New Shores Migration

20/07/2022

INVESTOR VISA MAJOR CHANGEOVER

- new category Active Investor Plus starting 19/09/22.
- current Investor 1 & 2 categories close after 27/07/22.

As part of the Government’s Immigration Rebalance strategy, changes to New Zealand’s investor visa settings will be made to attract experienced, high-value investors bringing growth opportunities to domestic businesses.

23/05/2022

IMMIGRATION HIGHLIGHTS May 2022

• New Zealand border will reopen from 1 August 2022
All visa categories, including Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV), will open for applications on 4 July, 2022.

• ACCREDITED EMPLOYER WORK VISA (AEWV)

AEWV will be available mainly to workers with remuneration equalling to, or
exceeding the median wage (from 4 July - $27.76 per hour). ESWV will close for
applications on 3 July.

• PARTNERS OF WORK VISA HOLDERS

From December 2022, partners of most temporary migrant workers will need to
apply for their own AEWV or Visitor Visa.

• ONE-OFF OPEN WORK OPEN WORK VISAS

These were granted by special direction on 9 May 2022 to those currently in New
Zealand holding one of the visas below, with expiry between 9 May and 31
December, 2022.

o Essential Skills Work Visa
o Post Study Work Visa
o Partner of a New Zealander Work Visa
o Eligible Ukraine nationals granted a temporary visa on 10 March 2022.

The open work visas are valid for 2 years from the expiry of the previous one and
allow multiple entries. Families of the above visa holders have also been granted new visas depending on the type of the visa previously held and subject to conditions.

• WORK TO RESIDENCE VISAS

The visas below, with expiry between 9 May and 31 December, 2022, have been
extended for 6 months by special direction.

o Talent (Accredited Employers)
o Talent (Arts, Culture and Sports)
o Long Term Skill Shortage List
o Skilled Migrant Category Job Search Visa
o South Island Contribution

The extension includes the family of the visa holders, subject to conditions.

• WORKING HOLIDAYS

Below are the dates the following schemes reopened

o South Korea: 10 May 2022
o China: 19 May
o Taiwan: 25 May
o Argentina: 26 May
o Chile: now 31 May
o Luxembourg: 17 May
o Czech Republic: 2 June

• VISITORS

Visa applications will reopen for visitors applying from Pacific Islands Forum countries (the list below) starting 16 May 2022. These applications can be made online only.

Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Nauru, New Caledonia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu. Already open are applications from Cook Islands and Niue.

15/03/2022

NEW VISA FOR FAMILIES OF UKRAINIANS

Ukrainians in New Zealand can apply from 15 March 2022 to bring their families here.

Read more:

The 2022 Special Ukraine Visa allows Ukrainian New Zealanders to apply to bring family members still in Ukraine to New Zealand.

03/02/2022

NEW ZEALAND BORDER RE-OPENING CONFIRMED

The phased plan will allow more families to reunite, sectors and employers to access more skilled workers from offshore, business travel and international events to resume, and more international students to return to New Zealand.

Vaccination, COVID-19 testing and isolation requirements will continue.

Managed Isolation & Quarantine (MIQ) requirements will remain for the unvaccinated. MIQ requirements for other travellers will be lifted as follows.

STEP 1 - NEW ZEALANDERS IN AUSTRALIA
27 February 2022

Fully vaccinated New Zealanders and other travellers eligible under current border settings from 11:59 pm on Sunday 27 February.

Travellers from Nauru, Tuvalu and American Samoa will be able to enter from Step 1.

STEP 2 - NEW ZEALANDERS AROUND THE WORLD
13 March 2022

Fully vaccinated New Zealanders and other travellers eligible under current border settings from 11:59pm on Sunday 13 March.

Travellers from Solomon Islands, Kiribati and Fiji can enter New Zealand from Step 2.

Working Holiday Schemes will begin to reopen.

The salary criteria for critical workers in roles longer than six months will be reduced to 1.5 times the median wage. The requirement for these workers to demonstrate ‘unique experience and technical or specialist skills that are not readily obtainable in New Zealand’ will be removed. Workers entering under these settings will not be eligible for the special 2021 Resident Visa.

STEP 3 – TEMPORARY VISA HOLDERS, INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
12 April 2022

Current offshore temporary visa holders (who still meet relevant visa requirements) and up to 5000 international students selected by the Ministry of Education from 11:59 pm from Tuesday 12 April.

Wider entry for sports and other events will be enabled. Additional and expanded class exceptions for critical workers earning below 1.5 times the median wage will be implemented from Step 3.

STEP 4 - BORDERS TO AUSTRALIA REOPEN
July 2022

Our borders will open to Australia, visitors from visa waiver countries and Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) holders from July.

Opening travel to Australians and visitors from visa waiver countries means family members of more onshore temporary migrants will be able to visit New Zealand.

At this point, the border exception pathway for critical workers will be phased out as it will no longer be needed with the opening of the new AEWV category. The new Accredited Employer Work Visa will be limited mainly to roles that pay above the median wage.

Workforce class exceptions and other border exceptions will remain in place where needed until wider visa processing resumes.

STEP 5 – normal visa processing resumes
October 2022

Most visa categories, including visitor and student visas, will reopen in October.

The New Zealand border will reopen to vaccinated Kiwis and other current eligible travellers from Australia at 11.59pm on 27 February and to the same groups from the rest of the world only two weeks later on 13 March.

13/12/2021

BORDER CLASS EXCEPTIONS FOR 600 SPECIALIST TECH SECTOR WORKERS AND 290 AGRICULTURAL JOBS

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/new-border-exception-support-rapidly-growing-tech-sector

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/more-skilled-migrants-coming-help-keep-economy-humming

Border class exceptions for 600 much-needed specialist tech workers have been announced today by the Minister for the Digital Economy and Communications, Dr David Clark.

08/12/2021

PROCESSING OF OFFSHORE RESIDENCE APPLICATIONS WILL RESUME

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) will resume processing offshore residence applications – both those received prior to the border closure in March 2020 and new applications.

As a result of the border restrictions imposed last year because of COVID-19 processing of most visa applications offshore was halted.

Now the Government has now decided in the wake of a recent court judgment to remove the restriction that prevents first-time resident visa holders granted a resident visa offshore from travelling to New Zealand. This means residence processing will recommence for all offshore applicants.

The Government will also decide how to enable people who applied for a resident visa after the border restrictions came into force in March 2020 to travel to New Zealand. There are around 3,000 applications on hand in this category.

Around 4,000 people offshore who already hold resident visas but who were not able to travel are now able to come to New Zealand. They will be able to travel here if they meet the relevant health requirements (such as holding vouchers for Managed Isolation and Quarantine and undertaking pre-departure tests).

Those granted a visa under the 2021 Resident Visa category will also be able to travel to New Zealand if they are granted their visa while overseas.

Those who travel later in 2022 may be able to enter without quarantining, depending on the border restrictions in place.

12/10/2021

WORKING HOLIDAY AND SSE VISAS EXTENDED FOR 6 MONTHS

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/government-provides-certainty-working-holiday-and-seasonal-visa-holders-and-employers?fbclid=IwAR0nUaSfndie58TVb612oepQUGe-gIzs1Z9UlP50-dGco2AVb0AgorztO1g

The Government will extend Working Holiday visas and Supplementary Seasonal Employment (SSE) work visas for six months to provide more certainty to employers and visa holders over the coming summer period, Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi has announced.

29/09/2021

NEW 2021 RESIDENT VISA IS LAUNCHING

The Government has announced the start of a new one-off residence visa pathway from 1 December 2021.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

You are eligible if you are currently in New Zealand and were here on 29 September 2021. You must also meet at least one of the following criteria:

- have lived in New Zealand for 3 years or more, or
- earn at or above the median wage ($27/hour), or
- work in a role on one of the shortage lists.

WHICH VISAS SHOULD YOU HOLD TO BE ELIGIBLE?

Some temporary work visas including, for example,

• Post Study Work Visa
• Talent (Accredited Employer) Work Visa
• Essential Skills Work Visa
• Religious Worker Work Visa
• Talent (Arts, Culture, Sports) Work Visa
• Long Term Skill Shortage List Work Visa
• Work Visa granted under s.61 (under certain conditions)
• Some Critical Purpose Visitor Visas (CPVV)
and others

WHAT ABOUT CHILDREN AND PARTNERS?

You can include your dependent children and partners (including those currently overseas) in your residence application.

WHEN CAN YOU APPLY?

- From 1 December, 2021, if you have already applied for residence under the Skilled Migrant Category and Residence from Work, or have submitted an Expression of Interest under SMC and have included your dependent child (17 or older).
- From 1 March 2022 – all other eligible applicants.
- The applications close 31 July 2022

Some work visa holders currently in New Zealand as well as some critical purpose visitor visa holders may be eligible to apply for residence under the new residence category – the 2021 Resident Visa.

12/08/2021

GOVERNMENT PLAN TO RE-OPEN NEW ZEALAND

Highlights:

- vaccination speed-up;
- 6 weeks between vaccine doses;
- 3 pathways for travellers in 2022 (Low-, Medium-, and High-Risk) with varying testing and isolation requirements;
- a pilot in Oct-Dec '21 to test Medium-Risk pathway (including self-isolation)

The Government will use the second half of 2021 to vaccinate as many New Zealanders as possible and safely conduct a self-isolation trial for vaccinated New Zealanders in order to prepare for a phased resumption of quarantine-free travel, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today.

15/07/2021

ESSENTIAL SKILLS WORK VISAS news

- ESWV PAID BELOW THE MEDIAN WAGE - NOW FOR 2 YEARS.

- NO NEED FOR A LABOUR MARKET TEST IF YOU ALREADY HOLD THE JOB.

- NO NEED FOR A MEDICAL OR POLICE CERTIFICATE IF PROVIDED EARLIER.

Read more

Two year Essential Skills visa to provide certainty to at least 18,000 visa holders

07/07/2021

TEMPORARY VISA APPLICATIONS LAPSED AND REFUNDED & OTHER NEWS

New Zealand maintains strict border controls to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Due to these border restrictions, INZ cannot legally grant visas to people outside New Zealand who are unlikely to meet our entry requirements. This means applications from most of these people cannot be approved.

VISA APPLICATIONS LAPSED

The Minister of Immigration has recently agreed to lapse visa applications that cannot be approved due to the border restrictions. INZ will refund application fees and levies for applications being lapsed. INZ will also refund and return temporary visa applications received from people outside New Zealand after 10 August 2020, when offshore applications were suspended.

Immigration New Zealand currently has about 50,000 temporary visa applications on hand that will be refunded. These are mainly visitor, student and work visa applications.

EXTENDED TEMPORARY VISAS

Applicants in New Zealand whose existing temporary visa was automatically extended by special direction will be contacted by INZ and can choose to withdraw or proceed with their application.

EMAIL NOTIFICATION

The affected visa applicants do not need to do anything. If they are eligible for a refund we will email them, or their representative, when their refund is being processed. They do not have to ask us for the refund.

REFUND ELIGIBILITY

The applications to be refunded are mainly visitor, student and work visa applications.

Refunds for visa applications that cannot be processed
https://www.immigration.govt.nz/about-us/covid-19/border-closures-and-exceptions/refunds-for-visa-applications-that-cannot-be-processed/?utm_source=Immigration%20New%20Zealand&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=C0040_Refunds_7July2021&utm_content=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.immigration.govt.nz%2Fabout-us%2Fcovid-19%2Fborder-closures-and-exceptions%2Frefunds-for-visa-applications-that-cannot-be-processed%2F

REFUND PROCESS

Refunding this many applications is a significant administrative task. Over the next few months INZ will email eligible visa applicants, or their representative, when their refund is being processed. For applications submitted and paid online, the credit card used will be refunded.

If the payment was made by a third party on behalf of the applicant (such as a Licensed Immigration Adviser), it is the responsibility of the applicant and their representative to arrange reimbursement of the refund. Immigration New Zealand is not able to mediate between the applicant and their representative.

In some cases, INZ may need to ask the refund request form be completed to make sure the refund can be processed and the fees and levies paid to the correct bank account.

FUTURE APPLICATIONS

Future applications will not be affected by the refunding of these applications.

Immigration New Zealand will be refunding application fees and levies for temporary visa applications that cannot be processed due to New Zealand’s current border restrictions.

09/06/2021

PAYMENT THRESHOLD RAISED TO$27 FOR WORK VISAS AND SMC.

WORKING HOLIDAY AND SSE WORK VISAS TO BE EXTENDED

Around 10,000 Working Holiday visas and Supplementary Seasonal Employment (SSE) work visas due to expire between 21 June 2021 and 31 December 2021 will be extended for another six months.

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/visa-extensions-provide-certainty-employers-and-10000-visa-holders?fbclid=IwAR0yIHESeyD45uG8vycReKLyrtEGYTjxqKKx38IeZQpw8WroWnTwIFXZh8Q

Changes to onshore visas will provide employers and visa holders with more certainty, Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi has announced.