Working together to protect the integrity of our immigration system

A recent cross-agency operation has highlighted the impact of strong collaboration in protecting the integrity of New Zealand's immigration system and helping ensure better outcomes for migrant workers.

Led by the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment's (MBIE) Immigration Compliance and Investigations teams, the work focused on high-risk employers linked to organised criminal activity. By bringing together expertise from across government, the operation aimed to better understand risks, support enforcement action, and strengthen the system for the future.

A coordinated approach

Teams from across MBIE worked closely together, alongside New Zealand Police and other partner agencies. This included sharing intelligence, coordinating site visits, and ensuring the right actions were taken where issues were identified.

This joined-up approach ensured that risks were identified more quickly and addressed in a targeted way, while also supporting safer operational activity on the ground.

Making a difference

The operation led to a range of clear compliance and enforcement outcomes, including:

• 98 individuals found in breach of visa conditions
• 171 alerts raised on individuals or companies for future visa applications or accreditation
• 44 instances of information sharing and referrals to partner agencies for further enforcement consideration
• 14 overseas visa cancellations for individuals who no longer meet requirements, preventing travel to New Zealand
• 7 referrals for accreditation revocation, and
• 7 Employer Infringement Notices issued, totalling NZD$21,000 for immigration-related offending.

These actions help prevent further harm and reinforce expectations on employers and migrants within the system.

The work also provided valuable insight into how some employers and workers interact with the immigration system, highlighting areas where additional support, oversight or changes could make a difference.

This helps ensure that:

• employers meet their obligations when hiring migrant workers
• migrants are supported into genuine employment opportunities, and
• risks to the system are identified and addressed early.

Supporting a stronger system

The insights from this work are being shared across MBIE to help inform improvements to how risks are identified and managed across the immigration system. This includes strengthening verification processes and supporting future policy development to reduce harm and protect system integrity.

Looking ahead

Work like this highlights the importance of collaboration, innovation and shared responsibility across government.

By continuing to work together, Immigration New Zealand and its partners are focused on maintaining a fair, trusted and well-functioning immigration system, one that supports New Zealand's economy and communities while protecting migrant workers and reducing the risk of harm.

Read more about our investigations and compliance work:

Investigations and compliance