Former immigration minister Tuariki Delamere is calling on the current minister to immediately address the immigration status of peopole caught up in the Christchurch mosque shootings.

In an open letter to Iain Lees-Galloway, he says some of the victims were possibly having their residence applications processed, while others were holding temporary visas and hoping to one day meet the criteria for applying for residence.

Given what happened, many of those families will now never be able to qualify for the grant of residence if the qualifying rules are applied.

Mr Delamere suggested an appropriate response would be to grant residence visas to all those families who have already applied for residence and offer residence status to those who have not yet applied.

He says he and most New Zealanders believe those killed died as New Zealanders.

To not offer the victim families the grant of residence will just give the murderer another reason to celebrate his evil.

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