AUCKLAND (NZ Punjabi News Service): To enable the return of some temporary work visa holders who are overseas and have strong, ongoing links to New Zealand, the government is creating new border exception category.
Announcing this, Immigration Minister, Kris Faafoi said that visa holders, who must have retained their job or business in New Zealand, plus their partners and dependent children, will be able to apply for this exception from early October when the new category opens.
“Many of these visa holders and their families have lived in New Zealand for years and have built lives here with the hope and expectation that they would be able to stay longer-term in New Zealand. It is only fair to let these visa holders return given their long-standing and ongoing connections to this country," he said.
“We are keen to give them certainty and welcome them back to New Zealand,” Kris Faafoi said.
Since April more than 40,000 New Zealanders have come home.
He said government is starting to be able to make adjustments to COVID-impacted immigration settings.
The government need to do balancing act by allowing people keeping in view the capacity to manage them in isolation facilities so as to contain COVID-19.
“In order to manage flows of returnees into Managed Isolation, they will also be expected to use the managed isolation allocation system when it goes live,” Kris Faafoi said.
To apply under the category, visa holders must:
still hold their job in New Zealand, or continue to operate a business in New Zealand hold either a work to residence visa, or an essential skills visa that is not subject to the stand-down period, or an entrepreneur visa have departed New Zealand on or after 1 December 2019 have lived in New Zealand for at least two years, or, if living in New Zealand for at least one year, have one of the following: an entrepreneur work visa and operating a business in New Zealand (and operated it before departing New Zealand) their dependent children with them in New Zealand (for at least six months) parents or adult siblings who are ordinarily resident in New Zealand submitted an application for residence by 31 July 2020 have held a visa at the time of departing that does not expire before the end of 2020, or, if expiring before that date, have applied for a further visa by 10 August 2020. Up to 850 visa holders may be eligible for this category and government will monitor numbers.