grant of a visa to allow entry into New Zealand.
o Once onshore, applicants may submit a further application in order to receive the full duration of their visa.
• Entry is permitted for certain work visa holders who left NZ between 1 December 2019 and 9 October 2020 and held Essential Skills Work Visa (mid-skilled or higher or assessed as at or above the medium wage), Work to Residence Visa or
Entrepreneur Work Visa when they left.
o Must be able to show they have the same job or continue to operate the same business in NZ.
o Must have been resident in New Zealand for at least two years, or between one and two years.
▪ If they lived in New Zealand for between 1 and 2 years they must also have:
▪ had 1 or more dependent children with them in New Zealand for at least 6 months of that 12-month period;
▪ parents or adult siblings who are currently in, and who are ordinarily resident in, New Zealand; or
▪ submitted their application for their current resident visa by 10 August 2020.
o If the visa expires before 1 January 2021, the holder must have applied for a new visa to remain in the same job before 10 August 2020.
o Exception requests may include partners and dependent children who held or currently hold a temporary visa or resident visa based on their relationship with the principal applicant and include any children born overseas after 1 December 2019 while the applicant was unable to return to New Zealand.
o Applicants whose resident visa has been approved since they left NZ and have made a successful request under this exemption will be contacted.
o Exception requests are expected to take two weeks to consider. This is in line with timeframe for ‘other critical worker’ border exceptions.
• Entry is permitted for partners of NZ citizens and residents.
o Holders of a passport from Australia or a visa waiver country.
o Evidence of a genuine and stable relationship.
o Dependent children can be included in the same border exception request.
o Australian partners will be charged NZ$45 for the travel request and will typically be granted a resident’s visa on arrival.
o Partners from visa waiver countries will be charged NZ$45 for the travel request fee, along with a subsequent partnership visa application fee.
• A new category of “other essential worker” is exempt from the suspension of entry. Applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
o This applies to short-term (less than six months), time-critical roles where the worker has a unique and technical or specialist skill that is not obtainable in New Zealand, or is involved in a major infrastructure project, an even to of national or regional importance, a government-approved programme, a government-to-government agreement or something that will have a significant benefit to the national or regional economy.
o It also applies to long-term (more than six months) roles where the worker meets one of the criteria above and earns twice the median salary ($106,000) or has a role that is essential for the completion of a government-funded science programme, the delivery or execution of a government-approved
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event or a role in a programme that is of major significance to New Zealand such as the America’s Cup.
o An individual applying under this category may also request approval for their partner and dependent children to come to New Zealand with them.
o Strict quarantine rules remain for anyone coming into New Zealand. The worker and their family must secure a place in managed isolation or
quarantine for 14 days, and the worker or their employer must cover the costs.
• The following fees apply to border exception Expression of Interest (EOI) requests.
o NZD 380 for employers who request exceptions for ‘other critical workers’ (or
organisations or agencies that sponsor requests); and
o NZD 45 for individual requests under all critical purpose categories.
o Employers will be able to request an exception for ‘other critical workers’
online, rather than manually.
Immigration Restrictions
• The suspension of off-shore visa processing for most temporary visas has been extended until May 2021 from the previously announced 8 February 2021.
• Under Alert Level 2, Immigration offices will process more visa applications, according to a new priority scheme.
• For skilled migrant and residence for work visa applications, first priority is given to applicants who earn more than $106,080 per year; or who hold current occupational registration (where required). Prioritised applications are being allocated to a case officer within two weeks of entering the queue. Other applications are put in a low- priority queue – processing of these cases is currently beginning about six months after submission, and applicants in New Zealand may need to renew their temporary entry visas.
• For temporary entry visas, first priority is given to applications for critical work to support the COVID-19 response, applications with an urgent humanitarian need, applications to travel under the APEC travel programme, diplomatic visas and all other applications where the applicant is already in NZ.
Immigration Concessions
• Visitor visas have been automatically extended by two months from date of expiry for those who are in New Zealand on 19 February and with visas due to expire between 19 February and 31 March inclusive.
o There is no application fee and no application needs to be submitted.
o The extension does not apply to COVID-19 short-term visitor visas.
o Although the new expiry dates are not yet visible on visas, the extension is valid. Visa holders who are eligible for the extension are not considered unlawful, even if an automatic extension notification has not yet been issued. New expiry dates will be available on the Visa Verification Service after 5 March.
o Visitor visa holders who wish to remain in New Zealand for longer, you will need to apply for another visa before your visa expires.
o The rule where visitor visa holders can only be in New Zealand for nine months out of an 18-month period has been waived temporarily. This applies to people in New Zealand who apply for visitor visas before the end of June. If all other requirements for a visitor visa are met, applicants will be eligible for a visitor visa of up to six months.