Immigration New Zealand (INZ) response to Covid-19

An Epidemic Management Notice has been issued which means that current INZ instructions are no longer practical. INZ has announced that all temporary work visa holders – Work Visa, Visitor Visa, Interim Visa and even Limited Visa, whose visa is expiring between 2 April 2020 to 9 July 2020 will have their visa automatically extended to 25 September 2020.

With regards to people who are wanting to come to New Zealand, it is only open to NZ Citizens and Residence Visa holders. However, INZ has allowed very limited exceptions to assist certain circumstances such as humanitarian reasons, essential health workers, etc. A request to travel back to New Zealand needs to be submitted and only when they are approved can they come back.

INZ also needs to make tough decision on which visa type needs to be prioritized. Health care workers who have a job offer to start from March 2020 to June 2020 are prioritized because they will be working for critical purposes. On the other hand, a number of visa programmes have been suspended, not cancelled just suspended. Expressions of Interest for the Skilled Migrant Category and Parent Category are suspended.

The above responses are not limited to those as there are a huge number of changes that INZ needs to accommodate. Please check the INZ website for full details of the Covd-19 response.

We expect a number of changes in the next week months. Please follow us on Facebook.

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