Updates from INZ - 15 November 2021

The Minister of Immigration has expanded authority for border exception decisions for certain classes of critical and skilled workers to include Immigration Officers.

From 29 November, the pool of officers who can make ’other critical worker’ decisions has been expanded to include Immigration Officers.

National Managers in Immigration New Zealand’s (INZ) Border and Visa Operations (BVO) branch, as designated Immigration Officers, have been making decisions.
 
The change to instructions will mean that other immigration officers can also make these decisions.
This expansion will apply to the following classes of people under the ‘other critical worker’ (OCW) policy.  The OCW border exception has been in place since 18 June 2020.

National Managers have been designated as decision-makers for these requests. Expanding OCW decision-making authority to Immigration Officers will enable a more efficient distribution of workload within INZ.  INZ’s Henderson office has supported the OCW process since it started.
 
A small group of Immigration Officers in Henderson are currently scheduled to start making decisions under National Manager guidance from 29 November. National Managers will continue to make OCW decisions through the transition period.