Defining Migrants 12/16-month rule Data Collection

Technical Notes Migration statistics by the 12/16-month rule from January 2015 onwards are prepared using transfers of border movements and passenger identities from NZ Customs Service for the purpose of producing the regular International Travel and Migration (ITM) statistics. The series use a deterministic method for grouping (de-duplication) of travellers over time using key identities such as first names, surname, date of birth, and passport code. Traveller IDs are assigned accordingly for efficient derivation of travel histories for input to the processing of the 12/16 migration series. The methodology for linking border movements for periods from 2015 onwards will be continually evaluated and refined. Migration statistics by the 12/16-month rule for the period January 2001 – December 2014 have been prepared using integrated information from two IDI source datasets of border movements and passenger identities; MBIE and NZ Customs Service. Travel histories created for the purpose of defining migrant status were prepared using a probabilistic deduplication method for grouping of passengers over this time period. Linking passes represent combinations of blocking and linking variables using the IDI record identifier in the migration series, names, date of birth variables, sex and nationality. Tables of estimated counts have been independently random rounded to base three at the aggregated level. Disaggregated tables of estimated counts have been derived from migrant records with specified date of birth, sex, citizenship or visa type information. For this reason estimated totals are not directly comparable with totals in other tables. In disaggregated tables, for the January 2001 – December 2014 period, cells with very low values, due to apparent mis-coding of responses (eg visa type in trans-Tasman arrivals), have been excluded. ##Definitions Citizenship Determined from the country that issued the passport the person uses when arriving or departing. A person may hold passports from more than one country. Migrants of Australian and New Zealand citizenship have been recorded at the individual country level, whereas migrants of other citizenship countries have been grouped by their country region (see below). In table 4 (migrant arrivals by citizenship and visa type) citizenship countries from the North Africa and the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa regions have been combined to the Africa and the Middle East region. The country regions and examples of main citizenship countries are: North Africa and the Middle East/ Sub-Saharan Africa: Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Iraq, Iran North-East Asia: China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong North-West Europe: Great Britain, Germany, Ireland, France, Netherlands, Italy Oceania and Antarctica (excludes Australia and New Zealand): Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati, Tuvalu South-East Asia: Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Cambodia, Myanmar Southern and Central Asia: India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh Southern and Eastern Europe: Russia, Czech Republic, Romania The Americas: USA, Canada, Brasil, Chile, Argentina Visa type The type of immigration visa held or granted on arrival in New Zealand. People may change their visa type later while still in New Zealand. The border entry visa type categories are: Australian, Student, Resident, Work, Visitor, Permanent Resident, and Other. The Permanent Resident visa type category is available from January 2011 onwards. The Australian visa type category was no longer recorded from December 2010 onwards. The Other visa type category are the combined categories of Diplomatic, Consular, Military or Official visa types. en-NZ