Senior officials of Immigration New Zealand and not those of the Ministry of Economic Development will be processing visa applications for the newly announced exceptions for “other critical workers (previously called as “other essential workers”).
A media spokesperson for the Immigration New Zealand has confirmed this to the Indian Weekender a short while ago.
Notably, a joint press release from the office of the Minister of Economic Development, Phil Twyford and Minister of Immigration Iain Lees-Galloway on Friday, June 12 had announced the government’s new border management plan under the lead agency of Ministry of Economic Development, which raised some doubts if the visa application would be assessed by that department.
Putting that doubt to rest, a media spokesperson of the INZ told the Indian Weekender, “Requests for ‘other critical workers’ (previously referred to as ‘other essential workers’) will now be considered by senior immigration officials within Immigration, instead of by the Minister for Economic Development and relevant portfolio Ministers.
In addition to the change in process, the Government has also agreed to a new set of specific criteria, based on how long the worker will be in New Zealand, which will be used by INZ for determining whether someone is a critical worker.
A worker coming to New Zealand for a short-term (less than six months) may be considered a critical worker if:
· the person has unique experience and technical or specialist skills that are not obtainable in New Zealand; or
· the person is undertaking a time-critical role which is essential for the delivery of an approved major infrastructure project, a government approved event, an approved major government programme, an approved government-to-government agreement or has significant wider benefit to the national or regional economy.
A worker coming to New Zealand for the long-term (more than six months) may be considered a critical worker if they meet one of the short-term criteria above and:
· will work for at least 30 hours per week and be paid at least twice the median wage ($106, 080 per year); or
· has a role that is essential for the completion or continuation of a science programme under a fully or partially government-funded contract, including research and development exchanges and partnerships, and has the support of MBIE’s Science, Innovation and International branch to travel to New Zealand to carry out their work; or
· is undertaking a role that is essential for the delivery or execution of a government-approved event, a major government-approved programme or an approved major infrastructure project.
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