Tribunal accepts impact but rejects appeal

The tribunal considered whether the family's circumstances were sufficiently unusual to justify recommending an exception to immigration rules.

It accepted the couple were deeply disappointed and that their failure to understand the travel conditions had had significant consequences.

The oversight meant they had "lost their New Zealand resident status and cannot continue with the life as residents that they had planned in this country", the tribunal said.

But it noted that INZ had clearly advised them of the travel conditions when their visas were granted. The tribunal ultimately found that their family obligations in Canada, their extended absence from New Zealand and their failure to understand the visa requirements did not amount to special circumstances warranting an exception.

The appeal was declined, but there could still be another way back. The tribunal noted that the man has a Level 4 welding qualification and previously worked as a welder in New Zealand for about three years.

It said he may be able to return on a work visa and potentially pursue residence again through the Trades and Technicians skilled residence pathway, under which welding is an eligible occupation.

Whether he qualifies for any future visa will be for Immigration New Zealand to decide, the tribunal noted.