US billionaire Peter Thiel is under fire for the way he got his Kiwi citizenship.
Newly released papers reveal a special exemption was given to Mr Thiel back in 2011 on the basis of submissions made about his business and philanthropic investments in the country.
The papers also show Mr Thiel had never lived here before making his citizenship application and had no intention of doing so.
READ MORE: How US billionaire Peter Thiel got NZ citizenship revealed
Labour MP Iain Lees-Galloway said the papers suggest that what he suspected all along was correct - that Mr Thiel was granted citizenship on the basis of his wealth.
He was also highly critical of other aspects revealed about Mr Thiel's application.
"Someone who doesn't live here, has no intention of living here, and gets a cosy citizenship ceremony in the United States, is not someone who I think most New Zealanders would consider a citizen of New Zealand."
Mr Lees-Galloway is also criticising the timing of the release of the documents about how Mr Thiel was granted citizenship. They were released just after 5pm last night.
He said it's incredibly cynical for the Government to have dumped the file at that time, on the day it announced the election date.
"They're clearly trying to make it as difficult as possible for this case to be covered by the media and to be investigated by politicians. It's a deeply cynical move by the Government that suggests they have something to hide."
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