Immigration

Reopening dates brought forward After initially announcing a full reopening of New Zealand borders in October, the Government has decided to bring the date forward and lift all restrictions at our borders after 31 July 2022. This means all visa categories will reopen by then, including visitors and students, and the New Zealand border will be fully reopened by 1 August 2022. On 4 July 2022 – applications for work visas open, including the Accredited Employer work visa On 1 …

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Emotional reunions After allowing highly skilled workers and Working Holiday visa makers a few weeks ago, this week marks another major step towards a complete reopening of New Zealand, as the borders reopen to visitors from 60 visa waiver countries. The countries permitted that are known as ‘visa waiver countries’ include most of Europe and the Americas, as well as parts of Asia and the Middle East. Monday 2nd May saw Auckland and Christchurch airports welcome the reunion of many …

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A new temporary visa for family of Ukrainians in New Zealand The New Zealand government has released a new temporary visa to help Ukrainians in New Zealand bring their family still in Ukraine to New Zealand. Applications for the 2022 Special Ukraine Visa are open for 12 months from 15 March 2022. Questions? Contact us! Who is eligible for a 2022 Special Ukraine Visa? To be eligible, you must have family members in New Zealand who are eligible to sponsor …

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Easing of restrictions for skilled workers In line with step 2 of the Government’s staged approach to reopening NZ borders, skilled workers offshore may now seek a border exemption and Critical Purpose visa, subject to a job offer in New Zealand. Questions? Contact us! New workers You will be deemed critical worker and qualify for a border exemption and Critical Purpose Visa if you are offered at least  1.5 times the median wage (NZD $84,240 a year or NZD $40.50 …

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Reopening of Working Holiday visa categories As part of the 5-step approach to reopening NZ borders, the Government is reopening uncapped Working Holiday schemes from 14 March 2022. On 14 March 2022, the following working holiday schemes will open to applicants from Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, USA, Japan. All others will open on a rolling basis with all schemes to be reopened by 13 September 2022. Immigration New Zealand is also …

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Reconnecting New Zealand to the World (again) The Government has announced a new, five-step approach to reopen New Zealand borders to the world. Key to this process is the removal of Managed Isolation and Quarantine for most travellers. MIQ will be replaced with self-isolation and tests on-arrival. Note that mandatory MIQ will remain for unvaccinated travellers. This new plan prioritises the reopening of certain key visa categories in a short timeframe in order to address worker shortages. New Zealand’s unemployment …

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The NZ Government announces new border exceptions for up to 600 tech workers as well as external auditors and primary industry employees More information (Beehive) Newshub Specialist tech workers wanted A range of specialist tech workers will be able to request a border exception from early 2022, as part of a Government initiative to support the IT sector, one of the top three export industries in New Zealand, and growing. Eligible occupations include software and application programmers, ICT managers, ICT …

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Offshore residence applications reopened Residence applications received by Immigration New Zealand from offshore applicants received before, and after March 2020, had so far been kept on hold. Across all categories, this represents over 5,000 residence applications which processing was on hold due to border restrictions. A recent court case has ruled that there was no legal ground to halt processing of these applications. INZ website First time resident visa holders to be allowed in NZ In line with these decisions, …

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