Staff Reporter
Auckland, July 9, 2022
Immigration New Zealand INZ) has advised all those eligible to apply for Resident Visa under the 2021 Residency Programme to do before 11.59 pm on July 31, 2022.
Border and Visa Operations General Manager Nicola Hogg said that the Department has thus far more than 100,000 applications involving at least 200,000 people since the one-off simplified Pathway to Residence opened on December 1, 2021.
“These applications involve many people working in areas of skills shortages, including but not limited to, 5975 health workers, 13,967 construction workers, 5481 primary industry workers and 761 teachers. As of 27 June 2022, more than 61,340 people have become New Zealand residents through this one-off policy,” she said.
Sharp rise in Vias issued
Ms Hogg said that INZ has granted residence to more than the double number of people who were granted residence in the 18 months before December 1, 2021.
“That is a fantastic achievement and gives certainty to those individuals about their ability to stay permanently in New Zealand while also providing surety to employers knowing they have the skills needed as they work through the tail of Covid-19 impacts. We continue to work hard to process applications, and I am proud of the work we have done to get to this point,” she said.
At press time, almost 89% of applications received in Phase 1 have already been processed and INZ is reportedly making good progress on applications received in Phase 2.
Enhanced Online System
“To ensure processing is as quick as possible for applicants, those who have applied using the enhanced Immigration Online System should ensure all their supporting documents have been submitted to ensure their application is ready for processing. We also encourage anyone who has not yet applied for their 2021 Resident Visa to get their application in before the category closes on 31 July 2022,” Ms Hogg said.
She said that INZ is committed to processing all 2021 Resident Visa applications as quickly as possible, with each application requiring a series of checks to be done as part of the assessment process. This means that decisions will not necessarily be made based on when the application was released for processing or the principal applicant’s visa expiry date. The time taken to make a decision depends on a number of factors, including (a) how long each task takes to complete
if manual assessments are required (b) the need to wait for information from an applicant
“As these checks are completed, we expect to see the number of applications decided significantly increase,” Ms Hogg said.
More information about the 2021 Resident Visa is available on the Immigration New Zealand website here: 2021 Resident Visa including an eligibility checker here: 2021 Resident Visa eligibility “How to Apply” video here: Video — 2021 Resident Visa Phase 1, outlining the application process, and an application checklist here: Application ChecklistPDF 630KB
