Kia ora,  

Further information regarding visa processing under COVID-19 Alert Levels. 

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) is operating under the same Alert Level 4 lockdown requirements as all businesses are in New Zealand, which means our offices are currently closed in order to keep our staff safe. All INZ staff who have not been designated as Essential Workers are now at their homes during lockdown, working remotely where they are able to. Visa processing staff are not considered Essential Workers.

Staff working from home due to the current COVID-19 restrictions are processing the following online visa products:     

• Exceptions to border restrictions 
• Essential Skills work visas (including streamlined visas) 
• Work to Residence visas    
• Partnership visas (temporary and residence) 
• Post-study work visas    
• Student visas    
• Visitor visas    

If an online channel isn’t available and your employee’s visa is due to expire, please contact us.

An interim reconsideration process of a temporary entry decision for onshore applicants has been set up. Please note applicants requesting reconsideration via the Immigration Contact Centre must still do so within 14 days.   

Immigration New Zealand continues to monitor Employment Visa Escalation requests, however during the current restrictions we are unable to prioritise paper applications.   

Make an online request for priority allocation of employment-related visa applications: EmploymentVisaEscalations@mbie.govt.nz

On 19 July 2021, changes were made to some Essential Skills requirements.

There is now a new online application form for some Essential Skills Work Visas.

To help provide essential services in supermarkets while New Zealand remains at Alert Level 3 or 4, already employed temporary migrants can:   

• vary hours   
• be redeployed to other roles within their current workplaces   
• be redeployed to workplaces within same region.   

These changes apply to employees of supermarkets that operate under Woolworths New Zealand Limited, Foodstuffs North Island Limited and Foodstuffs South Island Limited during Alert Level 3 and 4 as an essential service.   

Affected supermarket workers or their employers won’t need to apply for a Variation of Conditions to amend their visas. Workers meeting the specified requirements will automatically benefit from the changes. 

Employment New Zealand and Immigration New Zealand can help protect migrants from being exploited.   

This process is now online – migrants should visit Employment New Zealand to complete the form. 

For information security and privacy reasons, paper applications cannot be removed from offices and processed at current alert levels.  

We acknowledge the impact this may have on your employees.   

Ngā mihi,   
Immigration New Zealand