Media Release

20 March 2009

Registrations for the 2009 Samoa Quota (SQ) and Pacific Access Category (PAC) ballots open on 1 April 2009.

From the period 1 - 30 April, eligible citizens of Samoa may register for the 2009 Samoa Quota Ballot. Eligible citizens from PAC countries - Tonga, Kiribati, and Tuvalu (Fiji are excluded this year because of government sanctions) - may also register for the 2009 PAC Ballot.

To be considered for the possibility of making an application for residence under the SQ or PAC, candidates must lodge a registration during the official registration period. 

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) enters details from the registration forms from everyone who meets the quota registration requirements into its computer system.  Each registration is given a unique registration number and goes into a ballot pool.

The Department of Immigration NZ Group Manager, Kevin Third, says that the ballot is run after all registrations have been entered into INZ’s computer system.  “When the ballot is run, the computer randomly picks registration numbers from the pool, counts the number of people included in those registrations and stops when enough registrations have been selected to fill the quota places for each country”, says Mr Third.

The annual ballot of prospective clients for these quotas will be held on 25 June 2009 in Samoa for SQ and in Auckland for PAC. Last year, SQ and PAC attracted a total of 7337 and 3433 registrations respectively.

To register under the SQ or the PAC, candidates must meet the following requirements:

1. Be a citizen of Samoa or any of the PAC countries;
2. Have been born in Samoa or one of the PAC countries, or have been born overseas to a Samoan or PAC country citizen;
3. Register for the ballot within the official registration period;
4. Be aged between 18 and 45 years at the time you apply for residence.

“There is no fee for registering for the SQ ballot because of the treaty of friendship between New Zealand and Samoa. However, for PAC, there are costs involved,” says Mr Third.  For a first time PAC registrant, the registration fee is NZD $50.00. If an applicant has registered previously, the re-registration fee is NZD $20.00. These fees are not refundable if an applicant’s registration is unsuccessful in the ballot.

Those considering the opportunity to register should make sure they have all the information necessary and avoid a few simple errors that will result in your registration not being accepted. These include registration forms not fully and properly completed; not signed by the principal applicant (and/or any person who helped them to complete the form); submitted after the last day of the registration period; or the principal applicant is unlawfully in New Zealand when applying to register.

Each year, people are invited to register for the quotas, and those chosen in a random ballot are invited to apply for residence if they can obtain a satisfactory job offer in New Zealand.

Mr Third says the 2009 Samoa Quota allows up to 1,100 citizens of Samoa and the Pacific Access Category accepts up to 250 citizens of Tonga and up to 75 citizens each from Kiribati and Tuvalu selected by random ballot to be granted residence in New Zealand.

To register for the ballot, candidates need to complete a ballot registration form which can be collected from the nearest Immigration New Zealand branch; or downloaded from the INZ website: www.immigration.govt.nz.

Registrations must be received by Immigration New Zealand by 30 April or they cannot be accepted. Registrations received after this date will be returned.