Welcome to the New Zealand
Refugee Status Appeals Authority (RSAA)
The RSAA is an independent body established in 1991 to determine appeals from decisions of the Refugee Status Branch of Immigration New Zealand, declining refugee status.
This website gives search access to the RSAA database, containing New Zealand's refugee jurisprudence, including abstracts (headnotes) and full-text .html and .pdf copies of all published decisions and minutes since 1997, with a selection of decisions from 1991 to 1996 and abstracts of relevant decisions of New Zealand's High Court and Court of Appeal.
You will also find here the RSAA's Practice Notes, Annual Reports and statistics relating to refugee appeals in New Zealand, together with links to the Refugee Status Library (the Nicholson Library) and to relevant refugee law-related websites.
From 4 May 2009, all persons lodging an appeal with and appearing before the Refugee Status Appeals Authority must be either self-represented, or represented by a lawyer or by an immigration adviser who is licensed pursuant to the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007. Appeals received from unregistered Immigration Advisers will be treated as self-represented appeals. For further details on licensed advisers, licensing and exemption criteria, please see the Immigration Advisers Authority website at www.iaa.govt.nz.
