44892 (2025). Ricardo Menéndez March to the Minister of Immigration

44892 (2025). Ricardo Menéndez March to the Minister of Immigration: What methodology did Immigration New Zealand use to arrive at its most recent estimate of the number of overstayers, and what adjustments, if any, were made compared with earlier estimates?

Hon Erica Stanford: I am advised that the new methodology developed by INZ provides a selection of data exclusions to address known issues in the previous data including; removing any people who have New Zealand citizenship; are deceased; or who held a special visa. I am further advised that the new methodology allows Immigration New Zealand to better identify people who have overstayed their visa, and they expect the reliability of these estimates to improve over time.