Immigration New Zealand (INZ) is the operational delivery function of an integrated immigration system. As part of the system we:

• grant visas to people New Zealand needs to work, visit, study, or settle here
• make sure that people crossing the border and staying in New Zealand are entitled to do so
• help migrants and refugees make New Zealand their home
• play our part in the global immigration system, together with our border partners, to keep Aotearoa New Zealand safe.

The integrated immigration system includes teams in branches across the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) who:

• look after calls to the Immigration Contact Centre
• carry out onshore investigations and compliance activity, and
• provide policy advice to the Minister of Immigration.

Our people

We have around 900 immigration officers working on visa applications. In the 2022/23 financial year our immigration officers made decisions on more than 930,000 visa applications across all visa categories, (on average more than 77,000 each month).

In the 2022/23 financial year there were:

• 14,223 working holiday extensions approved
• 58,820 working holiday applications received, 92% of which were approved
• over 548,725 visitor visa applications received, 80% of which were approved
• more than 1.7 million NZeTA (New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority) requests received, 99% of which were approved
• over 102,300 student applications received, 91,765 decided, with 80% approved
• over 54,000 Job Check applications received, and more than 47,800 approved, which is equal to more than 229,900 positions
• more than 6.4 million arrivals into New Zealand
• over 12.5 million movements at the New Zealand border
• more than 12,300 Recognised Seasonal Employer Limited Visas approved
• over 27,000 accredited employer applications approved
• more than 100,500 Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) applications received and around 92,000 AEWV applications approved.

For more AEWV statistics:

Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV)

Commonly requested AEWV statisticsXLS 851KB

In addition to immigration officers, there are other staff in roles that provide vital direct support to the visa application process. These include:

• support officers
• verification officers
• identity resolution analysts
• medical assessors
• technical advisors, and
• immigration managers who provide administrative, technical and verification support and line management to our immigration officers.

Frontline operations staff

Our frontline operations staff:

• manage risk at the New Zealand border
• assist travellers and manage risk at major transition airports
• assess offshore threats to the immigration system in their bases overseas
• support the arrival and settlement of quota refugees
• work in the Pacific to help travel within the region
• assess asylum and refugee status claims made by people already in New Zealand
• engage regularly with relevant industry sectors and partners.

Staff numbers

Over the past 5 years, staff numbers at INZ have increased for a number of reasons including:

• closing offshore offices in 2021 and rebuilding the workforce in New Zealand (these roles were not included in the headcount until the roles were moved onshore)
• managing an increased number of visa applications and workload with the re-opening of the New Zealand border post-pandemic
• the introduction Accredited Employer Work Visa in July 2022
• the introduction of the 2021 Resident Visa. This saw INZ needing to process 5 years’ worth of residence visas in 19 months.

To support the reopening of the border, INZ needed a plan to grow its visa processing workforce with the goal of rebuilding its pre-pandemic workforce and responding to post-pandemic demands in New Zealand. This led to the recruitment of more than 800 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees between July 2021 and April 2023, resulting in a net growth of 320 FTE employees.

INZ’s Immigration Online platform

INZ’s business plans have focused on workforce growth, simplifying processes and developing the new Immigration Online platform to increase the efficiency and improve its services.

With the launch of the new Immigration Online platform in January 2022 it allowed:

• for more automation of the visa processing administrative steps, and
• immigration officers to use their time more efficiently.

However, until all services move to this platform, support is still required for the maintenance of INZ’s legacy systems.  

The visa is a 2-stage process. People first submit an Expression of Interest (EOI). If the EOI is selected and it meets the requirements, Immigration New Zealand (INZ) will issue an Invitation To Apply (ITA). Only people who have received an ITA are able to make a residence application and this application must be made within 4 months of the ITA being issued.

INZ can approve a maximum of 2000 visas per year to people who submitted EOIs before the restart of selections was announced on 10 October 2022. These EOIs are in a queue and selected in date order, with the oldest selected first.

A maximum of 500 visas a year can be granted to people who submitted EOIs on or after 10 October 2022. These EOIs are placed in a ballot and are selected randomly. EOIs in the ballot expire 2 years after they are submitted.

Once all the EOIs in the queue submitted before 10 October 2022 have been selected, the full amount of 2,500 visas will be available to people with EOIs in the ballot.

More information on the application process and criteria can be found on the Parent Resident Visa details page.

Parent Resident Visa: Visa details

The Addendum to the 11th edition of The Administration of the Immigration and Citizenship Programs paper is now available.

The addendum provides an explanation of the composition and management of Australia’s immigration program in a changing international environment.

The following highlights provide an overview of the information included in the addendum, which is available in full at ​​​Addendum to the 11th edition of the Administration of the Immigration and Citizenship Programs.

Immigration Programs

In August 2023 the Australian Government announced the closure of the Pandemic Event visa. This visa will be closed from February 2024.

In May 2023 The Australian Government announced the establishment of the Aged Care Industry Labour Agreement. As of 31 August, eight agreements are in effect, providing for more than 6,000 direct care workers over five years. The first visa applications under this agreement have been received and processed by the Department of Home Affairs.

Immigration Policy

In January 2023 the Minister for Home Affairs appointed Ms Christine Nixon, AO, APM to undertake a Rapid Review into the Exploitation of Australia’s Visa System (the Nixon Review).

The declassified Nixon Review report, as well as the government response to its 34 recommendations, were released on 4 October 2023.

The Nixon Review identified gaps and areas of weakness in the migration system, with both systemic reforms and discrete measures recommended.

The Government has carefully considered the Nixon Review’s findings to inform its response – agreeing, agreeing-in-part or agreeing-in-principle to 24 of the 34 recommendations, noting eight recommendations and disagreeing with two recommendations.

The government response to the Nixon Review will work to address the identified gaps and rebuild the integrity of the visa system.

Citizenship

More than 22,500 NZ New Zealanders residing in Australia applied for Australian citizenship by conferral between 1 July and 31 August 2023, via the new

direct pathway. This represents 45% of all citizenship by conferral applications during this period. Of these, 766 had been approved as of 31 August 2023.

Great progress has been made on the citizenship backlog and processing times. On-hand conferral applications stood at 88,310 as of 31 August 2023, a 24 per cent decrease since 31 August 2022. The average processing time from lodgement to decision has decreased by 53 per cent from the same period last year, from 353 to 168 days in average.

Humanitarian program

Australia’s 2022-23 Humanitarian program was delivered in full. This included 15,875 granted in the Offshore program (including 4,125 additional places allocated to Afghan nationals) and 2,000 visas granted as part of the Onshore (Protection visa) program.

On 31 August the Australian Government announced an increase in the Humanitarian program for 2023-2024, from 17,875 to 20,000 places.

Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP)

The AMEP celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2023. It is Australia’s longest running settlement program, and has helped more than 2 million migrants and humanitarian entrants with free English language lessons.

The free English language-learning website AMEPOnline, was relaunched on 1 July 2023. This resource is available to anyone, anywhere and anytime, and has been accessed by more than 100,000 users.