Last year, Immigration New Zealand (INZ) committed itself to processing border exception requests within two working days, except for other critical worker requests which INZ is processing within two weeks.

Due to ongoing border restrictions, the two-day time frame has been placing enormous pressure on INZ staff. Especially since INZ has been getting thousands of requests each month!

It seems likely that border restrictions are going to be in place for some time and the border exception environment is becoming more complex as new exception criteria are introduced.

As a result…

INZ has decided to change the processing time frame for border exception requests to five working days.

The average processing times largely depend on the type of request at the moment. For instance:

• ‘Family of a New Zealand Citizen or Resident’: Two days
• ‘Family of a Temporary Visa Holder’: Two days
• ‘Humanitarian’ category: Two days

‘Ordinarily resident’ exception requests, which are more complex, take longer.

Further reading

You can find a list of the critical purpose reasons under which you can apply for a border exception on Immigration New Zealand’s website – CRITICAL PURPOSE REASONS TO TRAVEL.

Immigration New Zealand announced on Monday, 19 October, that it’s deferring the fortnightly selection of Expressions of Interest under the Skilled Migrant and Parent categories for a further 6 months. The decision to defer this process was first made back in April due to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The New Zealand Government has said that the continued deferral will give INZ the space to focus on processing applications from people who are in New Zealand or people who are eligible to travel while border restrictions are in place.

Can migrants still submit Expressions of Interest?

This is what Intergate Emigration’s licensed advisor Sarah Hewitt had to say when we asked her this question:

“The Expression of Interest for the Parent category is a hard copy that’s couriered to New Zealand, so while EOI selection is closed, migrants are going to be unable to submit EOIs. Applicants will have to wait for the EOI selection to reopen again.

My advice to skilled migrant applicants would be to also wait for EOI selections to reopen again. EOIs from offshore applicants are only eligible for selection with 160 points and a job offer, so it won’t make sense to submit an EOI in the interim. The best plan of action would be to look at the temporary route first and to do an assessment to ensure that you qualify for the visa.”

Contact us if you’d like to explore other visa options

Do you have your heart set on living in New Zealand but you don’t want to wait for the EOI selections to open? Don’t hesitate to contact us to explore other visa options.

You can take the first step by booking a free initial assessment online. You could also email us at info@intergate-emigration.com or call us on +27 (0) 21 202 8200.

We would like to see you realise your dream of making New Zealand your home as much as you do!

Immigration New Zealand has made plenty of changes in September to accommodate certain groups of people despite the country’s ongoing border restrictions.

These changes have included visas extensions for certain residents who still find themselves overseas and making it easier for New Zealand employers to hire overseas workers.

The latest change is the decision to start processing and deciding offshore applications for some relationship-based visas and accepting visa applications under selected visa categories.

Relationship-based visas supported by a New Zealander

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) are once again processing some relationship-based visas to reunite families and couples that have separated by the border restrictions. However, a New Zealand citizen or resident has to support the visa.

These visas include the following:

• Visitor visas for partners
• Visitor visas for dependent children
• Visitor visas for children entering New Zealand for adoption
• Visitor visas for children adopted overseas before their New Zealand citizenship is confirmed
• Visitor visas under the culturally arranged marriage category
• Work visas for partners
• Resident visas for partners
• Student visas for dependent children

Successful applicants will be exempt from New Zealand border restrictions. There is no need to seek approval from INZ prior to travelling to New Zealand to enter the country.

What happens if your application is unsuccessful?

If Immigration New Zealand determines that your application does not meet the necessary requirements, a general visitor visa may be appropriate.

Should Immigration New Zealand grant you a general visitor visa instead, INZ will place your application on hold until border restrictions allow them to process general visitor visas.

You’ll have 6 months to enter New Zealand

Travel is still severely restricted the world over. Due to this, successful applicants will get a 6-month ‘First Entry Before’ date to allow for more time to secure flights and managed isolation or quarantine in New Zealand.

Application older than 3 months may need updated information

If your visa application is more than three months old when it’s assessed, Immigration New Zealand may need to ask for updated information. For instance, a new chest x-ray certificate.

Immigration New Zealand will notify you or your immigration advisor if updated information is needed.

Offshore applications accepted under selected visa categories

You can now apply for a visa under the following categories if you’re doing so from offshore:

• Refugee Family Support (Tiers 1 and 2)
• Migrant Investor (Investor 1 and 2), including Expressions of Interest for Investor 2
• Parent Retirement
• Entrepreneur

While Immigration New Zealand is going to accept applications for these visas, border restrictions means that INZ cannot grant the visas at the moment. However, INZ has said that they’ll process applications as far as is possible without granting approval.

With that said, your visa application is not guaranteed approval. Immigration New Zealand could still reject your application if you don’t meet the requirements.

Why did Immigration New Zealand decide to accept Entrepreneur and Investor visas?

The answer from Immigration New Zealand is that the Entrepreneur and Investor visa categories attracts around NZ$1 billion in investments each year in addition to valuable business networks.

INZ thus expects that processing these visa categories will support the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and wider government post-COVID-19 recovery plan.

How long will it take to process these applications?

Unfortunately, Immigration New Zealand are not able to prioritise any of the visa applications discussed here. INZ has said that their staff will process applications in the order by which the applications were received.

You can have a look at standard processing times on Immigration New Zealand’s website.

Do you need assistance with your visa application? We can help!

While you don’t have to use an advisor to assist you with your visa application, it is advisable to do so. Especially now when things are changing often!

Our advisors are experienced and all three advisors are also IAA licensed. This means our advisors are authorized to give advice and are held accountable for the advice they give our clients.

To get in touch with our advisors, simply give us a call on +27 (0) 21 424 2460 or book your free initial assessment on our website. You’ll hear from us within 1 hour!

The New Zealand government has relaxed the criteria for some overseas workers to allow migrants with critical skills through the border. The purpose of the decision is to help the country recover from its COVID-19 economic downturn.

Primarily, the criteria now defines skills as ‘not readily available’ in New Zealand as opposed to ‘not available in New Zealand’, and the change came into effect on Friday, 11 September.

Skills now described as ‘not readily obtainable’ in New Zealand

The New Zealand government has removed the requirement that migrants in critical occupations have to have gained their skills, qualifications or work experience overseas.

As reported by Radio New Zealand (RNZ), Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi said “Removing that requirement will allow entry, in some limited cases, where, for example, a workers has skills which are obtainable in New Zealand but they have unique experience gained overseas which would bring unique expertise to New Zealand businesses.”

The wording in the Immigration Act ordinarily states that these workers have to have unique experience and technical specialist skills that are ‘not obtainable’ in New Zealand. This wording has now been changed to ‘not readily obtainable’ in New Zealand to reflect that temporary change in requirements.

Minister Faafoi said about this that the “…wording change reflects that, in some fields, there is a very limited pool of experts and significant training would have to be undertaken before the skills were obtainable in New Zealand.”

Critical workers who meet the requirements are referred to as ‘other critical workers’.

It’s still far from a ‘free for all’

While New Zealand is working towards economic recovery, the country also wants to limit its exposure to the coronavirus and prevent the spread of the virus. To this end, ’other critical workers’ will still have to meet strict standards and criteria despite the loosening of the skills requirement.

New Zealand also has a limited number of isolation facilities for migrants arriving from overseas. This further restricts how many workers would be able to come through the borders.

Here’s how the process works…

New Zealand employers must request for approval of ‘other critical workers’ to enter New Zealand. Unfortunately, it is not possible for migrants to submit the request.

Further to this, employers can apply to bring employees to New Zealand under two categories:

• Short-term critical workers – staff needed for less than 6 months in total
• Long-term critical workers – staff needed for more than 6 months

Each of these categories has its own criteria:

Short-term critical workers

Workers coming to New Zealand for a short-term role, i.e. to fill a position for less than 6 months, must:

• Have unique experience and technical or specialists skills that are not readily obtainable in New Zealand, or
• Undertake a time-critical role for:
  • The delivery of an approved major infrastructure project, or a government approved event or a major government-approved programme
  • An approved government-to-government agreement
• Work that brings significant wider benefit to the national or regional economy

Examples of short-term critical workers

Immigration New Zealand has given examples of roles that may meet the short-term worker requirements. These examples include highly specialist veterinarians, vendor-appointed engineers required to install major equipment or an actor in a key film role.

Long-term critical workers

Workers coming to New Zealand to fill a long-term role, i.e. for 6 months or longer, must:

• Earn at least twice the median salary (NZD$106,080 a year), or
• Have a role that is essential for the completion or continuation of a science programme under a government funded or partially government-funded contract including research and development exchanges and partnerships, and has the support of the Science, Innovation and International Branch at MBIE to travel to New Zealand to carry out their work, or
• Be undertaking a role that is essential for the delivery or execution of:
  • a government-approved event, or
  • major government-approved programme, or
  • approved major infrastructure project.

You can find events, project and programmes that have already been approved on Immigration New Zealand.

What happens once the employer has made the request?

Immigration New Zealand will review each request on its own merits and may seek advice from the appropriate government agencies. At the moment, most requests for ‘other critical workers’ receive an outcome within two weeks.

In the case of successful requests, INZ will contact the workers whose employers get approval for an exception to the border restrictions and invite the workers to apply for a Critical Purpose Visitor Visa or a Critical Purpose Variation of Conditions to allow them to travel to New Zealand.

Workers will get instructions from INZ on how to apply for either of these visas. Workers will also have to pay the immigration fee and levies, if applicable, as part of their application.

Follow us to stay up to date with further developments

New Zealand has made a couple of immigration changes in September, including the resumption of off-shore visa application processing and visa extensions for certain residents.

It is safe to assume that more changes will be announced in future as the coronavirus pandemic subsides.

To be the first to know about any changes, simply follow us on Facebook or LinkedIn. If you’re not much of a social media person, you can also sign up for our newsletter that goes out monthly.

You’ll not only get visa news but also tips for your immigration and information about life in New Zealand.

Ongoing coronavirus border closures means that many people are still stuck on either side of New Zealand’s borders. This includes resident visa holders and partners of New Zealanders who are overseas as well as temporary migrants and visitors who are still in New Zealand.

To assist these groups of people, Immigration New Zealand has announced four visa changes:

1. Visa extensions for New Zealand residents overseas

New Zealand residents who are stranded overseas fall into two groups:

• Residents with visas that have expired or are close to expiring
• Residents who have received their visas but haven’t had the chance to enter New Zealand due to the world-wide border closures

Immigration New Zealand has said that it recognizes that these people have recently met residency requirements and would’ve entered New Zealand and contributed to the economy under normal circumstances.

For these reasons, Immigration New Zealand has decided to do either one of the following for visa holders who are overseas:

• A 12-month visa extension, for offshore resident visa holders whose travel conditions are about to expire
• Issue a new visa that’ll be valid for 12 months, for offshore resident visa holders whose travel conditions expired on or after 2 February 2020

Offshore resident visa holders who were granted their resident visas while overseas but who have never used it to travel to New Zealand will need permission from Immigration New Zealand to do so.

2. Visitor visa extensions

Immigration New Zealand is automatically extending onshore visitor visas that are due to expire between 4 September and the end of October by 5 months.

This will enable temporary migrants and visitors to remain in New Zealand lawfully while making plans to depart the country.

Immigration New Zealand will contact all eligible visa holders who qualify for this extension. Unfortunately, there are some visitor visa categories that do not qualify. These categories are:

• Critical purpose visa holders
• Guardians of students
• Partners or dependants of work visa holders whose visas were extended previously

3. New COVID-19 short-term visitor visa

Immigration New Zealand is introducing a two-month COVID-19 visitor visa for temporary migrants who are still in New Zealand. The visa will allow these migrants more time to arrange their departure from New Zealand.

This specifically includes people reaching the end of their visitor, work, student or partnership visa who do not meet the criteria for another visa.

The most important requirement to note about this visitor visa is that it does not allow the visa holder to work in New Zealand.

For more details about the COVID-19 short-term visitor visa, go to Immigration New Zealand.

4. Critical Purpose Visitor Visa expansion to reunite New Zealanders and their Australian partners

From early October, Australian partners of New Zealand citizens or residents can travel to New Zealand by requesting a Critical Purpose Visitor Visa. Partners can also request permission to travel for dependent children.

At the moment, Australian partners can only travel to New Zealand if accompanied by their New Zealand partner or if they ordinarily live in New Zealand.

It will cost NZ$45 to submit the request for the visa, but there won’t be a visa application fee.

You can read more about the Critical Purpose Visitor Visa here.

What about partners from visa waiver countries?

Partners from visa waiver countries can also request to apply for a Critical Purpose Visitor Visa. The same NZ$45 fee will apply and you’ll also have to pay a visa application fee.

Stay up to date with future changes by joining our newsletter

September has seen a lot of immigration changes. INZ has also announced the loosening of border restrictions for ‘other critical workers’ and that it will resume the processing of some offshore visa applications.

It is likely that we’ll see more changes from Immigration New Zealand as the world continues to battle the coronavirus.

To stay up to date, simply sign up for our monthly newsletter. Our newsletter also include immigration tips and information about life in New Zealand.

If you prefer, you can follow us on Facebook or LinkedIn instead where changes are shared as it happens.

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) made two significant changes to the Essential Skills visas on 27 July 2020.

INZ will now use median-wage thresholds to assess visa applications instead of skill levels and INZ has reduced the maximum stay duration of Essential Skills Visas for higher-skilled positions.

These changes only apply to visa applications made on or after 27 July 2020.

Median wage thresholds have replaced skill levels

If you applied for an Essential Skills Visa prior to 27 July 2020, Immigration New Zealand will use a combination of your job’s ANZSCO skill level and your salary to assess if you are low, mid or high skilled.

This system is no longer in use for applications made on or after 27 July. INZ will use a median-wage threshold as an indicator of skills instead.

This means Essential Skills visa applicants are now being assessed as either:

• at or above the median wage, or
• below the median wage.

INZ will use the current median wage of NZ$25,50 an hour when assessing Essential Skills visa applications.

The maximum duration of visas for higher-skilled shortened

Your skill level has always determined how long you can stay on your Essential Skills Visa.

This has gone through many changes over the past couple of years but the maximum stay for higher-skilled applicants has always been 5 years.

Unfortunately, this is no longer the case. Higher-skilled applicants who make visa applications on or after 27 July 2020 will now only be eligible for a maximum stay duration of up to 3 years.

This is how INZ will determine maximum stays:

• You earn at or above the median wage: You’re eligible for a visa of up to 3 years. There is no longer a 5-year visa for higher-skilled jobs.
• You earn below the median wage: You’re eligible for a visa of up to 6 months. The maximum combined duration of all work visas for jobs paying below the median wage is 3 years. After that time, you’ll be subject to a stand-down period of 12 months.

What is a stand-down period?

A stand-down period is a period during which you have to be outside of New Zealand before being able to apply for another visa for work that’s below the median wage.

You’ll have to honour a stand-down period if you:

• were assessed as lower-skilled if you applied for your visa before 27 July 2020, or
• earn below the median wage if you apply on or after 27 July 2020.

This stand-down applied even while INZ is processing a Skilled Migrant visa application.

The stand-down is delayed for 6 months for some visa holders

If you were in New Zealand on 10 July 2020 and you have an Essential Skills visa that’ll expire before 31 December 2020, your visa will be extended for 6 months and your stand-down period will be delayed.

You can read more about the duration of stay on Essential Skills visa on Immigration New Zealand’s website.

Supporting accompanying family members

You’re still  able to support family members who want to join you in New Zealand, but the ‘how’ will also be determined by the median-wage threshold:

• You earn at or above the median wage: You can support a work or visitor visa for your partner as well as visitor or student visas for your dependent children.
• You earn below the median wage: You can support your partner for a visitor visa. If your partner would like to work in New Zealand, they’d have to apply for a work visa in their own right once they’re in New Zealand. You can also support visitor or student visas for your dependent children, provided you meet the minimum income threshold, which is currently NZ$43,322.76 or more.

Stay up to date with future changes

To be in the know as and when any future visa changes happen, simply sign up for our newsletter. It’s free and lands in your inbox once a month. Alternatively, follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn where we share immigration news as soon as it’s announced.