Just like New Zealand, South Africa is fighting the coronavirus. At the time of writing, both countries have entered into a nationwide lockdown. As Intergate Emigration have offices in South Africa, we wanted to brief you on South Africa’s lockdown and how it will affect our operations.

South Africa’s decision for a nationwide lockdown

All of South Africa have been called upon by President Ramaphosa, to unite in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak. Due to his swift and decisive decision making, South Africa entered into a nationwide lockdown for 21 days at midnight, on 26 March. The lockdown will last until midnight on the 16th of April.

What is a lockdown?

This is an emergency protocol taken by the South African government in terms of the country’s Disaster Management Act. It requires that all those in South Africa stay at home with exception of certain individuals and industries providing essential services.

How will this affect Intergate’s business operations?

Intergate Emigration has had to close our South African offices during the lockdown period, but our aim is to offer clients full operational continuity and service delivery. Our team will remain available by email, and our administrators are equipped to stay connected from home.

If you are interested in immigration to New Zealand, you can still contact us. We’ll proceed with the parts of the process that we can, considering New Zealand’s lockdown. Our advisers will be able to discuss with you what’s possible and what’s not. As a starting point, please book a free initial assessment.

Please note, however, that we will be operating on a reduced schedule and we kindly ask for your understanding at this time.

Keep in touch to stay updated

To know when things change, please sign up for newsletter – it’s free – or follow us on either Facebook or LinkedIn.

New Zealand is battling the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, just like most other countries around the world. At the time of writing, New Zealand has entered a four-week lockdown. During this lockdown, all New Zealanders have to stay at home.

Below we’ll summarise all the important information to know about the lockdown as well as other measures that New Zealand have taken to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Four-week lockdown, but not for essential services

New Zealand’s lockdown began at midnight on Wednesday, 25 March. For now, the lockdown is set to continue for four weeks but it may last for longer.

During the lockdown, New Zealanders have to stay at home with the exception being those working in essential service businesses. These are businesses in industries such as food, medicine, healthcare, energy, fuel, waste-removal, internet and financial support.

Furthermore, New Zealanders returning from overseas during the lockdown will have to quarantine in airport hotels or motels if they did not have anywhere to self-isolate in the city they arrive in.

Prime Minister Ardern has received praise for how she’s handled the pandemic thus far, specifically for providing clarity and compassion at a time when it’s sorely necessary.

New Zealand borders have closed to almost all travellers

New Zealand has closed their borders to all travellers during the lockdown, except for New Zealand citizens, permanent residents, residents with valid travel conditions and their immediate family.

These immediate family members, which include partners, spouses, legal guardians and dependent children under the age of 24, must have a valid visa or NZeTA and travel with the New Zealand citizen or resident family members on the same flight to New Zealand.

Australian citizens and permanent residents who normally live in New Zealand can also return to New Zealand.

All travellers must isolate themselves for 14 days upon arrival, either at home or at an airport hotel or motel as discussed above.

Entry restriction exceptions

Immigration New Zealand are making exceptions to the border closure on case-by-case basis for:

• Humanitarian reasons.
• Health and other essential workers.
• Citizens of Samoa and Tonga for essential travel to New Zealand.

Immigration New Zealand has advised that those with a valid visa who think they may be eligible for an exception should contact their airline.

All INZ’s overseas office are closed

Unfortunately, all of Immigration New Zealand’s overseas visa processing offices have closed for the foreseeable future. Moreover, INZ only have skeleton staff in New Zealand and their only priority is dealing with COVID-19 requests. INZ are prioritising responses based on the government’s direction and are only intended for exceptional cases.

See the Immigration New Zealand website for more

Immigration New Zealand has a page on their website dedicated to their coronavirus response. You’ll find all the latest restrictions and measures on this page. See it here.

If you have an urgent immigration query, you can still contact Immigration New Zealand by using the following numbers:

• Outside New Zealand: +64 9 952 1679
• Within New Zealand: 0508 225 288

You can also follow Intergate Emigration on either Facebook or LinkedIn where we’ll inform you of updates and developments as it happens.

Is this you – you’re eager to lodge your New Zealand visa application, because you want to get to New Zealand as quickly as possible?

Yes, it is?

Then let’s pause and remind you of the saying ‘haste makes waste’ – when you try to do things too quickly, sometimes you get them wrong or have to do them all over again.

Unfortunately it’s all too easy to ‘make waste’ when doing a visa application and the result often is unnecessary delays.

The best strategy is to take the necessary time and precautions to submit a complete and correct application.

Here’s our tips on how to do this:

1. Plan ahead

You have to start with an assessment to find out if you’re eligible to live in New Zealand. Book one as soon as possible if you haven’t done that yet.

The assessment will show which visa you stand to qualify for, which in turn will highlight the best way forward.

Knowing the emigration route available to you, means knowing which documentation you’ll need in future, whether or not you’ll have to do an English test, if you have to register with a professional body, etc. Essentially, all the parts of your application that you’ll have to submit.

2. Check that you’ve included all the required documentation

The one thing most applicants are guilty of, is neglecting to submit all the necessary documents. Our advisers often have to request documents a second time because it wasn’t included in the original pack.

The best thing to do is to have a checklist, to tick off documents as you go. Mark up also if documents should be photocopies, originals or certified copies.

If you’re working with an adviser, you should get a list of all required documentation. Your adviser should also check all documents once received, to ensure that you’ve sent them everything.

You may of course choose to do your New Zealand visa application on your own, but be aware that the experience might be more stressful, especially if you’re someone who gets stressed easily.

3. Check your passport

Your passport must be valid for at least 3 months after your visa expires and have enough free pages for any required visa labels.

When our clients have a passports valid for only a couple of months, our advice is always to apply for a passport before starting any visa applications.

When you have to apply for a new passport in the middle of an application, it could lead to delays.

4. Apply for your visa in time

Visa application take time to be decided and there’s nothing you, or us, can do once an application is in the hands of Immigration New Zealand.

It is thus important to allow sufficient time for your application when making the rest of your plans.

Need professional help with your New Zealand visa application?

Like we said, you can do your visa application on your own, but if you suspect that it would be a more pleasant experience with a professional by your side, you are more than welcome to contact us.

You can speak to an adviser by calling +27 (0) 21 202 8200 or by emailing us.

We’ll start with an assessment, the important first step, and then we’ll explain the best way forward – so that you can plan ahead and apply for your visa in time.

The New Zealand investor visa offers eligible candidates from around the world the opportunity to gain residence in New Zealand. There are two visa options:

• Investor visa
• Investor Plus visa

The route you’re able to choose will depend on your ability to meet the investment thresholds and the other relevant requirements associated with each visa.

1. Investor visa

You intend to make an investment of NZ$1.5 million in New Zealand for 4 years.

What are the requirements?

To be eligible for the Investor visa, you must:

• Be 65 years of age or under.
• Demonstrate 3 years of business experience in owning a business or being in a senior management position within a business:
  • With an annual turnover of at least NZ$1 million;
  • And with at least 4 full-time employees.
• Meet the English language requirements. This extends to any eligible accompanying family members.
• Be able to prove that you have an additional NZ$1 million available to use as settlement funds.
• Meet New Zealand’s health and character requirements.
• Meet the required points score.

2. Investor Plus visa

You intent to make an investment of NZ$10 million in New Zealand for 3 years.

How does the Investor Plus visa differ from the Investor visa?

When you choose to invest through the Investor Plus visa, you’ll have fewer requirements to meet than someone who invest through the Investor visa:

• There are no age restrictions on the Investor Plus visa.
• You don’t have to demonstrate any business experience
• You don’t have to have settlement funds available.
• There is no English language requirement or points test applied to the Investor Plus visa.

What are the requirements?

To be eligible for an Investor Plus visa, you must:

• Make the required investment in an acceptable investment.
• Meet New Zealand’s health and character requirements.

How should you make the investment?

You can only invest in acceptable New Zealand investments, for both visas. Additionally, investments must be made through the New Zealand banking system and investments must be from a validated source.

What is considered an acceptable investment?

Immigration New Zealand recognizes the following as ‘acceptable investments’:

• Equity in New Zealand firms, both public and private. An equity investment can be active or passive, and can be made direct or via managed funds.
• Bonds, issued by the New Zealand government, local New Zealand authorities or approved New Zealand banks, finance companies or firms.
• New residential property development that is not for your personal use and designed to make a commercial return on the open market.
• Up to 15% of the investment total can be philanthropic investment.

Generally, an investment must:

• Be capable of a commercial return under normal circumstances.
• Be invested in New Zealand in New Zealand currency.
• Have the potential to contribute to New Zealand’s economy.
• Not be for the personal use of the investor.

You can read more about acceptable investments on Immigration New Zealand’s website.

Here’s how the application process works

If you wish to apply for a New Zealand Investor visa, you must first lodge an Expression of Interest. If your Expression of Interest is successful, you’ll get an invitation to apply for New Zealand residence.

Should INZ approve your residence in principle, you’ll have 12 months to transfer your investment funds into an acceptable investment in New Zealand. You’ll have to provide verifiable documents to show that the investments came from the funds and/or assets that you nominated.

What happens after you get residence?

You’ll have to do the following once INZ has approved your residence:

Investor visa:

• Keep the investment funds in an acceptable investment for four years.
• Spend at least 146 days of each year in New Zealand in years two, three and four of your four-year investment period or 438 days over the four-year investment period.

Investor Plus visa:

• Keep your investment funds in an acceptable investment for three years.
• Spent at last 44 days in New Zealand each year in years two and three of your three-year investment period or 88 days over the three-year investment period.

For both visas, the number of days you’ll have to spend in New Zealand over the investment period will depend on the make-up of your investment.

Find out if you’re eligible for a New Zealand Investor visa

To see if you’re eligible to apply for a either the Investor or Investor Plus visa, simply book a free initial immigration assessment with our consultants. This assessment will show all New Zealand visas for which you could qualify. Following the outcome of the assessment, our consultants will discuss the best way forward for your emigration to New Zealand.