Fewer overstayers

The Herald reports:

Immigration New Zealand’s improved border processes and ability to track overseas visitors have significantly reduced overstayers, an immigration expert says.

Overstayer estimates as of end of last year by the agency showed overstayer numbers had nearly halved from around 20,000 a decade ago to 10,894. …

Nearly five and a half million visitors came to New Zealand in the last year, with 2.7 million being non New Zealanders.

A key reason for the significant drop is overstayers was the agency’s improved capabilities to track people and border processes, he said.

Most of the overstayers were previously on a visitor visa (6735), followed by work visa (1981) and student visa (1523).

Immigration said it had also focused on improved security at the border.

In the year to June 30, the agency said 1207 people were denied entry to New Zealand at the border.

This is a good trend. Our proportion of overstayers to visitors seems pretty low, especially compared to other countries I’d say.