In 2017, Immigration New Zealand believed that around 1000 children under 17 lacked a valid visa to be in the country.
The agency now believes the estimate is inaccurate.
Immigration New Zealand said the accuracy of its data on visa overstayers was limited due to several factors, including inconsistencies between border movements and visa validity, historical data entry issues, and missing or inaccurate records of border movements.
"We are unable to confirm the number of individuals under the age of 17 who have overstayed their visa," said Steve Watson, general manager of immigration compliance and investigations at Immigration NZ.
"The estimate has not been updated since 2017 as we identified issues with the previous methodology and began work on improving the statistical measures used."
Daman Kumar and his sister, Radhika Photo: SUPPLIED
On Thursday, 18-year-old Daman Kumar was granted residency following an intervention from associate immigration minister Chris Penk.
Kumar and his mother had been advised to leave New Zealand by 17 February or face a deportation order.
Kumar was an overstayer with no official residency status after his parents remained in New Zealand beyond the duration of their work visas nearly 20 years ago.
Despite being born in New Zealand, he was considered an unlawful resident.
Immigration lawyer Harris Gu said he was not surprised that Immigration NZ did not have an accurate count of overstayers under 17.
"Our immigration system is a bit of a mess right now," he said.
The last estimate of overstayers by INZ was made eight years ago.
"That is a bad look," Gu said. "They should have done better. This issue has been ongoing for years, and they've been aware of it but chose not to act until the case was exposed in the media."
When a child was born, parents were required to notify Internal Affairs, Gu said.
If the parents had overstayed their visas, they might not have reported the birth to authorities, he said.
Harris Gu, a lawyer for Queen City Law Photo: supplied
Gu believed that Immigration NZ should still be able to estimate the number of overstaying children.
"A rough estimate can probably be made using the current data INZ has on overstayers," he said.
"They can categorize them by age and family status as previously declared and arrive at an approximate number."
RNZ has found multiple domestic media reports from 2023 that put the number of overstayers under 17 at just over 1000.
However, Immigration NZ said this figure was incorrect, citing data accuracy issues.
"It is important to note that we don't believe there are flaws in the previous methodology," Watson said.
"However, we are working to improve how we report on this process moving forward and to use a methodology which is less resource intensive."
Immigration NZ told RNZ it did not hold data on the number of children born to overstaying parents since 2006.
"Children born in New Zealand after 1 January 2006 automatically inherit the most favourable visa status of their parents," Watson said.
"Therefore, if the parents are unlawfully in New Zealand, the child will also be unlawfully in New Zealand."
He added that work was currently underway at Immigration NZ to establish an updated estimate of overstayers.
"[It] is expected later this year," Watson said.
Phil Twyford is Labour Party's immigration spokesperson Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
During the 2023 election campaign, the Labour Party proposed an amnesty program for overstayers.
However, its election loss ended any prospects of implementation.
"We don't currently have any policy on an amnesty," said Phil Twyford, Labour's immigration spokesperson.
Last week, Twyford spoke to RNZ's Morning Report, advocating for granting residency to Daman Kumar, stating that Kumar's unlawful status in New Zealand was through no fault of his own.
"After each election, the party reviews its policies from a clean slate. We will be developing a full suite of immigration policies along with the rest of our election manifesto for the upcoming general election," he said.
The Green Party has also expressed support for an amnesty for overstayers.
Neither National nor ACT would support an amnesty for overstayers.
RNZ has approached Immigration Minister Erica Stanford for comment.
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