Any deal to resettle refugees in New Zealand may still leave asylum seekers languishing in Papua New Guinea and Nauru because the Ardern government will apply their own security checks before granting them entry.

While New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has confirmed her country's long-standing offer to resettle 150 refugees remains, her immigration minister indicated to The Australian Financial Review it would not be carte blanche, which could leave hundreds of people already rejected by the US in limbo.