Residence visas brought forward

Up to 10,500 people eligible to apply for a 2021 resident visa from March 1 will be able to apply from next week, says Immigration New Zealand (INZ).

General manager Geoff Scott says good progress is being made with processing applications received since the category opened on December 1, which means INZ can allow people who had already taken a step towards applying for residence to apply for their visas earlier than planned.

“Since phase one opened on December 1, we have received more than 13,000 applications,” he adds. “Of those, nearly 6,000 have been approved resulting in more than 12,500 people becoming residents under this new policy.

“This means we are well-through processing applications received under phase one. The majority of applications still being processed are waiting for third-party checks to be completed or more information from the applicant before they can be progressed.

“Due to the good progress made, individuals who have a skilled-migrant category expression of interest [EOI] submitted on or before September 29, 2021, will be able to apply from February 21.

“This will be done in a staggered way in the order of the date the individual submitted their EOI, with up to 1,500 individuals able to apply each day from February 21. This will limit the number of applicants trying to apply at any one time and reduce pressure on the online system.”

People who can apply early will receive an email from INZ on the day they’re able to apply from and will need their EOI reference number.

“Allowing this group of individuals to apply early recognises they had already taken a step towards gaining residence by submitting an EOI, but their pathway was impacted by the suspension to EOI selections as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic,” says Scott.

INZ continues to prepare for remaining eligible applicants to start applying when phase two opens on March 1. “We’ve learnt from phase on and are working on ways to manage the large volume of applications expected under phase two.”

More details about the 2021 resident visa can be found at www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zealand-visas/already-have-a-visa/one-off-residence-visa.

Processing information is located at www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zealand-visas/waiting-for-a-visa/how-long-it-takes-to-process-your-visa-application/2021-resident-visa-processing-times.