Claimants have more time to prepare evidence, and interviews are now split over two days. Photo / FilePeople applying for refugee status in New Zealand have longer to prepare their evidence and more days to complete the interview, in a bid to reduce stress and exhaustion. It's part of a string of changes introduced this month to make the process easier and clearer for claimants, following an independent review in 2019. The changes follow a 2019 independent review by Victoria Casey QC, commissioned by MBIE, examining the processes and procedures for making refugee and protection status determinations. Casey QC said the standard interview time was about seven hours over a single day.

Source: New Zealand Herald March 29, 2021 03:11 UTC