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Applicant, employer or planner? What New Zealand's visa software glitches mean for Tanzanians in each role

Visa guide · 2026-09-30 · 4 min read

Faults in Immigration New Zealand's ADEPT platform approved dozens of applications without a human check. Whether you are applying from Dar es Salaam, sponsoring a worker from Arusha or advising people on moves, the story reads differently depending on your role. First, the facts.

The facts in brief

ADEPT is the online system Immigration New Zealand uses to handle visas, live since 2022. A glitch sometimes made one automated step repeat on the same application, and the file then skipped the stage where an officer is supposed to examine it. Briefings made public on 30 September 2026 put the count at 32 visitor visas over roughly three years and 23 Job Check applications in 2022. A Job Check is where an accredited employer demonstrates that it first tried to hire a New Zealander. Advisors went back through every visitor visa. Twenty holders had already entered New Zealand with no problem on record, six cases were reopened because of risk factors, and one was recommended for refusal.

More weaknesses surfaced. During 2025, 364 people seeking multiple entry visitor visas for parents and grandparents were never put a tuberculosis-related residency question, yet 295 were granted visas; officials judged individual risk fairly low and promised to contact those affected. Roughly 2,300 businesses that had let accreditation lapse and then renewed it could not see their migrant staff in the system. In August 2026 an update stopped some visitor visa applicants from submitting a draft once a second person was added. Engineers fixed it within days, but the number of people hit is not known.

If you are an applicant

Nothing suggests genuine applications are at risk. The issue is consistency and oversight. Even so, a quick approval does not prove careful review, and errors found later can prompt follow-up contact. Save a copy of every page and confirmation, answer every health and character question in full, respond promptly to requests and check your status regularly. A clear CV and timeline help; Build AI CV can assist.

If you are an employer or sponsor

Compare your dashboard with your own records of who you employ and which job tokens you have issued. Do not assume the system matches reality, particularly if your accreditation lapsed and was renewed, because lost sight of workers affected the ability to resend job tokens or report a worker leaving.

If you are planning a migration

Systems in every destination country keep changing. Whatever a platform shows, keep your own copies of submissions, confirmations, medical results and correspondence. See how New Zealand's AI shake-up affects migrants and why visa costs change for more context, and use the jobs page to see roles.

The wider picture

Ministers had promised that machines would help approve files while refusals stayed with people. The law does allow automated decisions, but the agency had apparently not begun, and back in 2025 it judged itself some two years short of the data and testing it needed. So none of this was a plan. It sits beside a bigger headache: a $336 million modernisation programme was sent back for a rewritten business case once its projected savings turned out to be overstated by $134 million, and ministers want a report before April 2027.

Whichever role you play, the underlying habit is the same: do not outsource your memory to a platform. Keep a plain folder, on paper or on a phone, with dates, reference numbers and copies. If a system ever disagrees with your folder, you will be glad you kept one, and an adviser will be able to help you far faster.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Assuming no news is good news on a pending file.
• Leaving out information because the form did not ask.
• Throwing away confirmation emails.
• Paying an unlicensed helper to sort out a problem. Use a licensed immigration adviser, or a person lawfully exempt from licensing.

Frequently asked questions

Could my approval be cancelled?

The reporting says errors found later can lead to follow-up contact, not that approvals are routinely reversed.

Are Tanzanian applicants affected more?

Nothing in the reporting suggests this.

What should an employer check first?

Dashboard entries and job tokens against their own records.

Where do I get advice?

From a licensed immigration adviser, or a person lawfully exempt from licensing.

Key takeaways

• Software faults approved some applications without manual assessment.
• Other faults affected health questions, dashboards and submissions.
• Applicants and employers should keep their own records.
• Good preparation matters whichever country you apply to.

#visa glitches #new zealand #employers #applicants #adept