Border Reconnection Step 3: Entry for Offshore Temporary Visa Holders, Australian Travelers, and Student Cohort 4 Border Exception

Policy effect

Commenced Step 3 of the Reconnecting New Zealanders framework, reopening the border without managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) requirements to offshore holders of valid temporary work and student visas who could satisfy visa travel conditions, Australian citizens and permanent residents, and border class exceptions for up to 5,000 international students for semester two (Cohort 4) and up to 250 Pacific Manaaki scholars. Phase scope: Step 3 of the 5-step Reconnecting New Zealanders border plan

Conditions and exceptions

Validated condition or limit: Commenced Step 3 of the Reconnecting New Zealanders framework, reopening the border without managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) requirements to offshore holders of valid temporary work and student visas who could satisfy visa travel conditions, Australian citizens and permanent residents, and border class exceptions for up to 5,000 international students for semester two (Cohort 4) and up to 250 Pacific Manaaki scholars.

Official source excerpt

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

… information: Circumstances of paper being considered by Cabinet - Timeline for related decisions: • 27 February: Report from the Strategic COVID-19 Public Health Advisory Group sent to Associate Minister for COVID-19 Response. • 28 February: Officials finalise briefing for Ministers’ consideration and matter considered by Cabinet as an “additional item”. Cabinet agreed: o fully vaccinated international arrivals to New Zealand will no longer be required to self-isolate on arrival or be in MIQ; o Ministers with Power to Act take decisions on unvaccinated travellers and any additional mitigations … domestic COVID-19 vaccination rates; o agreed to bring forward reopening to: Australian citizens and permanent residents arriving from anywhere in the world to align with Step 3, from 11.59 pm Tuesday 12 April 2022; and visa-waiver travellers and existing holders of valid visitor visas (both onshore and offshore) to commence from 11.59 pm Sunday 1 May 2022; and o the Prime Minister advised in her post-Cabinet press conference that further announcements would be made on RNZ reopening dates on Wednesday 16 March. • 16 March: the Prime Minister announces the 14 March Cabinet decisions. © Crown Copyright … remainder of Step 2, which includes opening visa applications for critical workers earning 1.5 times the median wage and Working Holiday Scheme visas from 11.59pm Sunday 13 March. 42 In addition, I do not propose any changes to the timing of Step 3 from 11.59pm Tuesday 12 April, which currently includes class exceptions for 5,000 students and up to 250 Pacific Manaaki scholars [CAB-22-MIN-008], along with existing holders of valid work and student visas (both onshore and offshore) [CAB-22-MIN-008 and d se CAB-22-MIN-0018]. This timing allows for a short interval between the NZTD’s go- live date of … student border class exception for up to 5,000 students for entry for el semester two; a class exception for up to 250 Pacific Manaaki scholars, to be nominated by MFAT’s Manaaki New Zealand Scholarship Programme; and existing holders of valid work and student visas (both onshore and offshore). Workforce class exceptions and other border exceptions will remain in place where needed until iv wider visa processing resumes, to ensure continued access to New Zealand. † Any future proposal to bring forward categories from Step 5 to Step 3 would require Cabinet decisions by 14 March 2022, owing to the lead …

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
• 2022-05-092021 Resident Visa eligibility preserved for specified special-direction visa holders
• 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