Kia Ora & Season’s Greetings!
The world has changed for all of us! We hope you and your family are well in such extraordinary times. The past couple of weeks especially has seen a raft of announcements. This newsletter covers all the good tidings that Immigration New Zealand (INZ) and Education New Zealand (ENZ) have brought to us, in addition to a few other exciting news items.
The first phase of the 2021 Resident Visa applications opened on 1st December 2021, with expectations soaring high. Barring a few teething problems initially, it seems that the first lot of eligible applicants and their family members are well on their way to making New Zealand their permanent home. The government has also taken pains to ensure that dependent children of those applicants whose 2021 Resident Visa applications are under processing can access tertiary education as domestic students.
INZ is working overtime to ensure it is as simple as possible for migrants in New Zealand to check their eligibility for New Resident Visa and accordingly lodge their applications based on the documents checklist made available on the government website. However, each migrant has different circumstances and challenges. Therefore, it is always good to take advice from experienced professionals, especially when considering the high stakes involved in this once in a lifetime opportunity.
Meanwhile, acknowledging the critical shortage of certain skilled professionals in New Zealand, the government hopes that the 2021 Resident Visa will give certain critical workers a fantastic one time opportunity to arrive in New Zealand until 31st July 2022 and apply for residence.
INZ has recently also decided to remove the restriction that prevents first-time resident visa holders granted a resident visa offshore from travelling to New Zealand. The good news is that those who travel in 2022 may enter without quarantining, depending on the border restrictions in place.
The nomination process of border class exception for 1,000 international tertiary students is well underway. As a result, their dreams of studying on-campus in New Zealand will become a reality from March 2022.
And finally, an excellent note to end the year on! The announcement regarding the opening of the borders in a phased-manner has brought great respite to many. This news has given a glimmer of hope to families to reunite, students to pursue their dreams of studying on campus in NZ and businesses to return to their respective commitments.
Happy reading!
Merry Christmas everyone!
