Immigration New Zealand considering digital ID for migrants

Decisions to approve visas for New Zealand will become a lot more machine-like as the country’s government plans to automate the system. The NZ$336 million (US$193.5 million) overhaul will do away with paper forms and seek to modernize online systems, reports RNZ.

Decisions to reject applications will continue to be handled by employees, however. The modernization allows for the addition of a digital ID credential for migrants as well. The “Our Future Services” project has been seven years in the making and would include an  passport chip reader and real-time identity liveness checks.

The automation will lead to reduction in staff, which the government predicts as savings, while it is projected that around 2027 is the time when the system becomes fully end-to-end automated in its decision-making as the Microsoft-built Adept system currently only manages accredited work visas, permanent residence and transit visas — automating individual checks but not making the decision on whether someone’s visa is approved.

There are ethical issues surrounding the automation of decision-making on visa applications as academics are concerned that human bias could be “baked in” to such a system. A 2018 New Zealand government report indicated Immigration New Zealand (INZ) uses operational algorithms to manage risk and speed up decisions, including biometric and biographic matching, screening and case prioritizing.

General manager of service design and implementation Karen Bishop said safeguards would be in place for Immigration New Zealand’s automated decisions, which have been established with legislation.

The New Zealand cabinet determined the overall  project will be delivered in three phases over seven years with it being paid for from application fees and the resulting savings. Once finished, it’s projected to deliver ongoing annual net savings of at least NZ$80 million.

Bishop said the last paper applications are expected to be phased out in 2031.

Article Topics

automation  |  biometric liveness detection  |  border security  |  digital ID  |  immigration  |  New Zealand  |  visas