More than 160,000 new people will call New Zealand home
Since 80% of 2021 Resident Visa (2021RV) applications have been processed, over 160,000 people have become residents of New Zealand, said Immigration Minister Michael Wood today.
Michael Wood stated that The 2021 Resident Visa is one of many steps the New government has taken to attract workers and also to keep them in New Zealand to help fill the businesses with global skills shortages which arise during and after the COVID pandemic.
He also stated that they have created the largest one-time permanent residency path for New Zealand By the end of 2021. This pathway will help in providing certainty to migrants about their future in the country and also let them continue to put down roots.
Nurses, early childhood education teachers, software engineers, and primary school teachers were the top jobs for the 160,000 Kiwis in New Zealand.
We're working with businesses to find practical ways to get more workers through the streamlined Accredited Employer Work Visa, the expansion of the Green List, reopening the Pacific Access Category and Samoa Quota, giving the RSE scheme its most significant increase in a decade, and bringing back the Skilled Migrant Category and Parent Category to strengthen our international offering.
Along with the Resident Visa for 2021, our immigration plan is starting to pay off as more and more people choose New Zealand.
Since our borders were fully opened last year, we've seen a steady rise in the number of migrants each month. International migration numbers show that our net migration is also steadily increasing. We're also getting a lot of requests for visitor and work visas.
This is especially true for the Working Holiday Scheme, for which we've now given out more than 53,300 visas and let more than 33,900 people into the country with these visas.
Eighty per cent of the 2021 RV applications have been processed, three months ahead of schedule, thanks to our rapid application review procedure. Processing the vast majority of applications in 15 months is the same as taking about five years to do it usually.
Most permanent residency applications have been reviewed, and a decision has been made. However, several people still await the decision after their applications are reviewed.
According to Michael Wood, Immigration New Zealand is working hard to finish all the applications as soon as possible.
