2021 Resident Visa eligibility preserved for specified special-direction visa holders

Policy effect

From May 9, 2022, the eligible-visa provisions for the 2021 Resident Visa included visas granted by ministerial special direction under section 61A with a start date of March 10 or May 9, 2022, provided the holder had held an eligible visa listed in S6.10.1(i) immediately beforehand. For consecutive special-direction visas starting on both dates, the prior-visa test looked back to the visa held before March 10. The category’s other eligibility requirements still applied.

Conditions and exceptions

Validated condition or limit: From May 9, 2022, the eligible-visa provisions for the 2021 Resident Visa included visas granted by ministerial special direction under section 61A with a start date of March 10 or May 9, 2022, provided the holder had held an eligible visa listed in S6.10.1(i) immediately beforehand.; For consecutive special-direction visas starting on both dates, the prior-visa test looked back to the visa held before March 10.; The category’s other eligibility requirements still applied.

Official source excerpt

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

Information about these changes is available on our website www.immigration.govt.nz. Description of changes S6.10.1 Holders of an eligible visa Changes have been made to the eligible visa list in 2021 Resident Visa instructions (S6.10.1) to include a visa granted by special direction in March 2022 or May 2022 where the applicant held one of the other eligible visas immediately prior to being granted the visa by special direction. S6.10.5 People granted a Critical Purpose Visa Changes have been made to provide clarity to the 2021 Resident Visa instructions that outline eligibility requirements … direction by the Minister of Immigration under section 61A of the Immigration Act 2009, where that visa has a start date of either 10 March 2022 or 9 May 2022, provided that they held a visa listed in (i) above immediately prior to the visa granted by special direction. o For the purposes of (iv), where a person has been granted two consecutive visas by special direction by the Minister of Immigration, and those visas had start dates of 10 March 2022 and 9 May 2022 respectively, the visa held immediately prior to the visa granted by special direction is considered to be the visa held immediat … ely prior to the visa with a start date of 10 March 2022. An applicant must also, on 29 September 2021, have met Settled, Skilled or Scarce criteria and: i. held an eligible visa in (a) above; or ii. had made an application or request for reconsideration for an eligible visa in (a)(i) that was subsequently granted. An applicant must have been in New Zealand on 29 September 2021. Despite (c) above, an applicant who was in Australia on 29 September 2021 and departed New Zealand for Australia between 6 April 2021 and 23 July 2021 (inclusive) is eligible to be considered for a 2021 Resident Visa. … 13 May 2022 IMMIGRATION NEW ZEALAND INSTRUCTIONS: Amendment Circular No. 2022-27 To: All Manual Holders AMENDMENTS TO THE IMMIGRATION NEW ZEALAND OPERATIONAL MANUAL Introduction This circular outlines changes to immigration instructions. A copy of the amended instructions is attached. All immigration officers dealing with immigration applications should read the amendments and operate in accordance with the amended instructions in Appendix 1 on and after 9 May 2022. Note The amendments described in this circular will be published in the Immigration New Zealand Operational Manual in due course. … major infrastructure project and in which they earn at least the median salary ($27 per hour). 1 Appendix 1: Amendments to residence instructions effective from 9 May 2022 2 S6.10 2021 Resident Visa Requirements a. An application under the 2021 Resident Visa Category will be approved if an immigration officer is satisfied that: i. the principal applicant and family members included in the application meet requirements for health (A4) and character (A5); and ii. the principal applicant did not make an application in phase 1 when they are a phase 2 applicant (S6.5.5(d)), unless S6.5.15 applies; …

Review method

Two separate automated exact-claim source reviews

Other New Zealand changes operative in 2022

• 2022-01-31Immigration Online Enhancements & Automated Electronic Decision-Making Instructions
• 2022-02-21Staged early access to the 2021 Resident Visa for eligible Phase 2 applicants
• 2022-03-01General Phase 2 opening of the 2021 Resident Visa
• 2022-04-12Border Reconnection Step 3: Entry for Offshore Temporary Visa Holders, Australian Travelers, and Student Cohort 4 Border Exception
• 2022-07-01Operational Manual Amendments to Refugee Family Support Category & Duration of Sponsorship (Amendment Circular No. 2022-38)
• 2022-07-01Refugee Family Support registration, visa fees and immigration levy waived
• 2022-07-04Offshore visa-application exception extended to families of work-visa applicants
• 2022-07-31Immigration fee and levy schedules revised
• 2022-09-05Operational Commencement of the Green List "Straight to Residence" Resident Visa
• 2022-09-27Annual Cap Increase for the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) Scheme
• 2022-10-12Restart and Policy Restructuring of the Parent Resident Visa Category