“After two years of putting would be immigrants, their families, foreign workers, employers, and basically anyone involved in crossing the New Zealand border through the wringer, Immigration New Zealand has managed to score another own goal,” says ACT’s Immigration spokesperson Dr James McDowall.

“Previously, Immigration New Zealand took too long to process applications. Now its website crashes before they are even accepted. It has yet again failed to do basic planning, with its efforts to manage today’s rollout of the 2021 Resident Visa resulting in a crashing website, and a ‘waiting room’ for applicants which is going nowhere.

“I predicted this last week, the problem – and the solution – are obvious. If Immigration New Zealand didn’t have such long processing times, people would not be so desperate to get their visas processed.

“Immigration New Zealand has had two years with closed borders. Any dynamic organisation, with good Governance from its Minister would have used that time to clear its backlog and upgrade its systems. Unfortunately, after two years of COVID, the backlogs are still there and the clunky systems are still there.

“The next Government will have to seriously reform Immigration New Zealand with a zero-based review. What is Immigration New Zealand for, what tools does it need to deliver, and how do we get from where it is now to where it needs to be?

“This Government claims to be one of kindness but the way it’s treating migrants is cruel. It’s time for the Government to do what’s right.”

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