This New Year and Christmas will be more memorable for 1057 people who have been granted NZ residence under the One-Off Residence programme, which got announced in September 2021.
As per Immigration New Zealand, as of yesterday (December 22), a total of 1,057 people had their resident visas granted under phase 1 of the One-off programme, which opened on December 1. Interestingly, another 500 people are expected to be granted residence soon. A total of more than 500 applications have been approved and issued visas so far.
"Some of these people have been waiting a long time to become residents, so it is exciting to see that happen just weeks after submitting their 2021 Resident Visa application. It shows that the new category is delivering on being quick and easy to assess,” INZ’s General Manager Geoff Scott said.
A total of 11,697 2021 Resident Visa applications, involving 27,784 people, have been received by INZ so far, which is more than 80 percent of the total number of applications expected under phase one.
“On top of the more than 1,000 people who have already become residents, another 500 people are very close to being granted residence, with payment just needing to be arranged before their applications can be finalised. We will continue to work hard to process as many phase one applications as possible before phase two opens on March 1, 2022," Mr. Scott further said.
Indian Weekender spoke to immigration experts to know how their take on the pace of processing.
Immigration expert Jagjeet Singh Sidhu of Immigration Matters feels that considering the pace of approval of visas, it looks challenging that INZ will be able to complete the processing of the phase 1 application in 12 months as announced.
“I think it will be very challenging for INZ to complete all the applications of phase 1 within 12 months. Though undoubtedly, the processing of this category is faster, it remains to be seen if INZ will be able to deliver on its promise of completing the processing of phase 1 application within 12 months,” says Jagjeet.
Another immigration expert Madhu Behl of M&M Immigration Consultants feels that the real test of INZ will happen in March 2022, when phase 2 will open and which will see hundreds of thousands of people applying.
"The applications which are processed under phase 1 are mostly risk-free as their verification process, including police check, has been already completed. And that could explain that more than 1000 people have already got their residence approved. The real test of INZ’s processing talent will only happen in March when the number of applications will be much higher," says Madhu.
