Venkat Raman
Auckland, September 5, 2020
Visitors and other temporary visa holders including international students can continue to stay in New Zealand, following an automatic extension of their vias by the government.
The temporary relief for temporary visa-holders came on Friday, September 4, 2020 following an announcement by Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi.
The changes include (a) automatic extension of current onshore visitor visas that are due to expire before the end of October 2020 for five-months and (b) introduction of a new two-month Covid-19 short-term visitor visa to help temporary migrants who are unable to leave New Zealand due to international travel restrictions when their current visa expires.
The changes only apply to people already in New Zealand but does not include overstayers whose visas expired before the spread of Covid-19 in March 2020.
Mr Faafoi said that temporary migrants should have a valid visa to remain lawfully in New Zealand; otherwise they are required to leave the country.
“However, we know that international travel restrictions due to Covid-19 have affected many people’s ability to leave New Zealand before their visas expire,” he said.
Mr Faafoi hoped that the changes will provide visitors and other temporary migrants stranded in New Zealand with more certainty and time to organise travel arrangements home.
Temporary migrants by numbers
There are about 19,000 people in New Zealand holding current visitor visas that are eligible for the automatic five-month extension from the date of expiry of their visas.
Since March 2020, about 268,000 foreign nationals have departed New Zealand.
Mr Faafoi said that in addition to the automatic extension for visitor visa holders, the new two-month Covid-19 short-term visitor visa will help people reaching the end of their current visitor, work, student or partnership visa.
These people may not meet the criteria for another visa, but need time to arrange travel home.
Eligibility criteria
“To be eligible for the Covid-19 short-term visitor visa, Immigration New Zealand must be satisfied that visitor visa holders are genuinely unable to leave New Zealand as a result of Covid-19, they are intending to depart, and they meet normal good character requirements,” he said.
However, temporary migrants who choose to apply for the Covid-19 short-term visitor visa will not need to meet other usual visitor visa requirements, such as demonstrating that they have enough money to support their stay, having existing onward travel arrangements, or that they have met time-limits for their stay in New Zealand.
“These are short-term, practical measures that are designed to help people remain lawful in New Zealand while they get their travel home organised,” Mr Faafoi said.
Further details will be available on Immigration New Zealand website later this month.
