INZ plans to bring back visa processing onshore from 12 overseas offices

New Zealand Immigration has announced that it will bring back visa processing onshore from 12 overseas offices and hire 110 extra local staff for the work. This comes even as the Herald had reported last month that most of the visa processing was being done in nations such as India and Thailand.

As per the new proposal, 8 overseas offices will be closed by the INZ that will bring back visa processing onshore. These are Shanghai, Moscow, Pretoria, New Delhi, Bangkok, Jakarta, Hong Kong, and Ho Chi Minh. Visa processing will also stop in four other overseas offices – Dubai, London, Washington DC, and Manila, as quoted by the NZ Herald Co NZ.

Only two overseas offices in Mumbai in India and Beijing in China will remain open and continue with their current capacity for visa processing. Investment and Migration Association of New Zealand has said that it cautiously welcomes the proposal.

Steve Stuart the General Manager of INZ said that INZ is already deliberating with its staff for proposals to consolidate and align processing of visas. It will create 110 extra jobs in the nation over a period of next 3 years, added Stuart.

As per the new proposals, INZ will reduce its overseas office presence from 17 destinations to just five. Only the offices in Mumbai, Beijing and three Pacific offices will remain open. It currently earns over 200 million dollars annually as visa fees and has around 560 overseas personnel.

Stuart said that retaining the offices in the Pacific offers additional stability for service delivery as INZ functions amidst a crucial period of transition. Mumbai and Beijing offices will remain open as there are high volumes of student visa and traveler visa applications at these offices as well as for continuity of business.

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