The one off Resident Visa for health care workers in New Zealand
The one off Resident Visa for health care workers in New Zealand
The 2021 Resident Visa is expected to supply 165,000 migrants with a fast-track to residency in New Zealand. It is being called the ‘One-off’ Resident Visa because it is a generous entitlement to residence that will probably not be repeated for many years to come.
The 2021 Resident Visa will create a residence pathway for over 5,000 health and aged care workers and their immediate family members. If you’re a health worker in Palmerston North, it will mean you can stay on here in New Zealand and continue to help us out with your valuable skills and possibly go on to apply for New Zealand citizenship.
IDESI LEGAL can assist you. The team of immigration lawyers at IDESI LEGAL in Wellington has the training and experience to help with all types of New Zealand residency visa applications. Call us on 04 461 6018.
Make sure your visa application counts
The ‘One-off’ Resident Visa closes on July 31, 2022, and applicants are likely to have only one chance to apply, so you need to get it right, first time. If you are a migrant who has spent blood, sweat and years in New Zealand and are now applying for NZ residency under the 2012 residence category, it would be a terrible shame if you ended up not being approved simply because you had overlooked one of the required details on the residency visa application.
Even though applying for a 2021 Resident Visa has been presented as a quick tick-box exercise guaranteeing residency to virtually all applicants, it is not as straightforward as that. To give yourself the best chance of your residency application being approved, IDESI LEGAL strongly recommend seeking the help and advice an experienced immigration lawyer.
Legal support for health care workers in Palmerston North
If you’re a health care worker in Palmerston North, Masterton, Foxton or Levin, for example, call us on 04 461 6018. We specialise in New Zealand immigration and have the staff, experience, and expertise to assist you with your residency application. IDESI LEGAL is based in Wellington, but we can assist you wherever you are in the Wairarapa or Manawatu. We can connect with you through Microsoft Teams even if we can’t meet in person. We send you a link, you just click it, and we do the rest. Get in touch with us to set up a meeting so we can help you with your 2021 Resident Visa application.
Who can apply for the one off 2021 Residence Visa?
There is no age limit or English language requirement to be eligible for the 2021 Resident Visa. It is open to essential skills, work to residence and post study work visas, but not students or partners of a student visa holder.
Personal carer and other critical health workers
To qualify, the principal applicant must have been in New Zealand on 29 September 2021 and be working in the following roles.
- Aged and disabled carers
- Nursing support and personal care workers
- Special care workers
- Technical and support staff working in various services including theatre, laboratories, radiology, pharmacy services, oncology, haematology, pathology, hyperbaric medicine and mortuaries
- Workers who install, operate or maintain medical equipment
- Workers delivering mental health and addictions services, aged care, respite, home care and support, child health, palliative and hospice care, forensic health, and disability support
2021 Resident Visa applicants must also meet one of the following criteria:
- have lived in New Zealand for three or more years, or
- earn above the median wage ($27 per hour or more), or
- meet health, police and security criteria.
Are family members eligible?
- Dependent children who have turned 25 may have an opportunity to be included in their parents’ application.
- Family offshore can be included. Partners and spouses will still need to prove an ongoing relationship with the New Zealand based applicant.
Our immigration lawyers can accurately assess and advise whether family members both within and outside New Zealand can be included in your application.
Health care workers can apply from 1 December 2021
If you’ve been working as a Palmerston North health care worker on a temporary work visa, you will be among the first group of people who can apply for the 2021 one off Resident Visa, and you are most likely to have already received an invitation to do so.
The cut-off date to apply is 31 July 2022. It makes sense to get all the paperwork ready in preparation.
Paperwork for 2021 one off Resident Visa
A change to the usual residency application process has made applying easier. As applications will be made online, original documents are not required to be submitted and new overseas police certificates are not required automatically. Medical certificates provided in the past three years will still be valid and more health conditions can be accepted.
If you need help to apply, or are unsure about what paperwork is required, the IDESI LEGAL team of Wellington immigration lawyers can help, wherever you are in New Zealand. Call us on 04 461 6018 so we can organise an online meeting.
Am I guaranteed New Zealand 2021 Residence Visa?
Not everyone will qualify for the 2021 Resident Visa. It is estimated around 30% of the temporary work visa holders in New Zealand will not qualify. For example, some short-term visa holders, such as students, working holiday visa holders, and seasonal workers, are not eligible.
What if you don’t qualify for this new residence visa?
Some overseas medical staff in hospitals and aged-care facilities in New Zealand are among those whose visa type exclude them being one of Aotearoa’s 165,000 new residents, but maybe we can help. Talk to one of our team of experienced immigration lawyers about exploring alternative pathways to residence. There are some things to consider that may help your eligibility. For example,
- have you entered into a relationship with a New Zealand citizen or resident?
- do you hold a work to residence visa from an accredited employer?
- do you have an offer of skilled employment?
- are you intending to invest a large amount of capital in New Zealand?
There are migrants on some short-term visa holders who have been working in the health sector for years, yet they have been excluded. However, according to a recent interview with RNZ, immigration minister Kris Faafoi said the criteria for the 2021 Resident Visa are broad, “so we’re happy to look at the situation in particular around those health workers. … There’s been a longstanding border exception for them, they’re the kind of people we would like to stay in the country long-term as well”.
Minister Faafoi said, “we can always look at that situation. I think if they have ticked one of the three boxes – in terms of being settled, skilled or scarce – they can be eligible for the visa”.
We can work with your particular situation. For example, if you have been working in the health sector but less than 30 hours per week in either a casual or permanent roles, allowances can be made for reduced hours or pay due to the impact of Covid.
Give yourself the best hope of residency
To give yourself the best chance of your residency application being approved, we strongly recommend seeking the help and advice an experienced immigration lawyer. IDESI LEGAL has successfully represented people who have had visa application issues in the past. Our team of immigration lawyers has the training and experience to help with all types of New Zealand residency visa applications.
IDESI LEGAL is based in Wellington, but we can assist you wherever you are in the Wairarapa or Manawatu. We can still connect with you, even if we can’t meet face to face. IDESI LEGAL uses Microsoft Teams. We send you a link, you just click it, and we do the rest. Easy. Call us on 04 461 6018.
