Immigration New Zealand is preparing operationally to move into Alert Level 3 next week on Tuesday 28 April.
Alert Level 3 impact on INZ
Staff will continue to work out of the head office in Wellington or remotely, focusing processing efforts on urgent COVID-19 related applications including applications from individuals who have a critical purpose for coming to New Zealand.
INZ is also prioritizing the processing of some visa categories for applicants who are already in New Zealand. These are:
temporary visa applications for Victims of Family Violence,
partnership category temporary visas (including reassessments),
full fee-paying student visas, and
post-study work visas.
Essential services – short term variation of conditions request form online
From 16 April, employers or advisers who are acting on behalf of an employer can request a variation for a short period.
This is to help businesses continue essential services and allow temporary migrants and international students to further assist with our essential services during the COVID-19 response.
Medical care for unlawful migrants
It is imperative that anyone who has symptoms of COVID-19 should contact Healthline for free on 0800 358 5453 or their doctor immediately. Immigration status will not impact people’s ability to receive health care. People unlawfully in New Zealand should seek medical advice if they are unwell. They can rest assured that their treatment will be in complete confidence and their information will not be passed on to other agencies.
Going hard and early against COVID-19 has put New Zealand in a good position to prevent the wave of devastation we’ve seen abroad.
Moving to Alert Level 3 is about making sure we don’t waste the opportunity we have to keep on top of the virus, while giving our economy a chance to start rebooting.
Alert Level 3 will see some restrictions eased slightly, but the primary goal is still to stay home as much as possible, to break the chain of transmission and to save lives.
New Zealand has moved to Alert Level 1 as of Monday 8th June. This is a milestone achievement for New Zealand as one of the leading countries that has managed to curb the Covid-19 Corona virus and eradicated it from the country.
At Alert Level 1, everyone can return without restriction to work, school, sports and domestic travel, and you can get together with as many people as you want. All kiwis are encouraged to keep track of where they have been using either the govt contact tracing app or maintain their own records. There are no restriction on domestric travel within New Zealand meaning no restriction on flight, buses and trains. People are encouraged to travel domestically and support local businesses. International travel is banned and borders are closed with some exceptions.
