The head of the New Zealand immigration service has been forced to resign.

As New Zealand correspondent Kerri Ritchie reports, Mary-Anne Thompson helped three members of her family based in Kiribati to obtain residency.

She organised visa waivers for them, and then another senior immigration official ordered staff to process the three residency applications, even though they were lodged months after the Kiribati quota had been filled.

Her actions were discovered via a handwritten note, found attached to a relative's residency application.

Ms Thompson had enjoyed a successful career in the New Zealand public service, and had held senior positions in treasury and the prime minister's department.

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