A lot has happened since COVID-19 first struck our beautiful country in March 2020. COVID-19 impacted immigration settings, travel, movement, businesses, and above all, our daily lives.
In the frenzy of the constantly evolving situation, our migrant community has been impacted significantly. The New Zealand border has been closed since March 2020 and temporary visa processing from offshore suspended since August 2020 with only very limited exceptions. These exceptions include partners and dependent children of New Zealand citizens or residents, eligible “normally resident” work visa holders, critical health workers, “other critical workers” supported by their New Zealand employers, and eligible returning students. People who do not automatically have border exemption status must first request, and be approved for, a border exemption before being allowed to travel to New Zealand and everyone on arriving in New Zealand must undergo 14-days of quarantine in a Government managed facility.