The Government is putting in place a range of immigration policy changes to help fill labour shortages in key industries while ensuring New Zealanders, who have lost jobs due to COVID-19, have the chance to find new employment.
The Government has established class exceptions for border entry for a limited number of veterinarians, deep sea fishing crew, as well as agricultural and horticultural machinery operators.
The Minister of Immigration has announced adjustments to immigration instructions to provide more clarity to the assessment criteria for employers wanting to request a border exception for their workers under the ‘other critical worker’ category.
The Government is 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 Government is making changes to current border exception rules to allow some partners of New Zealand citizens and residents to be able to reunite in New Zealand.
The Government is making changes to help new residents stuck offshore keep their residency status while COVID-19 travel restrictions remain in place.
The Government is making short-term, practical changes to visa settings to help visitors and other temporary migrants remain in New Zealand lawfully while they arrange travel home, says Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi.
Temporary migrant workers will be better protected by sweeping changes to prevent exploitation and improve enforcement, say Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, Minister for Workplace Relations Andrew Little, and Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi.
The Government is extending the border exception criteria to enable some offshore victims and support people of the Christchurch mosque attacks to attend the sentencing of the accused beginning on 24 August 2020, says Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway.
Recognised Seasonal Employers and migrant seasonal workers stranded in New Zealand will be able to continue working and supporting themselves with more flexible hours and roles, says Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway.
The Government is making immediate short-term changes to visa settings to support temporary migrants already onshore in New Zealand and their employers, while also ensuring New Zealanders needing work are prioritised, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says.
Protections for workers who are employees of one employer but working under the direction of another business or organisation have come into force, closing a gap in legislation that made the personal grievance process inaccessible for some workers, says Workplace Relations Minister Iain Lees-Galloway.
The Government is proud to play our part in international humanitarian work to provide support and protection to refugees, and celebrate the contributions our refugee community makes on World Refugee Day today says Minister of Immigration Iain Lees-Galloway.
Today the Government is taking the next steps to safely help reunite New Zealand families, and support economic recovery without increasing the risk of COVID-19, say Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford and Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway.
Parliament has today passed legislation to ensure that the Government can respond quickly, appropriately and efficiently to immigration issues arising from the COVID-19 outbreak.
A Bill to temporarily amend immigration legislation to support the quick and efficient management of visa changes during COVID-19 is being introduced to Parliament tomorrow.
Travel restrictions, closing our border to almost all travelers came into force from 23:59 on Thursday 19 March 2020 (NZDT).
New Zealand has ratified the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Protocol to the Forced Labour Convention, reinforcing our strong commitment to ending forced labour and other forms of mod
We’ve improved border security with the NZeTA, New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority, which helps us to screen travellers for border and immigration risks off-shore before they travel to New Zealand. It was launched in August and became mandatory on 1 October 2019.
The Government has fixed an issue affecting how Immigration New Zealand has processed visa applications for culturally arranged marriages, which will now see a consistent process applied which ensures people with legitimate arranged marriages can visit New Zealand while also preventing any rorting of the system.
As part of its work to ensure businesses can get the skilled workers they need, the Coalition Government is re-opening and re-setting the Parent Category visa programme, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says.
New Zealand playing its part in Asia-Pacific and globally are behind changes announced today to the Coalition Government’s three year refugee quot
Creating thriving regions and inclusive local communities is the aim of the Welcoming Communities programme being rolled out across the country, s
