A woman was deported at an estimated cost of $85,000 to New Zealand taxpayers, after she and her own government refused to pay for it.
By Gill Bonnett of RNZ
New immigration figures show 1400 deportations took place in the year to July, of which a third were enforced and paid for by Immigration New Zealand.
They are on the rise, but less than half the number taking place before the pandemic.
In one case flagged under ministers' no surprises policy last year, a Korean woman was being deported after overstaying since 2012.
She was told to leave a year later but did not, and only came to authorities' attention again in 2024 when police were trying to identify a woman in hospital who had suffered two strokes.
"The client remains in hospital and has since undergone two brain operations and requires significant ongoing rehabilitative care," officials told immigration minister Erica Stanford.
"The client is expected to be cleared to fly in the coming weeks, however she requires two medical escorts as part of a medical transportation plan for her deportation."
Immigration Compliance met with the Korean Consulate and the Auckland health management to discuss her deportation in March last year.
"The Korean Consulate confirmed that the Korean government will not pay for the repatriation costs of the client as she is unregistered in Korea due to her period of absence from the country. They did agree to issue an emergency travel document once flights are arranged.
"A quote for medical repatriation using the accredited New Zealand Air Ambulance Service was provided to Immigration Compliance at a total cost of $85,000."
The deportation with medical transportation, which needed deputy chief executive sign-off, was approved and she was deported in May last year.
Figures from 2024 show just over half of deportees are overstayers, 30% are for other visa breaches and the rest - about one in six - had committed crimes.
New figures released on Tuesday showed an estimated 19,000 overstayers in the country, 6559 of whom had arrived in the last three years.
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