Over 100,000 new Kiwis can now call New Zealand ‘home’ after the 2021 Resident Visa reached the halfway point of approvals, Minister of Immigration Michael Wood announced today.

“This is another important milestone, highlighting the positive impact our responsive and streamlined immigration system is having by providing comfort to migrant families and kiwi businesses,” Michael Wood said.

“These new Kiwis bring valuable skills that help our businesses and economy grow, including 3,721 health workers, 11,368 construction workers and 576 teachers, people who want to be here and have certainty about their ability to stay here and make New Zealand their home. Over the coming months we can look forward to thousands more critical workers committing their future to New Zealand.”

More than 53,000 of the 106,000 applications for the Government’s one-off, simplified path to residence have got the green light in the nine months since the application process opened, providing a way forward for 100,000 migrants and their families and certainty for New Zealand businesses.

“The Government continues to provide pathways to help relieve workforce shortages. We have just opened the Green List Straight to Residence Pathway, confirmed this year’s Refugee quota, confirmed the reopening of the Pacific Access Category, brought forward places set aside for Afghani refugees, and we continue to see great progress in the 2021 Resident Visa,” Michael Wood said.

“The 2021 Resident Visa gives migrants certainty about their future here, allowing them to continue to put down roots. It is helping reunite many families who were separated by the border restrictions that prevented COVID-19 entering the community.

“Employers asked the Government to provide more certainty to migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2021 Resident Visa delivers on that. Through this pathway employers can retain their settled and skilled migrant workers, reflecting the critical part they play in our economy, essential workforce and communities.

The interest in the 2021 Resident Visa has exceeded expectations. It shows that New Zealand is an attractive place to live and stay for migrants,” Michael Wood said.

Editor’s note

Eligibility

The 2021 Resident Visa was available to most work-related visa holders, including Essential Skills, Work to Residence, and Post Study Work visas and their immediate family members.

To be eligible, the principal applicant must have been in New Zealand on 29 September 2021 and must hold or have applied for (and subsequently be granted) one of the eligible work visas. They must also meet one of the following criteria:

· lived in New Zealand for three or more years, or

· earn above the median wage ($27 per hour or more), or

· work in a role on the Long-Term Skill Shortage List, or

· hold occupational registration and work in the health or education sector, or

· work in personal care or other critical health worker roles, or

· work in a specified role in the primary industries.

The visa was also available for those who enter New Zealand as critical workers, and their families, for roles six months or longer until 31 July 2022.

Visa holders could also include their partners and dependents in their application.

Process

The application process for the 2021 Resident Visa was simplified to deal with applications as quickly as possible. Applicants still needed to meet health requirements and pass police and security checks, as is required under the current residence application process.

Each application had a series of checks which needed to be done, so people should not expect an even flow of approvals. Decisions will not necessarily be made based on when the application was released 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 Immigration New Zealand has to wait for information from an applicant

Phases

Applications for the 2021 Resident Visa were accepted from 1 December 2021 to 31 July 2022 in two phases:

· From 1 December 2021, people who have submitted a Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) or Residence from Work (RfW) application could apply, as well as those with dependent children 17 years or older who currently have an SMC Expression of Interest (EOI) submitted.

· From 1 March 2022, all other eligible applicants, including any others in the SMC Expression of Interest pool, could apply.

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