Immigration

While strict border controls are still in place to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, Immigration New Zealand cannot legally grant visas to people outside of New Zealand who are unlikely to meet the border entry requirements.

As of July 2021, significant changes to employer-assisted work visas are underway. From 1 November 2021, the new Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEVW) will replace 6 work visas.

The Government has established a new category that will allow 250 international PhD and postgraduate students to enter New Zealand and continue their studies, in the latest set of border exceptions.

On 9 September 2020, the Government announced it was creating a new border exception category to enable the return of some temporary work visa holders who are overseas and have strong, ongoing links to New Zealand.

The New Zealand border is currently closed to most travellers. New Zealand citizens and permanent resident visa holders are still able to travel to New Zealand as are Australian citizens and permanent residents who are ordinarily resident in New Zealand.

The Government recently announced an epidemic management notice for visas, to control the spread of COVID-19. This comes into effect on Thursday 2 April 2020.

In September 2019, Minister Iain Lees-Galloway announced changes to temporary work visas.