Chinanews.com, December 3 According to a comprehensive report from New Zealand Tianwei.com, on December 2, the New Zealand Immigration Service (INZ) announced that it will resume processing overseas residency applications received before the border closure in March 2020.
It is reported that before the border is closed, about 2,300 resident applications received by the Immigration Bureau are still pending.
Due to border restrictions imposed by the epidemic last year, most overseas visa applications were suspended.
Although INZ has resumed processing some selected overseas applications, it has not yet made any decision on these applications.
The news announced on Thursday (2nd) is to make progress in processing applications so that once the border restrictions are lifted, the Immigration Bureau can make a decision more quickly.
However, in a recent court case, the court ruled that under the condition of open borders, the processing of residency applications submitted overseas should be completed.
The reason is that at the time of submission of the application, the border directive does not contain any border restrictions on residence visa holders.
Affected by the epidemic, the government is implementing border restrictions, but the Immigration Department has now decided to proceed with overseas residency applications.
These applications will be processed in the chronological order of receipt, and INZ will contact the applicants for updates soon.
In addition, about 4,000 overseas people who already hold resident visas but cannot enter the country are also protected by the High Court’s decision.
This means that if these visa holders meet the isolation and quarantine requirements (such as booking MIQ isolation hotels and conducting pre-departure testing), they can now enter New Zealand.
Those who have obtained a visa through the "2021 Resident Visa" can also travel to New Zealand if they are overseas.
(Sophia)