New Zealand’s immigration ministry, Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has seen its visa application processing capabilities severely reduced by the coronavirus lockdown.
Because of delayed processing, around 51,000 people have been left waiting on decisions regarding their New Zealand visa and residence applications.
Lockdown in New Zealand and overseas visa services offices being closed means that at least 10,000 more New Zealand visa and residence applications compared to last year are currently awaiting decisions, as an increasing number of NZ immigration applications continue to pour in.
Lowered government residence targets and select visa applications getting prioritised over others has also added to the delay.
More than half of the residence applications are from skilled migrants already living in New Zealand. Thousands of others remain stranded offshore, awaiting outcomes on their visa and residence applications.
