A pernicious decision haunts Indian migrants

Will Immigration New Zealand change its ways?

Immigration New Zealand declared in October 2008 that birth certificates issued by India’s diplomatic missions (High Commissions, Embassies and Consulates) were not acceptable for processing applications for Permanent Residence and Citizenship, “since they are not birth certificates and not entirely based on actual birth records.”

The Department said it would recognise only certificates issued by a Municipal Authority, Local and District Office or Village Authorities including Gram Panchayats, Talati-cum-Mantri or Village Councils.

Several people of Indian origin have criticised this as a pernicious decision impacting adversely on those seeking to migrate to New Zealand.

Many did not recognise the names of Indian authorities mentioned in the Immigration New Zealand circular and even claimed that some of them did not exist! 

The British had established their own system in India, allowing Church, Mosque and Temple authorities to maintain records of births and deaths, recognised even by courts of law. This practice existed mainly in metropolises like Bombay (Mumbai) and Madras (Chennai) and in some villages.

No Birth Certificate

Most of the people born prior to 1950 are not likely to have an official birth certificate because their births would have occurred in their homes, with grandmothers and elderly women acting as midwives. In the absence of a legal requirement to have births recorded, there were no certificates issued. It was common for schools to issue such certificates, universally accepted as appropriate documentary evidence.

Immigration New Zealand places more credence on certificates issued by an illiterate village headman who maintains no records of any kind; who does not even have an official letterhead or format to issue such certificates.

While Municipal Councils in cities and towns have machinery in place to register births and deaths, the situation is different in rural areas.

The Indian Parliament passed legislation in 1969 to have all births recorded and certificates issued, although it took several years thereafter for the state governments to put in place appropriate machinery. Today, it is mandatory for hospitals, maternity homes and other facilities to record births and deaths.

According to an Indian Government notification, “In the case of applicants born on or after January 26, 1989, birth certificates issued by a Municipal Authority or the Office of the Registrar of Births & Death would be acceptable. Otherwise, the School Leaving Certificate or an Affidavit would suffice.”

No rationale here

What is the rationale behind Immigration New Zealand’s insistence on a birth certificate when an applicant has a valid passport issued by the Indian Government, with all the relevant details contained in a birth certificate?

There are several checks and controls in place before passport applications are processed and issued, including a thorough verification by the local police to certify that the person concerned does not have any criminal record or anything else that may make him or her a ‘travel risk.’

Therefore, birth certificates issued by Indian diplomatic missions are based on the information available in the official records of the Home and External Affairs ministries in New Delhi and their offices.

Immigration New Zealand has opened the floodgates of corruption by insisting on wrong procedures. This has become a virtual free-for-all for touts and unscrupulous intermediaries who provide fake certificates.

The Department should pull its act together and be realistic.

I am not advocating a blind policy of accepting certificates and documents but asking them to submit to rationale and logic.

With terrorists and criminals targeting ‘soft targets,’ New Zealand stands the risk of becoming their home ground, unless the immigration regime becomes more robust and accepts the documents issued by the Wellington based Indian High Commission rather than some obscure official in India.

Indian Newslink has taken up a number of causes in the past on behalf of the community. The newspaper has recently commenced exposure of corrupt practices among some officials in Immigration New Zealand.

I hope it will address the problem of birth certificates as well.

The author of the above article is an Auckland based professional and an avid Indian Newslink reader. He did not wish to reveal his identity at this stage.

Editor’s Note: Two different ministries are involved in demanding and handling birth certificates – Immigration New Zealand which comes under the Minister of Immigration for matters relating to all types of entry permits; and Ministry of Internal Affairs for citizenship. We are aware of the difficulties experienced by people of Indian origin with the latter. Readers may like to shed more light by recounting their experience.

Email: editor@indiannewslink.co.nz

See Fake office issues fake certificates in this section