15/09/20 - BREAKING NEWS - update

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Latest news and update on the processing of overseas applications, click here

14/09/20 - Overseas immigration employees on full pay, New Zealand staff struggle with tech

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Staff at overseas government offices who have been off work during lockdown have remained on full pay - at an estimated cost of $7 million.

And more than 3000 staff at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) were still using Windows 7 systems, causing delays to working from home.

Immigration New Zealand (INZ), a business unit of MBIE, said 427 overseas staff had been kept on, but for security reasons they did not have the option to work from home.

Read more: 14/09/20 - Overseas immigration employees on full pay, New Zealand staff struggle with tech

10/09/20 - BREAKING NEWS - Important update

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The latest Important update from INZ, click here

09/09/20 - Covid-19: Number of investor visa applications soar since outbreak

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Wealthy Americans are leading a surge in foreign investors seeking a safe haven in New Zealand from their coronavirus-ravaged countries and economies.

The number of investor visa applications has soared since the coronavirus outbreak, and the government agency working to attract overseas money says New Zealand's strong coronavirus strategy is behind a tenfold surge in interest.

New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) - the government's business development agency - said some people wanted to invest in a New Zealand company that is operating or selling in their home market, while others wanted to relocate their own business here.

"New Zealand's response to Covid has definitely been noticed in other countries, and has created a window in time where interest in relocating businesses to New Zealand or investing here is higher than normal," said NZTE general manger of investment Dylan Lawrence.

"Where before we might field one to two approaches a month we're currently receiving about five a week. But there is a difference between having interest and then having engagement and outcomes."
Coronavirus was working against investors getting on the ground in New Zealand to do their work and NZTE had to do its due diligence.

"We're only after certain types of investment - we say the investment's got to be good for New Zealand not just good for the investor, and by that I mean how real is it, does it create jobs for New Zealanders, does it bring capability networks, technology, or does it provide access to new markets?

"On the other side it's still a really uncertain investment environment out there right now and with the movement of people across borders being really difficult, it has
made global investment a lot harder. And I think that sort of played out in the global statistics with merger and acquisition activity at a 10-year low this year, and also the number of venture capital deals were well down this year, back to 2014 levels.

"There's a lot of interest out there and there's a lot of money out there - the challenge is converting that interest and that money into good outcomes for New Zealand."

North Americans now accounted for more than half of the inquiries the agency fields, followed by investors from Europe.

New Zealand's coronavirus response had multiplied its existing advantages, he said - of lifestyle, its Pacific Rim location, trade deals and innovative businesses.

Immigration lawyer Simon Laurent added another factor to that list.

"New Zealand offers a level of civic stability and safety, which many people in the US do not feel in their home country," he said. "And sadly, that means that any destination that is basically Covid-19 free and offering a stable government and civil society is very attractive to people who are in fear for a number of reasons of their daily life back in the US.

"We're seeing a continual increase in interest, not just in the investment field but in people from the United States in whatever situation who are increasingly approaching us in order to find some way that they can come to New Zealand. The anecdotal comments that I've been hearing and receiving personally from people for instance in the US, and not just in the US, is that New Zealand is one of the few places that they feel really stands out as somewhere that they would like to live."

Investment could offer a secure long-term option for those who can afford it, said Laurent, and by the time they were approved and had transferred their investment funds, the border may have re-opened to welcome them.
Immigration figures show applications from top-end investors with at least $10 million have more than doubled in the three months to August compared to the same time last year.

The number of Americans wanting to invest at least $3m has grown by even more - only a handful of Americans applied this time last winter but the United States has been the top nationality since June.

Laurent said those investments brought benefits apart from the welcome injection of cash.

"The policy is set up to encourage the human capital to come into the country - people who've got business experience, who know how to make money and how to share the wealth," he said. "And those are the sorts of
people I think we need to continue encouraging, especially when we're moving into what appeared to be recessionary times.

"So overall I believe that the government ought to put a focus back on finding a way for such people to be able to come and move to New Zealand and settle here because of what they can bring both fiscally, and in a perhaps less tangible way of their skills and their abilities - that is something that needs to be facilitated."

Source: RNZ, Gill Bonnett

09/09/20 - Govt's lifeline to 5600 new residents stranded overseas

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Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi on his way into the House for Question Time, Parliament.

The Government has changed New Zealand's visa rules so new residents stranded overseas because of Covid-19 will be able to hold on to their residency status.

The new settings mean than anyone whose travel conditions are about to expire will receive a 12-month extension to travel to New Zealand.

And those whose travel conditions have expired on, or after, February 2 this year – when travel restrictions began – will be issued a new visa, also valid for 12 months.

Under the current settings, once someone is granted a resident visa they must travel to New Zealand within a certain timeframe to have it activated.

But the border restrictions have prevented many people from returning to New Zealand and, as a result, their visa has expired or is about to expire.

Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi said the new changes will provide around 5600 resident visa holders with more certainty about their ability to come and settle in New Zealand in the future.

"The Government recognises that these individuals have recently met the requirements to be granted residence," he said.

"If not for border closures forced by the Covid-19 pandemic, they would be living in New Zealand and contributing to our team of five million," Faafoi said.

But he added that individuals will only be able to travel to New Zealand if they are exempt from the current border restrictions or have been granted an exception.

Extending travel conditions for these visa holders or issuing a new visa does not mean they are now exempt
from the current border restrictions if they were not previously, Faafoi said.

"It has been important to run tight border restrictions to keep Covid-19 contained while also prioritising the return of New Zealanders.

"But we are now able to start making some adjustments to immigration settings which will allow a small number of people who, under normal circumstances, would have the right to come to New Zealand to know that will still be possible," he said.

Source: NZ Herald

09/09/20 - New border exception for normally resident work visa holders

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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 Minister of Immigration, Kris Faafoi, has announced 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.

“We are keen to give them certainty and welcome them back to New Zealand,” Kris Faafoi said.

“To date, the Government’s priority has been to facilitate the return of New Zealand citizens and permanent
residents. Since April more than 40,000 New Zealanders have come home.

“We are now starting to be able to make adjustments to our COVID-impacted immigration settings which will allow a small number of people who, under normal circumstances, had the right to come to New Zealand to do so now.

“That requires balancing the numbers of people returning with the capacity to manage them in isolation facilities so we can keep COVID-19 contained.

“We have the ability to cope with around 7000 people in managed isolation at any one time and those who fit the specific criteria of this new normally resident border exception category are now able to be managed within our system alongside returning citizens and permanent residents.

“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 be considered for the new border exception and to demonstrate a strong and ongoing connection to New Zealand with realistic prospects of remaining here long- term, 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.

The Government is expecting up to 850 visa holders may be eligible for this category and it will monitor numbers. 

Source: Kris Faafoi, Minister of Immigration, Beehive

04/09/20 - BREAKING NEWS - important for visitor visa holders

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Please click here if toy current onshore visitor visas is due to expire between 4 September and the end of October 2020.

02/09/20 - BREAKING NEWS - update from INZ

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Please click here for the lates information ...

19/08/20 - The Covid-19 pandemic will be over by the end of 2021, says Bill Gates

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Millions more are going to die before the Covid-19 pandemic is over. That is the stark message of Bill Gates, a co-founder of Microsoft and one of the world’s largest philanthropists via the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in an interview with Zanny Minton Beddoes, The Economist’s editor-in-chief, in early August.

Most of these deaths, he said, would be caused not by the disease itself, but by the further strain on health-care systems and economies that were already struggling. He also lamented the politicisation of the response to the virus in America, and the spread of conspiracy theories– some implicating him–both of which have slowed efforts to contain the disease’s spread.

But he offered reasons for hope in the medium term, predicting that by the end of 2021 a reasonably effective vaccine would be in mass production, and a large enough share of the world’s population would be immunised to halt the pandemic in its tracks.

Gates believes the pandemic will be over by 2021, but not before millions of deaths, especially in poor countries.

Gates had spent much of his time thinking about viruses, and vaccines, well before the novel coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan in the Chinese province of Hubei late last year.

The Gates Foundation is central to the global alliance trying to eradicate polio by vaccinating everyone and to ease the burden of malaria and find a vaccine against it. It is several years since he warned that a new disease causing a global pandemic was a matter of when, not if, and called for the world to hold “Germ Games” along the lines of the wargames carried out by armies.

The foundation has already pledged more than US$350m (NZ$527.8m) to the Covid-19 pandemic response, much of which is focused on reducing its impact in the developing world. But more is needed. “We all need to spend billions to get the vaccine out to save the trillions that the economic damage is doing,” he says.

Patchy data make it hard to assess the true extent of the damage in many poor countries. By August 17 the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, a public- health body, had recorded over 1 million cases and over 25,000 Covid-19 deaths in Africa.

In India, almost 52,000 are recorded to have died from the disease. The true number in both places is probably much higher. But the coronavirus is not the only deadly force at play in the pandemic-struck developing world.

The millions of deaths that Gates predicts will be caused not only directly by Covid-19, but by the knock-on effects. Almost 90 per cent will be indirect deaths, he says. Lockdowns will reduce access to immunisation and medicine for other diseases.

Deaths from malaria and HIV will rise. Lower agricultural productivity will see hunger spread and education rates fall. When it comes to the fight against poverty, the virus could wipe out a decade of gains.

To mitigate that risk, Gates is calling on rich countries to buy vaccines for poor ones. This is not entirely altruistic: if some countries remain reservoirs for the disease, it will continue to pop up again in others.

If vaccines are priced high enough in rich countries to cover the fixed costs of production–clinical trials, building factories and so on–then the marginal cost of supplying poor countries would be relatively modest: of the order of $10bn-12bn in total.

He sees the bulk of that money coming from America, which he also gives “by far the highest grade” on research and development for a vaccine, accounting for 80 per cent of the global total. He hopes to see money pledged to buy vaccines for the poor world in Congress’s next supplemental spending bill.

Whether that happens depends on politics. Congressional negotiations on America’s next stimulus package have been stalled for weeks. The country’s stark political polarisation has complicated its response to the virus, introducing problems that other countries do not face.

Essential coronavirus information

The simple act of wearing a mask has become a political statement, rather than a matter of seeking and then following expert advice, as is the case almost everywhere else. Depressingly, Gates thinks that this cannot be undone, even if November’s election means a change of direction at the top.

Once public trust is lost, and a policy has shifted from the realms of cost-benefit analyses into partisanship, it is not easy to reverse. Under a Joe Biden presidency, Gates thinks, refusing to wear a mask might become a way for supporters of Donald Trump to signal their anger and resistance.

Lack of leadership in America has hampered the response to the pandemic outside the country’s borders, too. The world’s sole superpower has long taken the lead on global public-health efforts, and without it, consensus is that much harder to forge. And the mood in many countries is one of retreat from multilateralism and co- operation via international institutions. It is hard to see that trend reversing, since the disease is hitting government revenues hard everywhere. Generosity, no matter how beneficial for donor as well as recipient, is in short supply when budgets are being squeezed.

It is not enough for there to be a vaccine: people have to be willing to take it. And on this, too, Americans are lagging behind. A recent poll by Gallup found that one in three would not agree to receive an FDA-approved vaccine, even if it were free. But here the news is more favourable.

The latest research, Gates explained, suggests that the other coronaviruses in circulation, and partial immunity afforded by vaccines already in use for other diseases, already grant a measure of protection against Covid-19. It is also not as contagious as some other diseases. The current best estimate is that 30-60 per cent of the world’s population will need an effective vaccine in order to halt the pandemic. “Fortunately, this isn't measles. We
don't need over 90 per cent of people to take the vaccine.”

In 2000, when Gates stepped down as Microsoft’s chief executive, the Gates Foundation launched GAVI, a global alliance for providing vaccines in poor countries.

His involvement in vaccines for polio and measles have made him an expert in ensuring equitable distribution– especially in poor countries.

And this is where Gates’s outlook is most positive. He believes the Covid-19 vaccine will be the fastest ever made. If it is ready for distribution in the time he predicts, it will be by far the quickest vaccine ever to come to market.

The world is on track to meet this target. More than 150 vaccines are being developed worldwide, with six in final, large-scale clinical trials. Gates has already donated hundreds of millions to the cause. He is willing to donate a lot more. But money from private foundations has limits–governments have to take the lead, he thinks, both because it is their health-care infrastructure that will have to be used for distribution, and in order to gain public support and trust. So far the US government has pledged a mere US$10b or so to global efforts to manufacture and distribute vaccines. This is not enough.

(Source: Stuff NZ)

12/08/20 - COVID 19 Alert Level 3

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Alert Level 3

If you're unwell

• If you’re sick, stay home. Don’t go to work or school. Don’t socialise.
• If you have symptoms of cold or flu call your doctor or Healthline and get advice about being tested.
• If you have been told to self-isolate you must do so immediately.

Personal movement

Under Alert Level 3 you should continue to stay in your household bubbles whenever you are not at work or school.
You should stay within your household bubble but can expand this to connect with close family/whānau, or bring in caregivers, or support isolated people.

It’s important to protect your bubble. Keep your bubble exclusive and only include people where it will keep you and them safe and well. If anyone within your bubble feels unwell, they should self-isolate from everyone else within your bubble.

Don’t invite or allow social visitors, such as friends, family and whānau, to enter your home.

Physical distanceMaintain physical distancing of 2 metres outside your home, including on public transport, when buying the groceries or exercising.

Masks

It is highly recommended that you wear a mask if you are out and about.

Work

Under Alert Level 3, you are encouraged work from home if you can.

Businesses

Businesses are able to open, but should not physically interact with customers.

Essential services including healthcare, justice services and businesses providing necessities are able to open.

Bars and restaurants should close, but takeaways are allowed.

Public venues

Public venues should close. This includes libraries, museums, cinemas, food courts, gyms, pools, playgrounds and markets.

Travel and transport

Travel should be restricted to permitted movement in your local area, for example going to work or school, shopping, or getting exercise.

You should not travel to another region for recreation or work unless you're an essential worker travelling for work. 

You should not take a flight to another region unless you're an essential worker, travelling to do essential work.

Public transport can continue to operate with strict health and safety requirements. You should maintain physical distancing and wear a mask.

Education

Where possible we encourage students to learn from home. Schools can safely open but will have limited capacity. 

Gatherings

Gatherings of up to 10 people can continue, but only for:

• wedding services
• funerals and tangihanga.

Physical distancing and public health measures should be maintained.

Exercise and recreation

You can do low-risk recreation activities in your local area, for example to go for a walk or a run, a swim at the beach, a day walk or fishing from a wharf.

You can hunt on private land, but not on public conservation land. You should stay within your region and stick to your bubble. Overnight trips are not encouraged. You should only hunt on foot — using quad bikes, off-road bikes, helicopters and other motorised vehicles is not encouraged.

Boating, yachting and any team sports or training are not encouraged.

You can do recreational activities by yourself or with people from your bubble.

At-risk people

People at high risk of severe illness such as older people and those with existing medical conditions are encouraged to stay at home where possible, and take additional precautions when leaving home.

(Source: NZ Government)