Special Direction: Grant of Resident Visas to Offshore Persons with Expired Travel Conditions

Policy effect

Granted a new resident visa with a 12-month travel condition to offshore individuals whose resident visa travel conditions had expired between 2 February 2020 and 11 September 2020 due to international border closures, allowing them 12 months to enter New Zealand.

Official source excerpt

Quoted verbatim from the official source below. Ellipses indicate omitted text.

File Type and Size PDF (25 KB) Pursuant to section 61A(2) of the Immigration Act 2009 (“Act”) of my own volition, by special direction, I grant a resident visa with the travel condition that the person arrive in New Zealand within 12 months of the date that this special direction is made to a class of offshore persons whose resident visas are no longer valid because the travel conditions on those visas have recently expired. Pursuant to section 61A(5) of the Act, the following persons are classified as persons to whom this special direction applies. A person who: held a resident visa with travel conditions which expired between 2 February 2020 and the day on which this special direction is made; and is outside New Zealand on the day this special direction is made. The resident visa will have the same multiple entry travel conditions as the expired resident visa referred to at 1. and any non-travel conditions applying to the expired resident visa also apply to the resident visa made by this special direction. I am satisfied that the making of this special direction is reasonably necessary to manage the effects and deal with the consequences of measures take to contain or mitigate the … and be in, New Zealand. I note that, under the border restrictions in force on the day I make this special direction, people granted visas offshore who have not yet travelled to New Zealand may not be able to enter New Zealand. Dated this 11th day of September 2020. Hon KRIS FAAFOI, Minister of Immigration. Explanatory Note The effect of this special direction is to grant resident visas to persons who are not in New Zealand and who recently held resident visas with travel conditions which have expired since the border was closed on 2 February 2020 and who are no longer able to travel to New Zealand because they no longer hold valid resident visas. These persons will have 12 months to travel to New Zealand from the date this special direction is made if border restrictions allow them to enter. Privacy Terms of Use Copyright Cumulative Indexes / Te Kāwanatanga o Aotearoa …

Review method

Two separate automated exact-claim source reviews

Other New Zealand changes operative in 2020

• 2020-02-24General Instructions on Order and Manner of Processing Residence Applications (Amendment Circular 2020/4)
• 2020-02-24Reopening and Restructuring of the Parent Category Residence Instructions
• 2020-04-16Relaxation and Short-Term Variation of Visa Conditions for Essential Services (Amendment Circular 2020-16)
• 2020-09-11Special Direction: Imposition of Mandatory COVID-19 Public Health Compliance Visa Condition
• 2020-09-11Special Direction: Variation of Travel Conditions for Offshore Resident Visa Holders
• 2020-10-12Special Direction: Automatic Grant of Supplementary Seasonal Employment (SSE) Visas