Differing experiences of grants of citizenship outside the ordinary rules

The manner in which the flexibility provided in the Citizenship Act for the Minister of Internal Affairs to grant citizens is exercised can be quite arbitrary. Most requests to the Minister are declined. Even those who are ultimately successful in getting a grant of New Zealand citizenship can have very different experiences.

For example, German-American tech billionaire Peter Thiel was granted New Zealand citizenship despite never having lived in New Zealand, only spending a total of 12 days in New Zealand in the preceding 5 years (as opposed to the usually required 1,350 days), and having no intention to live in New Zealand. He applied in January 2011, his application was approved in June 2011, and he was given a private citizenship ceremony at the New Zealand Consulate in Santa Monica, California in August 2011.

By contrast, the Waitangi Tribunal heard evidence from Māori whose children did not gain New Zealand citizenship at birth because of limitations on citizenship by descent about the significant difficulties they faced in getting citizenship for their children. One of those who gave evidence was Keisha Castle-Hughes, the star of Whale Rider. Despite her very clear and substantial connections to New Zealand, she described a long and drawn-out process full of bureaucratic hurdles. In her case, a grant of citizenship only occurred after Members of Parliament who she knew were able to hand deliver a letter to the Minister. As she acknowledged, others often don’t have these sorts of connections.