Passports to expire every five years
15 June 2004
By COLIN ESPINER
New Zealanders are to be made to renew their passports every five years, at a cost of $71, instead of every decade.
Any visas or entitlements to reside in other countries such as Britain or America, which normally expire with a passport, will also have to be re-applied for every five years.
Becoming a New Zealand citizen is also to get tougher under plans to crack down on passport fraud and on children born here to foreign parents.
Under the new Identity (Citizenship and Travel Documents) Bill to be introduced this month, residents of New Zealand must stay five years before becoming eligible for a passport – up from three years currently. Time spent on work or visitor's permits will no longer be counted.
The bill also creates new offences of unlawfully issuing a citizenship or altering citizenship records – both to carry penalties of 10 years' imprisonment and or a $50,000 fine.
It will also allow personal details to be disclosed to airlines and border security guards overseas under the Advance Passenger Processing System, which allows airlines to check whether passengers have valid travel documents before they leave.
Internal Affairs Minister George Hawkins said the bill would improve security and reduce the likelihood of travel documents being misused. International experience showed a 10-year issue period was too long because counterfeiting techniques had become more sophisticated.
The proposed legislation follows recent security scares over New Zealand passports and highlighted cases of Asian and American women travelling to Christchurch to give birth to gain free healthcare and education for their children, who at present automatically become New Zealand citizens.
In 2002 the Government moved to close a loophole allowing foreign mothers access to free maternity care, after it was revealed that Christchurch Hospital was delivering 130 foreign babies a year.
The numbers have since fallen but those who pay for their own delivery are still eligible for a passport for their child. Nationwide, "non-resident" births rose from 974 in 1999-2000 to 1657 in 2002-03.
Mr Hawkins played down the citizenship-by-birth issue yesterday, saying it was a separate issue that was not being included in the Identity Bill. No decision had been made on whether to proceed with a law change, he said.
But Prime Minister Helen Clark indicated that a clause stripping babies born to foreign mothers of the right to citizenship could yet be inserted into the bill. "It's something that should be considered," she said.
In Ireland, voters in a referendum have said 'yes' to denying automatic citizenship to foreign children born there for convenience. Miss Clark said she doubted her Government would hold a referendum on the subject.
Children's Commissioner Cindy Kiro said removing automatic citizenship would leave many children in limbo, without access to basic health and education services, and could contravene the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
15 June 2004
By COLIN ESPINER
New Zealanders are to be made to renew their passports every five years, at a cost of $71, instead of every decade.
Any visas or entitlements to reside in other countries such as Britain or America, which normally expire with a passport, will also have to be re-applied for every five years.
Becoming a New Zealand citizen is also to get tougher under plans to crack down on passport fraud and on children born here to foreign parents.
Under the new Identity (Citizenship and Travel Documents) Bill to be introduced this month, residents of New Zealand must stay five years before becoming eligible for a passport – up from three years currently. Time spent on work or visitor's permits will no longer be counted.
The bill also creates new offences of unlawfully issuing a citizenship or altering citizenship records – both to carry penalties of 10 years' imprisonment and or a $50,000 fine.
It will also allow personal details to be disclosed to airlines and border security guards overseas under the Advance Passenger Processing System, which allows airlines to check whether passengers have valid travel documents before they leave.
Internal Affairs Minister George Hawkins said the bill would improve security and reduce the likelihood of travel documents being misused. International experience showed a 10-year issue period was too long because counterfeiting techniques had become more sophisticated.
The proposed legislation follows recent security scares over New Zealand passports and highlighted cases of Asian and American women travelling to Christchurch to give birth to gain free healthcare and education for their children, who at present automatically become New Zealand citizens.
In 2002 the Government moved to close a loophole allowing foreign mothers access to free maternity care, after it was revealed that Christchurch Hospital was delivering 130 foreign babies a year.
The numbers have since fallen but those who pay for their own delivery are still eligible for a passport for their child. Nationwide, "non-resident" births rose from 974 in 1999-2000 to 1657 in 2002-03.
Mr Hawkins played down the citizenship-by-birth issue yesterday, saying it was a separate issue that was not being included in the Identity Bill. No decision had been made on whether to proceed with a law change, he said.
But Prime Minister Helen Clark indicated that a clause stripping babies born to foreign mothers of the right to citizenship could yet be inserted into the bill. "It's something that should be considered," she said.
In Ireland, voters in a referendum have said 'yes' to denying automatic citizenship to foreign children born there for convenience. Miss Clark said she doubted her Government would hold a referendum on the subject.
Children's Commissioner Cindy Kiro said removing automatic citizenship would leave many children in limbo, without access to basic health and education services, and could contravene the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
다음검색