INZ visa processing during lockdown

[EGoodhue]

All INZ offices are still closed. They will all remain closed for the remainder of Level 3. There's no word yet on how INZ will operate under Level 2.

Online applications are still being accepted, but they won't go any further than being lodged in the system for now. Only a very few staff are working remotely from home and are only working on the types of applications that INZ announced would be their priorities on 16 April.

[AnnaB]

Yes, I read the update you posted. However, our applications weren’t done online but paper applications so someone must have picked these up to lodge them 🧐 we have received an interim visa for the dependent child visa too but not for the other two visas..

[EGoodhue]

It turns out that some INZ staff have been working from the INZ Documentation branch today (where applications are received and lodged into the system) - only a very small number of staff but it appears that they will be working there from today onwards. So applications may be lodged into the system but will only be allocated and processed if they come under one of the priority visa categories that INZ outlined on 16 April, and even then, processing timeframes will be much slower than usual. It's not clear when staff will be allowed to re-enter other INZ branches yet.

[riley123]

It turns out that some INZ staff have been working from the INZ Documentation branch today (where applications are received and lodged into the system) - only a very small number of staff but it appears that they will be working there from today onwards. So applications may be lodged into the system but will only be allocated and processed if they come under one of the priority visa categories that INZ outlined on 16 April, and even then, processing timeframes will be much slower than usual. It's not clear when staff will be allowed to re-enter other INZ branches yet.

Do you (or anyone else) possibly know what's the situation like with visa applications that come under one of the priority visa categories INZ outlined but were not made online? Is there a possibility they'd get allocated and processed/looked at, or is is possible only after INZ staff will be allowed to work in their offices?

[riley123]

Apologies for double posting - just found your response to the same question in a different thread @EGoodhue. Thank you for providing such detailed information and updates. It is incredibly helpful during such anxious time for everyone.

[EGoodhue]

A webinar session with INZ that I watched yesterday mentioned that only 20% of staff are permitted to work in the office during Alert Level 3 and Alert Level 2 will see only 50% of staff permitted back to the office.

[deverett]

A webinar session with INZ that I watched yesterday mentioned that only 20% of staff are permitted to work in the office during Alert Level 3 and Alert Level 2 will see only 50% of staff permitted back to the office.

This article went out yesterday about INZ and their situation:

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/...nbridled-power

It sounds like if they had secure connections they actually could work online from home but their IT network has never been built to do this. Other departments actually have the functionality to do it it's just INZ don't as again as a result of this bodged restructure, this wouldn't help SMC applicants but at least the rest could continue to be processed. Reading it it also sounds like Iain Lees Galloway has had enough of them being useless as well, the restructure has taken years and was started before he took over and it has seemingly completely broken the SMC category and none of the efficiencies it was supposed to achieve have actually been delivered.

Wishful thinking but I do wonder if this will light a fire under someone in parliament to give INZ a kick and finally look to actually clean up the mess. It is really unacceptable that an entire government department can cease to function at a time when they are of critical importance.

[Yanco]

How are other SMC applicants holding up? I'm struggling to sleep at night. Just feels like this SMC process will drag on forever and I don't know how much longer mentally I can take this uncertainty. It feels like this will never end. It's an unprecedented situation and I'm grateful to be able to be in NZ right now as it seems to be one of the safest places to be right now. This pandemic just makes it so much harder to be away from family as well.

[JHadders]

How are other SMC applicants holding up? I'm struggling to sleep at night. Just feels like this SMC process will drag on forever and I don't know how much longer mentally I can take this uncertainty. It feels like this will never end. It's an unprecedented situation and I'm grateful to be able to be in NZ right now as it seems to be one of the safest places to be right now. This pandemic just makes it so much harder to be away from family as well.

In the same boat as you to be honest Yanco. My work situation is awful (bullying, pressure, favouritism, lack of development, etc) and I've been desperately holding out waiting for residency whilst applying for other roles but it's been 14 months now. This week has seen me at my lowest with panic attacks and crying. I had finally made a decision to pack it all in if I couldn't secure another role in NZ, to go travelling and then rethink my plans whilst back in my home country, but... Well, my home country is the UK so that's not really an option now. I feel trapped and like there isn't a light at the end of the tunnel... While I'm grateful to be in NZ I don't know how much more uncertainty I can take. How much longer can we put our lives on hold?

[desilva]

and i am also struggling to even think, what would happen if i loose my job in the near future, with the borders closed and a family here with no access to any kind of benefits. today i read on stuff that government cabinet papers discussed that migrants are 'unlikely" to be affected due to unemployment because they had a condition to show proof of finances to acquire a visa. As if $4200 is going to be enough for me for and entire year if God forsake i end up losing my job .
With the authorities took forever to even look at our cases even before this all fiasco, I am feeling being used and abused. It has been a huge let down!