H5.5 Overview (10/08/2020)

See also Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010, Reg 14A, 26AA

1. These instructions allow people to travel to New Zealand as temporary visa holders while the New Zealand border is effectively closed by providing for the:
   1. grant of a visa (for people without a valid temporary entry class visa); or
   2. variation of visa conditions (for people with a valid temporary entry class visa).
2. The grant of a visa or variation of conditions under these instructions is a two-step process:
   1. Interest in travelling to New Zealand must first be expressed by:
      • applicants; or
      • employers, or supporting agencies, on behalf of ‘other critical workers’, with the agreement of the ‘other critical worker’; or
      • the owner of a ship, authorised agent (such as a shipping agent) or employer or principal of marine crew of a ship, on behalf of marine crew, with the agreement of the marine crew member.
   2. An immigration officer may then invite a person (that is, an applicant, an ‘other critical worker’ or marine crew), to apply for a Critical Purpose visitor visa, another visa appropriate to that person’s circumstances or a variation of conditions if they are satisfied based on the information available that the person has a critical purpose to travel to New Zealand (H5.25.15) and is likely to meet the requirements of the visa applied for or variation of conditions requested.
3. Only a person, who has been invited to apply for a visa or variation of conditions may make an application under these instructions.
4. Applications must be made in the prescribed manner within 1 month of an invitation to apply.
5. Despite (b) above, where a person has applied for a temporary entry class visa an immigration officer may grant that visa if the applicant meets relevant immigration instructions (or the visa is granted as an exception to instructions) and impose a visa condition that the holder carries out a critical purpose while in New Zealand if the applicant meets the requirements at H5.25.15.

Note: An application notifying an expression of interest may, where instructions provide for it, include the applicant’s spouse or partner and any dependent children 19 years of age or younger.

Effective 10/08/2020