Can I travel?

[Spudgun]

Hi Folks

I'm struggling to understand the the new travel restrictions and wondered if anyone had been in the same position? We lived in NZ until 2014 under a combination of WTR and Residence visas. We left the country and submitted our PR application based on the time spent in NZ to have the conditions removed. I can't tell if the statement below refers to our initial residence application or when it was converted to PR.

a resident with valid travel conditions, unless you got a resident visa outside New Zealand and you have never used it to travel here.

Has anyone come across this before?

Spud

[JandM]

I believe you're saying that you are Permanent Residents - is that right?

If so, then this

You can come here without first requesting to travel if you are:

a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident

(my bolding) applies to you, rather than the line below that that you have quoted.

[Spudgun]

I believe you're saying that you are Permanent Residents - is that right?

If so, then this (my bolding) applies to you, rather than the line below that that you have quoted.

Thanks JandM. Yes, I am a PR but that was granted whilst I was out of the country and I haven't returned since. Hope that makes sense?

[JandM]

That doesn't matter. A PR has the right to enter the country without restriction.

[Kelerei]

Per Y3.10 (in turn based on Section 108 of the Immigration Act 2009), you must be granted entry permission if any one of the following applies:

• You hold a Permanent Resident Visa; or
• You hold a Resident Visa that was granted in New Zealand; or
• You hold a Resident Visa that was granted outside New Zealand, and it is your second or subsequent time travelling to New Zealand on that Resident Visa.

The immigration instructions detailing people who may be granted entry permission during COVID-19 (Y3.30), and people who must be refused entry permission due to COVID-19 (Y4.50) explicitly mentions that Y3.10 continues to apply unchanged during COVID-19.

However, you will be denied boarding if you do not hold a voucher for managed isolation, and there was a report on the news this morning that there are very few MIQ spaces remaining for the December/January period.