Another great success for our team of experts here at Zealand Immigration!!!

We manage to suspend the liability for deportation for one of our clients who has been convicted and sentenced in the Christchurch District Court for the offence of Burglary. As a result of his conviction, he was liable for deportation.

The client had a satisfying history of complying with the law however that night the client consumed an excessive amount of alcohol. The foolishness of his action was that he broke into the wrong place – right next to the police station, which showed how drunk he was at the time.
The client has been sentenced to 150 hours of community work and was ordered to pay reparation of $236.17 – the judge agreed that it is highly unlikely he is going to repeat that sort of behavior but the court must mark the severity of a burglary, even though it was a commercial premise that he broke into and took just some tools, torch, two small LED work lights, etc.

In our representation we stressed out the importance, although not an excuse for his behavior, that the client was heavily intoxicated on the night of his offending and made a serious error of judgement while under influence of alcohol. The level of intoxication was the key influence in his decision to take the tools. Furthermore, the client is working in an occupation on the Skills Shortage List, and therefore his contribution to the New Zealand economy is significant where he is filling a recognized labour gap in New Zealand.

Fortunately, the client got the second chance to prove that it was just a one-off mistake and he remains to be of good character and a contributing member of society.
The Minister of Immigrations’ delegated decision-maker has suspended the client’s liability for deportation for two years subject to the client’s compliance with conditions.