New Zealand: Dotcom

Residency Application Dept: At the time his residency application was being considered, Mr. Dotcom had made charitable contributions in New Zealand and was planning to sponsor a fireworks show for the city of Auckland at a cost of $600,000 New Zealand $492,000 U.S. . He set a deadline for immigration officials to act on his application and threatened to move to Australia or Canada if they didn t meet it, according to Globe and Mail. The applicant has already made a substantial economic contribution to New Zealand through his spending here and will make further investments, immigration official Chris Biggs wrote. I consider that these benefits and potential benefits outweigh the negative aspects flowing from the applicant s convictions. Mr. Dotcom was charged with racketeering in the U.S. this year; prosecutors say he facilitated millions of illegal downloads through his website. U.S. authorities are seeking Mr. Dotcom s extradition from New Zealand, where he remains under house arrest. They complied. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.