The information was revealed this week in documents obtained by The New Zealand Herald. Mr Dotcom first visited New Zealand from Hong Kong in 2008 and was granted residency in November 2010.
There have long been questions surrounding it, given his computer-related and fraud convictions as a teenager in Germany, and questions over later dealings in Hong Kong and Thailand.
There followed the January 2012 armed raid by New Zealand police on his Coatesville mansion and subsequent arrest on FBI charges of criminal copyright violation.
The plot thickened with revelations he was one of dozens of people who might have been illegally spied on by the GCSB, which dragged in Prime Minister John Key as overseer of the spy agency.
Politician John Banks became another casualty and was found guilty in court of electoral fraud in the way he filed donations received from Mr Dotcom and Sky City for his failed Auckland mayoralty bid.
Many New Zealanders are tired of Mr Dotcom's hold on the headlines, some fed up with the perceived focus on personalities and smear campaigns, those who simply are not interested in the behind-the-scenes manoeuvrings, and yet others who privately view Mr Dotcom, now the backer of the new Internet Party, as something of a cult-like hero for standing up to the US and NZ governments.
But the latest claims are important if they show political pressure may have been exerted above due process. If such pressure was ever to be the result of wealth, power and influence, it would cast a dark shadow indeed.
That the claims come in the wake of the resignation of Maurice Williamson (when it was revealed he contacted a top-ranking police officer after wealthy businessman Donghua Liu was arrested on domestic violence charges, and previously lobbied colleagues to grant him citizenship) leaves the Government wide open to accusations of ''money talks''.
The documents released this week show that, in October 2010, the Security Intelligence Service tried to block Mr Dotcom's residency application, describing him as a ''bad but wealthy man'' who was under criminal investigation by the FBI in relation to his Megaupload empire.
But they showed the SIS dropped its objection only 90 minutes after being told there was ''political pressure'' through Immigration NZ to process the case and then immigration minister
Jonathan Coleman was an ''an interested party'' given the government's priority to attract wealthy foreigners to invest in the country.
There would normally be a six-month hold on any case involving an investigation. Dr Coleman was apparently
extensively briefed on Mr Dotcom, whose residency was delegated by ''special direction'' to two Immigration NZ officials. The documents appear to assume then SIS director Warren Tucker would have been briefed, and Mr Key may be implicated, as Mr Tucker would have reported to him.
The claims raise serious questions about knowledge and responsibility. In people's minds will be current criticism over the fact officials have been left to bear the brunt of failures in the case of the Malaysian diplomat rape allegations rather than Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully.
The inference that the US might be a player behind the scenes is also extremely uncomfortable, with Mr Dotcom claiming the residency decision was made between the two governments as it would be easier for the US to extradite him from New Zealand than elsewhere.
The Government has denied any claims of political pressure, with Dr Coleman saying the residency decision was made by Immigration NZ, whose head, Nigel Bickle, said he was confident an immigration officer made a lawful decision without any ministerial pressure.
Mr Dotcom has said he has more to reveal on the case and John Key, and will do so just before the election. Power play or politics, it would be a travesty if the biggest pawns in thisb game were New Zealand's laws and procedures.
They cannot be seen to be for sale - to or by anyone.
