Eligibility for Publicly Funded Health and Disability Services

Gaps Between Permits

Some eligibility criteria require a person to be able to stay continuously and lawfully resident in New Zealand for two years or more before they become eligible.

There are instances where a permit holder’s permits cover a period of two years or more, but there are apparent gaps between permits. Gaps between permits could indicate a period when the person was unlawfully in New Zealand.

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Circumstances where gaps between permits can occur

Gaps between permits are likely under any of three circumstances:

because the person left the country for a period; or
because although the person applied for a subsequent permit before the previous one expired, Immigration New Zealand (INZ) experienced processing delays; or
because the person let their permit lapse for a period while still in New Zealand.

Each situation is discussed below:

a) Permit holder left the country for a period

Short periods of absence from New Zealand are permitted to allow people to holiday, or meet family or cultural obligations. Provided the period is short (four weeks or less), the permits may be considered continuous and the person is eligible.

b) Processing delays

If a person’s temporary permit expires before a new one is issued, there is a gap between permit dates in the person’s passport. However, if the person had applied for the new temporary permit before the previous one expired, INZ deems the permits continuous [Section 30 (3) of the Immigration Act]. The date on the new permit is the date it was issued, but the permit is actually valid from the date the old permit expired. This appears in the passport as a gap between permits, although legally there was no gap.

If INZ deems the permits continuous, that person is considered lawfully in New Zealand during the gap between permits. The ‘continuous’ part of any eligibility direction criteria would, therefore, be fulfilled.

The provision of deeming permits continuous only applied to gaps between temporary permits (visitor, student or work permits) that are due to INZ delays. It does not apply where a person fails to apply for a new permit before their previous one expires. Nor does it apply to residence permit applications. A person who has applied for a residence permit must retain a current temporary permit until a residence permit is granted.

c) Permit holder allows their permit to expire before applying for a new permit

A person should apply for a further permit before their earlier permit expires. If they do not hold a current permit, they are unlawfully in New Zealand, and not eligible.

When a subsequent permit is issued, it may be issued under section 26 of the Immigration Act, but the gap between permits means that the person is not eligible.

Alternatively, a new permit may be issued under section 35A of the Immigration Act. This happens when INZ does not have all requirements for a section 26 permit to be issued. A section 35A effectively allows the person to remain unlawfully in New Zealand while they try to meet the requirements for being granted a new permit.

If a permit is issued under section 35A instead of section 26 of the Immigration Act 1987, this will be clear from the permit in the passport. A person is not eligible for publicly funded health and disability services while they hold a section 35A permit.

A section 35A permit cannot be considered as part of being continuously and lawfully in New Zealand for two or more years. To be eligible, the person would need to be in New Zealand for at least two years on a new section 26 permit, or have a residence permit plus returning resident’s visa.

Suggested operational process

The Ministry suggests that the following process be followed to make DHB administration of the 2003 Eligibility Direction more straightforward where a gap between permits occurs.

Where a gap between the expiry date of one temporary permit and the issue date of the next temporary permit affects a person’s eligibility:

if the gap is 28 days or less, and there is a departure stamp that shows that the person was out of the country during the gap, the person is considered as meeting the criteria
if the gap is 28 days or less, and there are no departure stamps to show that the person was out of the country during the gap, and the subsequent permit was not issued under section 35A, the permits should be assumed to be continuous, and the person is considered as meeting the criteria
if the gap is more than 28 days, the person should be treated as not meeting the criteria. They should be advised to contact INZ to obtain confirmation that the permits were continuous if they had applied for the new permit before the earlier one expired. Payment should be refunded if confirmation is provided.

This process could result in some people being treated as eligible for publicly funded services when their permits were not continuous and they were not lawfully in New Zealand between permits. DHBs that see this as a significant risk may choose to check with INZ about all intervals between permits.

Services accessed during the interval

A subsequent permit may be needed to meet the part of the criteria [clause 4 (2) ordinarily resident (c), work permit holder (ii)], “equals or exceeds two years. If the person needs a health service during the interval, between when one permit expires and another is issued, then a question arises – does the subsequent permit begin on the day following the expiry of the previous permit, or on the day that it was issued.

The Ministry recommends that if the subsequent permit is continuous, the period it commences is treated as beginning from the day the previous permit expires, rather than its issue date.

Should the patient be charged for services received during the interval?

A person’s subsequent permit cannot be deemed to be continuous until it has been issued. Once continuous eligible status is achieved, however, the services they received during the interval would be publicly funded. A person in this situation should be charged for services received during the interval, but advised that the charge may be reversed if they can later show that they were granted a subsequent continuous permit.

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Page last updated: 29 January 2009