22 November 2017 at 9:00 am
Changes to visa processing
Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has finalised plans to consolidate visa processing by customer sector. It will also reduce the number of offshore processing offices over the next two years.
Celia Coombes, INZ Sector Manager (Education) advises that during consultation, INZ received a number of submissions from providers and education peak bodies. All feedback was analysed and incorporated into the decision making process, and resulted in some changes to the proposals, such as retaining the processing of Chinese student visas China and expanding the Risk and Verification function.
“Rather than being processed geographically, visas will be processed by customer sector such as business, education and tourism,” said Celia.
“This will enable INZ to enhance focus on its customers by delivering customer excellence in a digital world and to effectively leverage the investments INZ has made in technology and infrastructure.”
INZ will be communicating with the education industry regularly over the next 18 months as it transitions to the new model.
Immigration New Zealand (INZ) wishes to thank all those who provided feedback on its proposed operating model changes in September 2017.
For more details, including indicative timeframes for INZ Office closures, please see the media release on INZ’s website: https://www.immigration.govt.nz/about-us/media-centre/media-releases/immigration-changes-will-result-in-more-staff-in-new-zealand
