Immigration
As you all know, boys and girls, Cavell Leitch advise the most important clients. This includes a certain Christmas celebrity! Every year, about this time, Santa needs a little bit of last minute advice, which we are always happy to provide. Here is a summary of the advice he needed this year.
Santa has been delivering goodies to the boys and girls of New
Zealand for a very long time. He comes every Christmas, and he
loves it here. Lately, he and Mrs Claus have been thinking about
purchasing a permanent home in Queenstown. They want a quiet place
to be, during the off-season.
However, Santa and Mrs Claus are not New Zealand or Australian
citizens. They are, of course, citizens of the North Pole. Also,
Santa will not have time to organise the purchase of a property
before Christmas.
Will the change to foreign ownership of homes, coming
into effect in January, affect Santa?
Our Queenstown team were able to advise that yes, the changes will
affect Santa. This is because anyone who is not a permanent
resident or New Zealand citizen will need Overseas Investment
Office (OIO) consent to purchase an existing home in New
Zealand.
What can Santa do?
The good news is that consent is not required if Santa buys land
and builds his own house. Therefore, Santa could buy some land and
build a purpose-built home for him and Mrs Claus. Or, of course, if
Santa wants to buy an existing home he can apply for OIO consent.
This is a costly and expensive process though, but our Queenstown
team are ready to help!
Building a retreat for the elves
Santa has also told us that when he buys the property in
Queenstown, he wants it big enough to build accommodation for up to
100 elves. This is because a number of his elves suffer from
Seasonal Affective Disorder. He would like to give the elves a
yearly holiday, here in New Zealand, to allow them to get a decent
amount of sunlight. The problem, of course, is that accommodation
for 100 elves is not small, even though they might be.
While the accommodation facility is for 100 beds, the intensity and scale will likely be less than for humans. Nevertheless, Santa will need a resource consent to build such a facility, along with a building consent. Given Santa's need for anonymity, our Resource Management team can run the process, and with some good design (and a sufficiently sized property) the facility could be inconspicuous enough not to need notification. Luckily, even if notification is required, exclusive accommodation isn't unheard of in Queenstown, so there is a good chance of it being approved. Once built, local rules require registration or a further consent to operate visitor accommodation. Not obtaining consent risks possible prosecution, fines or even imprisonment, which would not be a good look for someone of Santa's standing!
Dealing with an accident in the workplace
You may not know this, but Santa and some of his select elves carry
out a dress-rehearsal delivery some weeks before Christmas. This is
just to ensure they can address any potential hiccups before the
big day. Unfortunately, this year one of the elves was badly
injured when climbing from the sleigh down a chimney. It was Guy
Fawkes' night, and some fireworks spooked Rudolph. Rudolph
bolted, pulling the sleigh forward and crushing the elf's
fingers between the sleigh and the chimney. Two of the elf's
fingers had to be amputated.
Will Santa have any health and safety issues to resolve with the
authorities, as a result of the accident?
Our Employment team have told Santa that he needs to immediately
notify WorkSafe, as amputation of any part of the body is a
Notifiable Injury under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.
Santa will need to take urgent legal advice, cooperate with
WorkSafe, and notify his insurer.
An "elf" problem with a visa
The elf that fell down the chimney has applied for a further work
visa to allow him to come back to New Zealand, to work on Christmas
Eve. He is a hard-working elf, very dedicated indeed!
As you may know, visa applicants often have to provide a Chest
X-ray to show that they meet the health requirements for a visa.
This elf's Chest X-ray shows shadows. We have spoken to Pacific
Radiology Group, and they believe that the shadows may just be
healed rib fractures and adjacent plural thickening, from falling
down the chimney. However, the medical assessor at Immigration New
Zealand (INZ) has asked for a further written report, from a
radiologist. The medical assessor is worried that the elf has a
more serious problem and therefore, he or she needs more
information before he or she can tell the Immigration Officer that
the elf meets the health requirements.
Will this delay the elf's visa
application?
Our Immigration team has told Santa that unfortunately, it will
cause a delay.
It will be important for the elf to get a report from a radiologist
as soon as possible. This is because the report needs to be
forwarded to INZ's medical assessor who then sends his or her
opinion to the Immigration Officer, who is considering the visa
application. This process takes at least a month. Therefore, the
sooner our Immigration team receives the report, the faster the
visa can be issued and the greater the chance that the elf will be
in the sleigh, working, on Christmas Eve!
Happy holidays to all of our clients! We look forward to seeing you all, in the New Year!