INZ have expanded the Special Ukraine Visa category’s eligibility and sponsorship criteria. The changes: expand who can be a nominating family member (amended to supporting family member) expand eligibility to other adult family members of the NZ supporting...

  From 31 May 2023, partners of most Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) and Essential Skills Work Visa (ESWV) holders granted a partnership-based work visa must; work for an Accredited Employer and be paid at least the median wage or the wage threshold if the...

  Increase in number of EOIs to be selected For the next selection, INZ will be selecting 1100 EOIs, which is an increase from the 370 selected previously. This is good news for people in the queue as selections may happen earlier than originally estimated. The...

  Immigration Minister Hon Michael Wood yesterday announced measures to attract more high-skilled workers to New Zealand including adding additional roles to the Green List From 15 December 2022 all medical doctor roles not already included on the StR Green List...

  This Monday the Minister of Immigration announced that planned changes for the visa requirements of partners of temporary work visa holders have been deferred to April 2023. INZ previously communicated that there would be changes to partner work visas in...

If you have an Accredited Employer Work Visa From today (5 December) Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) holders can apply to change their employer, occupation, location, or a combination of these. Your employer must be accredited to hire migrants for the AEWV and...

CHANGES TO INVESTOR VISA SETTINGS In July 2022, the New Zealand government has announced major changes to New Zealand’s investor visa settings. The new Active Investor Plus visa category replaces two existing categories – Investor 1 and Investor 2, which have been...

  New sector agreements from 31 October allow some exemptions from the median wage requirements for migrants hired on an Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) or a Fishing Crew Work Visa. The agreements cover the care workforce, construction and infrastructure,...

  If you have worked for 2 years in a Green List Tier 2 occupation and meet the specified requirements on the list for the occupation, you could apply for residence under work to Residence category from September 2022. There are qualification and/or occupational...

  From 5 September 2022, you can apply for residence under Straight to Residence category if you are have employment or an offer of employment from an accredited employer in an occupation in the Green List Tier 1 and meet the specified requirements on the list...

  Skilled migrants and their parents will once again be able to apply for residence under plans being announced today. No one has been invited to apply under the points-based system since the pandemic started and the parent category has not accepted new...

The Government is focused on attracting highly skilled migrant labour to help grow New Zealand’s economy. Two changes relevant to employers recruiting migrant workers have been announced. The median wage, currently NZD $27.76 an hour, will increase to NZD $29.66 on 27...

  From 2 September 2022, the threshold for determining conditions that may impose significant health costs has increased from $41,000 to $81,000. Most applicants for residence class visas must have an acceptable standard of health. One of the requirements to meet...

  The Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) was introduced on 4 July 2022. Most migrant workers holding an AEWV will be paid the median wage (NZD $27.76 an hour) or more. However, new sector settings will allow limited exemptions. Job offers for migrants should...

Win a FREE Visa application managed by Access NZ   The Prize:  Access NZ Ltd to prepare and submit a visa application (excluding residency visas). This service will be on a pro bono basis. Eligible applicant will be responsible to pay INZ fee for the visa...

  All three stages of the new Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) are now live, with applications open for employer accreditation, job checks and work visas. As at 3 August, Immigration New Zealand (INZ) have received: 8,415 employer accreditation applications...

  Changes have been made by Immigration New Zealand to Post-Study Work Visa (PSWV) rules in May 2022 summarized as below,   Students will continue to be eligible for a PSWV if they are studying a bachelor’s degree, bachelor's honours degree, postgraduate...

    The Government has announced a new faster timeline for reopening the border and reconnecting New Zealand with the world. New Zealand’s border will now be fully reopened by the end of July – three months earlier than originally planned. Visitors applying...

  The Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) is a new temporary work visa that will replace the Essential Skills Work Visa and Talent (Accredited Employer) Work Visa, when it launches on 4 July 2022. Employers who want to hire migrants on an AEWV will need to be...

NZ border opening dates are brought forward to 12 April 2022 for visitors from Australia, critical and skilled workers. From 2 May 2022 onwards visitors from visa waiver countries like the UK, US, Japan, Germany, Korea and Singapore, and those with valid visitor visas...

Border will reopen to vaccinated New Zealanders from Australia at 11.59pm 27 February Reopens to New Zealanders in the rest of the world on 13 March MIQ removed for most travellers in phased reconnection, replaced by self-isolation and tests on-arrival MIQ to remain...

    Fully vaccinated Kiwis and other eligible travellers can travel to NZ from Australia without staying in MIQ from 11.59pm Sunday, 16 January 2022 Fully vaccinated Kiwis and other eligible travellers can travel to NZ from all other countries from 11.59pm...

  Last month Immigration New Zealand announced the new 2021 resident visa - a new pathway to residence for migrants who live and work in New Zealand. More information has recently been released on the requirements and procedures. The cut-off date for applying is...

The Minister of Immigration, Kris Faafoi, has announced the 2021 Resident Visa, a one-off, simplified pathway to residence for around 165,000 migrants currently in New Zealand. “We are providing a way forward for our migrant families who have been long disrupted by...

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) is operating under the same lockdown requirements as all businesses in New Zealand, which means their offices are currently closed. Paper applications cannot be processed at current alert levels. Only the below online visa categories are...

Government has announced that New Zealand is at Alert Level 4 from 11:59pm, Tuesday 17 August. Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula is at Alert Level 4, likely for a period of 7 days. The rest of New Zealand is at Alert Level 4, initially for a period of 3 days....

  It is with great pride that we announce that our Legal & Marketing Assistant Susanna Lin has recently received her Immigration Adviser Licence (as a provisional licence holder) following her Immigration Advice Study for a year. Susanna is originally from...

  Longer Essential Skills Visas From 19 July, Essential Skills Visa holders will be able to apply for a longer visa to remain in their current role. The Government has decided to extend the maximum duration of an Essential Skills Visa for a job paid below the...

If your business is already accredited and your accreditation expires before 31 October 2021, you have until 30 June 2021 to apply for renewal, applications to renew accreditations will close at the end of this month until new system is available in late September. If...

  Changes to onshore visas will provide employers and visa holders with more certainty, Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi has announced. Around 10,000 Working Holiday visas and Supplementary Seasonal Employment (SSE) work visas due to expire between 21 June 2021...

Must read ! Important news have been released by Immigration New Zealand this morning, a new temporary visa called Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWW) will come into effect on 1 November 2021 and will replace the existing 6 work visas. Key point are summarized below:...

If you are experienced in business and want to work in your own business in New Zealand, then you can look to migrate to NZ under Entrepreneur Work Visa Category. Under this category you can buy or set up a business in NZ and operate your business successfully for a...

  Changes have been made to critical health worker border exception by INZ. If you are a critical health worker starting your employment after 31 March 2021, you can apply for border exemption now if all other criteria are met. The requirement on a critical...

  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...

  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...

  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...

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...

    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...

  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...

    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)...

    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...

  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...

  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...

  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...

(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,...

  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...

  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...

  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...

  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...

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...

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...

  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)...

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 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....

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...

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...

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...

  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...

      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...

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 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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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, 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 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...

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...

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 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...

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...