More than 35,000 people are waiting for a residence decision, the highest number since 2011. Residence approvals are also at the lowest levels since the turn of the century despite a sharp increase in applications.  The number of residence applications rose sharply from a low of 15,000 in April last year to 35,000 last month, according to figures from the INZ website.

Caroline Ryan, Licensed Immigration Adviser said that Immigration New Zealand is also struggling to process a backlog of applications for temporary partnership visas. Even applicants’ extended temporary visas were now expiring, increasing costs for applicants and causing major difficulties and problems for them.

INZ has said ‘there had been no attempt to slow visa processing but that New Zealand continues to be an attractive destination and application volumes have been increasing steadily across all categories’. INZ claims they are also seeing an increase in the level of risk and complexity in applications, including different risk factors.

Skilled immigrants waiting for residence visas say they feel ‘in limbo’ as decision-making timeframes ‘blow out’ amid political calls for lower immigration numbers. Immigration New Zealand says an increase in applications has caused the skilled migrant category of the residence programme to be oversubscribed. However figures show the New Zealand Residence Programme is still 12,000 under its already-lowered maximum target of 60,000 new residents by the end of the year. 

Immigration figures show at least one in 10 will wait more than 13 months and a quarter more than nine months. Immigration New Zealand said 120 officers were working on residence visas but it could not say how that compared to previous years. High pay is now among the reasons why officials are fast-tracking some applications.

INZ says some of the factors for processing delays are strong economic growth and low unemployment. These factors have ‘increased demand for migrant workers at all skill levels’. INZ also says a large number of applications are incomplete, requiring extra work. Many applications are missing extra information such as: medical information, police certificates, employment agreements, or the ANZSCO code. ‘About 50 percent of onshore Essential Skills Work Visa applications need more detailed assessments. These can include matters relating to the applicant, employer or labour market test’.

The interim visa which is granted up to six months is a bridging visa to keep people lawful but is no longer enough for immigration officers to finalise applications. These interim visas are now expiring, impacting on many people’s lives. In most cases where the visa being applied for is different to the visa the applicant previously held, the interim visa will revert to visitor conditions. Visitor conditions do not allow the visa holder to undertake employment, meaning applicants will need to stop work until their new visa is issued which has serious consequences. Interim visas also have no travel conditions, meaning if an applicant wishes to travel out of New Zealand they will not be able to re-enter on the interim visa, but must wait until the new visa has been issued.

Processing delays have put a strain on applicants finances, relationships and mental health. Families are being kept apart and the visa processing delays have also affected businesses that are waiting on employees to get visas. Students cannot begin their courses and people waiting for residence cannot buy homes.

Immigration New Zealand said it has changed its systems and added staff in an effort to improve processing times.

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