With one month to go until the closure of the 2021 Resident Visa, Immigration New Zealand (INZ) encourages those who are eligible for the 2021 Resident Visa to submit their applications before the category closes at 11:59pm on 31 July 2022.

INZ has received over 100,000 applications involving more than 200,000 people since the one-off simplified pathway to residence opened on 1 December 2021.

These applications involve many people working in areas of skills shortages, including but not limited to, 5,975 health workers, 13,967 construction workers, 5,481 primary industry workers and 761 teachers.

INZ’s Border and Visa Operations General Manager Nicola Hogg says as of 27 June 2022, 61,343 people have become New Zealand residents through this one-off policy.

“We have granted residence to more than the double number of people who were granted residence in the 18 months prior. 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,” Nicola Hogg says.

“We have been and continue to work hard to process applications, and I’m proud of the work we have done to get to this point.

“To date, 89 per cent of applications received in Phase 1 have already been processed and we are making good progress on applications received in Phase 2.

“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,” Nicola Hogg says.

INZ remains 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:

• how long each task takes to complete
• if manual assessments are required
• if we have to wait for information from an applicant

“As these checks are completed, we expect to see the number of applications decided significantly increase,” Nicola Hogg says.

More information about the 2021 Resident Visa is available on the Immigration New Zealand website here: https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zealand-visas/already-have-a-visa/one-off-residence-visa, including:

• an eligibility checker here: https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zealand-visas/already-have-a-visa/one-off-residence-visa/2021-resident-visa-eligibility
• a "How to Apply" video here: https://www.immigration.govt.nz/,videos/2021-resident-visa-phase-one, outlining the application process,
• and an application checklist here: https://www.immigration.govt.nz/documents/forms-and-guides/2021-resident-visa-application-checklist.pdf.

© Scoop Media