A technical fault in the Immigration New Zealand ADEPT system allowed some visa and immigration applications to be automatically approved without the required manual assessment by an immigration officer, according to information released by Immigration New Zealand (INZ).
More than 55 applications, including Job Check applications and Visitor Visa applications, were approved through the affected workflow before the problem was identified. The incident has emerged as one of several technology problems associated with the enhanced Immigration Online platform, also known as ADEPT, which forms a major part of New Zealand’s $336 million Our Future Services programme.
The Immigration New Zealand ADEPT system is being developed as a central platform for visa applications and processing. However, the latest revelations have raised questions about system controls, quality assurance and the risks associated with automated immigration processing.
What Happened With the Immigration New Zealand ADEPT System?
The problem involved a technical fault in the application workflow.
INZ said applications processed through enhanced Immigration Online normally move through a combination of automated steps and stages requiring action by an immigration officer.
In the affected cases, however, an application could move beyond the manual assessment stage before that assessment had actually been completed.
According to INZ online services director Katy MacLeod, the fault allowed the same automated process to run more than once on some applications. This created an unexpected duplication of actions and ultimately bypassed the manual assessment stage.
The Immigration New Zealand ADEPT system was not intentionally being used to make these particular decisions without human involvement. Rather, the approvals resulted from a technical error in the workflow.
INZ said it immediately investigated the issue and conducted a wider review to identify other potentially affected applications.
More Than 55 Applications Were Automatically Approved
The investigation identified two major groups of affected applications.
According to information provided by INZ:
| Application type | Applications affected |
|---|---|
| Job Check applications | 23 |
| Visitor Visa applications | 32 |
| Total | 55 |
The 23 Job Check applications were approved without manual assessment between February and November 2022.
INZ also identified 32 Visitor Visa applications that had been automatically approved in the same way during the preceding three years. Technical advisers reviewed all 32 Visitor Visa cases. Twenty of those visas had subsequently been used for travel to New Zealand, with INZ reporting no adverse outcome from those cases.
The Immigration New Zealand ADEPT system issue was therefore not simply a case of one application being incorrectly processed. The review found that the underlying workflow problem had affected multiple applications over an extended period.
INZ reopened six of the applications for full assessment because of high-risk factors. One of those cases was subsequently recommended for decline.
Why Were Applications Approved Without Human Assessment?
The problem appears to have resulted from the interaction between automated workflow steps rather than an intentional decision by INZ to remove immigration officers from the process.
INZ explained that the affected applications were able to continue through the digital workflow even though the required manual assessment had not yet taken place.
The technical fault allowed an automated process to execute more than once. This resulted in duplicated actions and caused applications to move past the point where an immigration officer was supposed to intervene.
This distinction is important because New Zealand legislation already provides a framework allowing certain immigration decisions to be automated.
However, the source material says INZ had not yet been using that legal power for the affected decision-making process. The agency had previously indicated that fully automated decision-making would require appropriate data, testing and quality assurance before being introduced.
The Immigration New Zealand ADEPT system was instead intended to combine digital processing with human decision-making where an immigration officer’s assessment was required.
INZ Had Planned Wider Automation
The incident comes as New Zealand is undertaking a major transformation of its immigration technology infrastructure.
The Our Future Services programme is designed to move visa applications and processing onto a modern digital platform. ADEPT, or enhanced Immigration Online, is intended to become the main submission and processing platform for New Zealand’s immigration system.
The programme was designed to:
- Make visa processing more efficient
- Improve immigration risk management
- Reduce technology and service failures
- Improve the customer experience
- Give staff better access to information
- Increase digital and self-service capabilities
The official MBIE description says the programme has an approved whole-of-life cost of approximately NZ$336.15 million and is currently classified as requiring governance intervention.
The Immigration New Zealand ADEPT system is therefore a central component of a much broader modernization programme rather than a standalone immigration application website.
Other Immigration New Zealand System Problems Have Emerged
The automatic approval issue was not the only technology problem identified in recent years.
Information released about the Immigration New Zealand ADEPT system and related digital services shows several other issues affecting employers, visitors and family visa applicants.
These include problems involving:
- Visitor Visa applications
- Accredited Employer Work Visa job tokens
- Parent and Grandparent multiple-entry Visitor Visas
- Health-screening questions
- Draft applications following system updates
- Employer accreditation information
The issues varied in nature, and not all were related to the same technical fault.
Thousands of Employers Were Affected by a Job Token Glitch
Another problem affected approximately 2,300 employers whose accreditation had expired and was subsequently renewed.
The issue affected employer access to migrant worker job tokens through their ADEPT dashboards.
Some employers were unable to resend a job token to a migrant worker or notify INZ that a migrant had left their employment because the relevant workers no longer appeared on their dashboards.
Officials later determined that a data clean-up was required for employers that had experienced a gap in accreditation. The exact number of employers directly affected was difficult to establish because not every employer with an accreditation gap necessarily employed migrants, and not every migrant employed would have been eligible to reuse a token.
The fix was implemented in March of the previous year.
This was a different problem from the automatic visa approval fault, but it adds to the list of technical challenges surrounding the Immigration New Zealand ADEPT system and its transition from older systems.
Parent and Grandparent Visa Applicants Missed a TB Question
Another issue involved Parent and Grandparent multiple-entry Visitor Visa applications.
INZ identified 364 applicants who were not asked whether they had lived in a country with a high incidence of tuberculosis since their previous clear chest X-ray had been submitted to the agency.
Of those 364 applicants:
- 295 were granted visas
- 21 applicants were not asked to provide an X-ray despite declaring that they had spent more than six months in a country with a high incidence of TB
INZ told the immigration minister that the individual risk of current TB infection was still considered relatively low in the affected cases. The agency also said it intended to contact affected applicants and ask them to seek medical advice if they had, or developed, symptoms consistent with TB.
The incident illustrates why accurate digital forms and health-screening questions remain important even when the overall visa assessment involves human officers.
A Separate Update Prevented Some Visitor Visa Applications From Being Submitted
More recently, another problem affected people trying to submit tourism or holiday applications.
The issue affected draft applications where a secondary applicant had already been added before a system update on August 23.
Those applications could not be submitted after the update.
INZ said it introduced measures to assist potentially affected applicants while investigating the problem. A permanent fix was applied on August 26, and testing confirmed that the fix was working as expected.
This incident was different from the earlier automatic approval problem, but it demonstrates the range of technical challenges that can occur when immigration services are moved onto a large digital platform.
Why the ADEPT System Is Important to New Zealand Immigration
The Immigration New Zealand ADEPT system is intended to become the primary digital channel for immigration applications and processing.
INZ says several visa groups have already moved to enhanced Immigration Online, including international student visas and family-related temporary visa applications. More than half of all visa applications are expected to be processed through the enhanced platform as further transitions occur.
The platform is intended to provide applicants with:
- A simpler application process
- More targeted application forms
- Greater self-service functionality
- Real-time application status information
- Faster and more consistent processing
The official programme documentation also envisages some forms of end-to-end automation for selected visa categories in the future.
That makes testing and quality assurance particularly important. If an automated workflow behaves incorrectly, the impact can potentially extend across large numbers of applications.
New Zealand Is Now Reassessing the $336 Million Immigration IT Programme
The technology problems have emerged at the same time as the wider Our Future Services programme is being reassessed.
MBIE currently lists the programme’s approved whole-of-life cost at NZ$336.15 million, with approximately NZ$25.85 million spent to date. The programme is currently classified as Red, meaning governance intervention is required.
The government is reassessing the programme’s:
- Strategic case for change
- Financial case
- Benefit assumptions
- Operating model
- Delivery framework
- Technology choices
- Implementation processes
- Future delivery plan
Cabinet agreed in September 2026 that MBIE should update the programme’s business case before Phase Two proceeds in full. The Immigration Minister is expected to report back to Cabinet with an updated business case in April 2027.
The Immigration New Zealand ADEPT system is therefore operating within a programme whose future scope and delivery model are themselves being reviewed.
What Happens to the Immigration New Zealand ADEPT System Next?
According to MBIE, Phase One of Our Future Services has been completed, but some parts of the wider programme are being paused while the reassessment takes place.
Current visa migration work, essential improvements to enhanced Immigration Online and priority government commitments are continuing. Once the current migration work is complete, further visa migrations to the platform will be paused while the reassessment takes place.
INZ’s own programme information similarly states that the agency is pausing some parts of Our Future Services while reassessing progress, lessons learned and the business case.
This means the Immigration New Zealand ADEPT system will continue to be used and improved, but the broader programme is facing additional scrutiny before further large-scale expansion.
What Does the System Failure Mean for Visa Applicants?
The reported technical faults do not mean that every visa processed through ADEPT is unreliable.
The issues described involve specific technical failures affecting particular workflows and groups of applications.
For applicants, however, the incidents demonstrate the importance of carefully monitoring application communications and responding to any requests from INZ.
Applicants who experience unusual changes in application status, unexpected approvals, missing information requests or problems submitting applications should keep records of their application and contact INZ through its official channels when clarification is required.
The Immigration New Zealand ADEPT system is designed to make immigration processing more consistent and efficient, but the recent incidents show that digital processing still requires strong controls, testing and human oversight.
Key Facts About the Immigration New Zealand ADEPT System
| Key fact | Details |
|---|---|
| Platform | Enhanced Immigration Online / ADEPT |
| Agency | Immigration New Zealand |
| Parent department | Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment |
| Wider programme | Our Future Services |
| Programme cost | NZ$336.15 million approved whole-of-life cost |
| Auto-approved Job Checks identified | 23 |
| Auto-approved Visitor Visas identified | 32 |
| Visitor Visas used for travel | 20 |
| Parent/Grandparent applicants missing TB question | 364 |
| Those granted visas | 295 |
| Employers requiring data clean-up | Approximately 2,300 |
| Current programme status | Red — governance intervention required |
| Next major review | Updated business case expected in 2027 |
FAQs : Immigration New Zealand ADEPT System
What is the Immigration New Zealand ADEPT system?
The Immigration New Zealand ADEPT system is the enhanced Immigration Online platform being developed to become a central submission and processing system for New Zealand visa applications. It forms part of the wider Our Future Services modernization programme.
Did Immigration New Zealand intentionally approve visas automatically?
The information released by INZ indicates that the affected approvals resulted from a technical fault rather than an intentional decision to bypass immigration officers. The system allowed an automated process to run more than once, enabling some applications to pass the manual assessment stage.
How many applications were automatically approved?
INZ identified 23 Job Check applications and 32 Visitor Visa applications, making 55 applications in total, that had been approved without the required manual assessment.
Were the automatically approved Visitor Visas used?
Yes. INZ said 20 of the 32 automatically approved Visitor Visas had been used for travel to New Zealand. The agency reported no adverse outcome in those cases.
Was the technical problem fixed?
INZ said a fix was implemented after investigating the issue and that the system was closely monitored to ensure the automatic approval problem did not recur. The agency said earlier attempts to deploy the fix had been complicated by wider Microsoft-related issues.
Is ADEPT replacing New Zealand’s entire immigration system?
The programme is intended to move visa applications and processing onto a shared modern platform, with ADEPT becoming the main submission and processing channel. However, the wider Our Future Services programme is currently being reassessed, and further migration activity will be affected by that review.
Is the New Zealand immigration technology programme being cancelled?
There is currently no indication in the official MBIE information that the entire programme has been cancelled. Instead, some aspects are being paused while the government reassesses the programme’s strategic case, finances, benefits and delivery model.
Final Takeaway On Immigration New Zealand ADEPT System
The problems involving the Immigration New Zealand ADEPT system highlight the challenges of moving a large immigration service onto an increasingly automated digital platform.
A technical fault allowed 23 Job Check applications and 32 Visitor Visa applications to be approved without the required manual assessment, while separate problems affected approximately 2,300 employers and hundreds of Parent and Grandparent Visitor Visa applicants.
At the same time, New Zealand is reassessing the wider NZ$336.15 million Our Future Services programme, including its financial assumptions, technology choices, delivery model and expected benefits.
The government has not announced that ADEPT itself is being abandoned. Instead, official information indicates that existing migration work and essential improvements will continue while further expansion of the broader programme is reassessed.
For applicants, employers and immigration professionals, the developments underline the importance of reliable technology, strong quality assurance and appropriate human oversight as New Zealand continues its transition toward a more digital immigration system.
Source : RNZ
