New Zealand and the rest of the world have entered curious times facing the threat of COVIC-19. Things have changed and it is a very unsettling time for migrants. Immigration New Zealand (INZ) have been making changes over the last 12 months which has had a drastic impact on migrant workers, especially those hoping to gain residency.
Now with this pandemic putting NZ economy into a tailspin, we are going to see a lot of migrants in some dire situation. To support our clients, the wider migrant community and the employers we have created this COVID-19 page and information will be updated as soon as possible.
With over 30 years of combined immigration experience, the Access NZ team are ready to guide you through your journey during these difficult times. Business is as usual for us and we are accessible to help with your immigration matter.
Together we can beat this virus and claim back the lifestyle we all love, which makes New Zealand such a sought-after country to live in.
Listen to our New Zealand immigration lawyer Ned Burke talking about the latest new regarding Covid-19 and NZ visas
Government eases visa restrictions for visitors in New Zealand
Two month automatic visitor visa extension for most visitor visa holders Temporary waiver of time spent in New Zealand rule for visitor stays Visitor visa holders will be able to stay in New Zealand a little longer as the Government eases restrictions for those...
Priority returning degree and post-grad international students can return to study in NZ
From April 2021, up to 1,000 priority returning degree and post-graduate international students and their families will be able to return to New Zealand to continue their studies. The Ministry of Education will determine criteria for distributing the cohort. Places...
Comprehensive visa changes allow onshore migrants to help fill labour shortages
Six month extension for employer-assisted work visa holders Postponed stand down period for low-paid Essential Skills visa holders Retain 2019 median wage of $25.50 per hour for immigration settings until at least July 2021 Working Holiday visas extended by 6 months...
No Transiting New Zealand to China
From 7 November, you can no longer transit New Zealand to China. The Chinese Government has introduced new health testing requirements for COVID-19. There are currently no testing facilities in the transit area of New Zealand airports. If you have already been...
An American reveals ‘truth’ about living in New Zealand
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daGehZKksxk An American who spent time living in New Zealand has opened up about life was really like for him downunder. In a video posted online, the man from California detailed the variations in cuisine between the US and New...
Deferral of EOI selections for the SMC and Parent Category
The Government first deferred EOI selections for the Skilled Migrant Category and Parent Category in April 2020. The Government will continue to defer the Expression of Interest selection process for the Skilled Migrant Category and Parent Resident Category for a...
Mount Language Centre Offers Free English Courses
Mount Maunganui Language Centre have recently been approved to offer FREE ENGLISH COURSES via the Tertiary Education Commission’s PTE ESOL Fund for the following visa holders, Partner of a New Zealander Work Visa Partner of a New Zealander Visitor Visa Child of a...
Skills Matching Services for Migrants Who Lost Jobs
Immigration New Zealand has extended its newcomer skills matching and job search assistance services programme to prioritise assisting skilled migrants who have lost jobs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Usually newcomer skills matching services are focused on...
Changes made to Work to Residence temporary visas
The Government is making changes to allow some Work to Residence (WTR) visa holders to maintain their pathway to residence. Residence visa applicants who hold the following work to residence (WTR) temporary visas may benefit: Talent (Accredited Employer) Talent...
Seasonal work visa available to more people
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. “Two key sectors we are moving to...
Essential Skills visas are changing 27 July 2020
Changes on Essential Skills work visa are coming into effect on 27th July 2020, the existing ANZSCO skill band is going to be replaced with wage threshold to determine visa conditions for ES work visa. Changes include visa duration, labour market test and family. If...
Covid-19 Update: Travel to New Zealand
From 18 June partners and dependants of New Zealand citizens and residents who are ordinarily resident in New Zealand or hold a visa on the basis of their relationship will no longer need to travel with their New Zealand citizen or resident family member to be...
Latest News Regarding Covid-19 and NZ Visas
Listen to our New Zealand immigration lawyer Ned Burke talking about the latest new regarding Covid-19 and NZ visas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRoCUvy0Z_I&fbclid=IwAR19rzSm_x4rsOo4yTvrO33jTnEFTzwS1aEBL4prlZlNY27hPUQ7lnbPNCo
Immigration Webinar
Please complete the registration form below and we will send you the webinar link by email within 24 hours of registration. Please check your inbox and junk folder, if you haven't received the email, please contact us immediately on info@accessnz.com or +64 7 571...
Immigration NZ announce relaxed visa conditions for essential services
The Government has agreed to relax visa conditions for a short period to allow temporary migrant workers and international students to further assist with our essential services during the COVID-19 response, says Immigration New Zealand. The changes come into effect...
NZ border closures and exceptions
The New Zealand border is currently closed to most travellers. New Zealand citizens and permanent resident visa holders can travel to New Zealand. Resident visa holders can also travel to New Zealand (excluding those whose resident visa was granted while they were...
New Zealand is one of the top 3 countries in which to survive an extreme global pandemic
(Article by PETER DOCKRILL 2 OCTOBER 2019) What's the ultimate exit strategy if the worst happens? Like a sudden global pandemic, or some other kind of existential crisis that threatens humanity with extinction? The sad truth is, if an apocalyptic outbreak comes,...
COVID-19 UPDATE
From Monday 23 March, our office will be temporarily closed due to the Coronavirus pandemic and our team are working remotely. Rest assured this will not impact our ability to submit and process your visas, we will continue to work diligently on your behalf and are...
Changes to working in New Zealand on a temporary work visa
What is changing and when If you are already in New Zealand on a temporary work visa, your existing visa status will not change. Most of the changes affect employers more than migrant workers and will not happen until 2021, but there are some changes happening very...
Coronavirus update: INZ’s response
As part of its response to managing the Covid-19 (also known as the novel coronavirus) outbreak the New Zealand Government has extended the travel restrictions for some foreign travellers to Tuesday 10 March 2020. As part of its response to managing the Covid-19...
Immigration resident visa application prioritisation changes
From 24 February 2020 Immigration New Zealand has made changes to how it prioritises some resident visa applications. The changes apply to the allocation of Skilled Migrant Category and Residence from Work Category applications. INZ says it will continue to...
New boost for German-New Zealand relationship
The 31st of January 2020 at exactly 11 pm GMT will be remembered as an historic day in the history of the United Kingdom and the European Union: Brexit has really happened. However, it is now time to look forward and perhaps New Zealand´s Minister of Foreign Affairs...
Parent Resident Visa – REOPENS FEBRUARY 24
If you have an adult New Zealand citizen or resident child who earns enough and agrees to sponsor you, you may be able to live in New Zealand permanently. You need to send an Expression of Interest explaining how you meet the requirements and be sponsored by your...
Skilled Migrant and Essential Skills — remuneration threshold changes
On 24 February 2020 the wage or salary thresholds for Skilled Migrant Resident Visas and Essential Skills Work Visas will increase. Once a year Immigration New Zealand updates the remuneration or pay rate thresholds for the Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) Resident...
“Stephen Colbert the Newest New Zealander”
This is a good video to watch if you want to know more about life in NZ and our Prime Minister. After being personally invited by New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Stephen Colbert packs his bags and heads to the tiny island nation for an...
Immigration NZ updating Culturally Arranged Marriage Visitor Visa
Immigration New Zealand says it is updating the Culturally Arranged Marriage Visitor Visa so that people who had arranged marriages overseas can apply for a visitor visa. It says it is also giving more guidance for getting a general visitor visa to join a partner....
New Version of ANZSCO Released
The Australian Bureau of Statistics and Statistics New Zealand have released an updated version of Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) - ANZSCO version 1.3 When Immigration New Zealand assess applications for Essential Skills...
The Parent Resident Visa will reopen with new requirements
As part of its work to ensure businesses can get the skilled workers they need, the New Zealand government is re-opening and re-setting the Parent Category visa program, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway said on Monday. The move will support skilled migrants who...
Overseas investor’s application to buy vineyards declined
Associate Minister of Finance David Clark and Minister for Land Information Eugenie Sage were not satisfied the proposed investment would result in a substantial and identifiable benefit to New Zealand. Global Ag Properties applied for consent under the Overseas...
Government unveils new work visa rules
Up to 30,000 businesses across the country will benefit from new changes to the Government's temporary work visa process programme, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. Changes, which will start coming into effect in 2020, include reinstating the ability...
Changes to the Talent (Accredited Employer) Work Visa
From 7 October Immigration New Zealand is changing the Talent (Accredited Employer) Work Visa. The following areas are changed, increasing the annual salary limit from NZD $55,000 to NZD $79,560 removing the option to get a Permanent Resident Visa if you apply...
New Travel Requirements for Overseas Visitors
Immigration New Zealand is introducing a new travel requirement for visitors from visa waiver countries from 1 October 2019. It’s called the NZeTA (New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority). All visitors - whether they're coming for a holiday, to visit friends and...
Immigration NZ warns of scam targeting visa holders
Immigration New Zealand says visa holders in New Zealand are being contacted by people pretending to be from Immigration New Zealand. They are demanding payment from people to avoid deportation for various reasons, including incorrectly completing an arrival card and...
Access NZ is holding Auckland Immigration Clinics
As and from Wednesday the 7th of August Access NZ will be holding immigration clinics in Aucklands North Shore and in Auckland Central on every Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. Advance bookings are essential. Consultations typically take 30 to 40 minutes and cost...
Government updates New Zealand Residence Programme
The Government has decided on the New Zealand Residence Programme (NZRP) Planning Range through to the end of the year. The NZRP Planning Range sets the upper and lower number for residence visa approvals. The transitional Planning Range will be 50,000 to 60,000...
Tired of Brexit? Come to New Zealand!
Ever considered working and living in New Zealand? We are looking for tradespeople, construction workers, engineers, IT and medical staff interested in working and living in New Zealand and have vacancies throughout Christchurch, Auckland, Wellington and the Bay of...
International Visitors Entering New Zealand Will Pay Levy
The number of visitors to New Zealand has grown strongly over the past few years, and growth is expected to continue. The Government is introducing an International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL) from 1 July 2019 to enable our international visitors to...
Live and Work in New Zealand
Ever considered working and living in New Zealand? We are looking for tradespeople, engineers, IT and medical staff interested in working and living in New Zealand and have vacancies throughout Christchurch, Auckland, Wellington and the Bay of Plenty. Access NZ...
Professional Partnerships
At Access NZ we are always on the lookout for ways to extend our range of services and broaden our client base while maintaining the professional standards expected of a law firm. To that end, we are looking to form partnerships with like-minded immigration...
After 46 years Kevin finally gets New Zealand Residency!
Kevin Johnston always thought of himself as a kiwi. At 55 years of age, a married man with 4 kiwi kids he had no reason to think otherwise. That suddenly changed, however, when on 05 October 2017 he attended the out-patients department of Tauranga Hospital. Arising...
Our new website is now up and running!
We are pleased to say you can now see our revamped website come to life. We have been working hard on a new and easy to use Access NZ website, check it out now! Go and try our new 'free assessment' tool on the top right hand corner. Behind the scenes it is still...
Very proud of our newest member of the legal profession
It is with great pride that we announce another member of the Schoeller-Burke family to be admitted to the New Zealand Bar. Tara works with a Wellington law firm and is specializing in Commercial Law. As a learned member of the Law Society of New Zealand, she will be...
Jo and Amy – Together At Last
Jo, a French man with a passion for New Zealand, has been living and working in New Zealand for the last 8 years, in New Zealand’s Northland – a region not generally showered with attention. He is a circus teacher and performer for a community-based organization that...
We have just opened our first European Office in Cork City, Ireland
We are delighted to announce the opening of our first European Office of Access NZ in Cork City, Ireland. Together with Ger Downey from IRE Recruitment, we are hoping to facilitate the recruitment and visa process for Irish skilled staff (tradesmen, engineers, medical...
The nicest couple to get residence
We are absolutely delighted to have obtained a residence visa for Mandeep and Mandeep. Having spent some 8 years here in New Zealand studying and working, they are a great example of what successful integration into the Kiwi lifestyle looks like. Difficult pathway for...
Waiting for this moment the last 8 years
Mandeep came to New Zealand in 2008, he studied hard, he worked hard and he lived a quiet life in the Kiwifruit capital of New Zealand. Always having in mind that one day he would hopefully become a resident in this beautiful country. Kiwifruit and PSA For a while...
Kanjana and Ian – better late than never!
Kanjana came to New Zealand as early as 1998. She thought her work visa was sorted out by her employer who assured her throughout the years that everything was fine. When she left her job after years of low pay and no rights, she found out that she had, in fact, been...
Tajikistan meets New Zealand
Clifton and Lena met in 2014 and fell in love almost immediately. Communicating with each other was very much restricted to online time since Lena lived in Tajikistan and Clifton in New Zealand. That didn’t deter Clifton and he visited Lena a number of times, in her...