Skilled Migrant Category

Currently all new Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) applications for the North Asia region are to be lodged at INZ Shanghai Branch.

INZ Beijing Branch is currently working through a backlog of older applications, and we expect that all SMC applications in the branch will have been allocated to our case officers by April 2012. Processing times for applications after allocation to case officers are three to six months. Applications which include job offers from New Zealand employers are prioritised.

Things that may delay your application

• An existing medical condition (please provide a report from your specialist clarifying the history and prognosis of the condition).
• A criminal conviction listed on your police certificate (please give a written account outlining the circumstances surrounding the offence).
• Work references that do not list your position and the start and end dates of your employment.
• Any custody issues surrounding children that may be included with a resident visa application.
• Verification work that we may need to carry out from time to time to verify information submitted.

Family Stream Category

New Zealand carefully plans allocation of permanent residence places. The Government's annual residence programme gives priority to skilled and business migrants and the partners of returning New Zealanders. Demand for places under the capped family stream (which comprises parent, adult child and sibling resident visa cases) currently exceeds the number of places available.

There is a current waiting time of 18 to 24 months for a place to become available within the family capped stream (parent and adult sibling applications). In practice this means that an application will usually take 18 to 24 months from the time of lodgement to be allocated to a case officer for assessment.

Uncapped Family Applications – Partnership/Dependent Child applications

We will allocate your application to an immigration officer within seven days of your application being received by our branch and you will receive an acknowledgement letter.

The current processing time frame for partnership and dependent child applications is six to twelve months.

Capped Family Applications – Parent/Adult Sibling applications

You will receive an acknowledgement letter within seven days of your application being received by us.

The application will normally be allocated to an immigration officer within two years of being accepted and the assessment may take six to 18 months.

Medical and chest X-ray certificates

There are guidelines concerning the medical status of people applying for visas to visit, study, work, or live in New Zealand.

If you have an existing medical condition or there are questions arising from the Medical and Chest X-ray Certificate PDF [333KB] that you have submitted with your application for a temporary or residence visa, we are required to refer your documents to an independent medical assessor for their opinion on your health.

It may take six weeks for certificates referred to an assessor to come back to us. Following this you may be asked to provide additional information in the form of specialist reports clarifying the nature and prognosis of your condition.

Please be aware that no decision can be made on the outcome of your temporary or resident visa application until all questions regarding your medical status have been resolved.

Temporary entry class visas

Processing timeframes

The processing time may differ across individual applications and can be brought forward or pushed further back depending on risks perceived in individual applications.  The processing timeframes as at 1 February 2012 are:

• positive profile applications – 15 days
• other applications – further 15 to 30 days for processing.

More than 90% of visitor visas are processed within 24 days.

Positive profile students

The following is a list of factors which determine what we consider to be a 'positive profile' student. 

• A good academic record.
• An IELTS score of at least 5.5 OR evidence of having met English language entry requirements for the course of study in New Zealand, whichever is higher.
• Verifiable evidence that the student’s immediate family has the funds to meet the educational and living expenses of the student while he or she is in New Zealand – including paper trails to explain any recent large deposits in accounts OR funds deposited in the Funds Transfer Scheme.
• A regular source of sufficient income of financial guarantors.
• An intended course of study relevant to qualifications and/or work experience.
• Career progression opportunities.
• The student meets good health and good character requirements.

Positive profile visitors

The following is a list of factors which determine what we consider to be a 'positive profile' visitor.  

• The applicant meets good health and good character requirements, and
• has a clear purpose for visiting New Zealand (including flight bookings and itinerary and prepaid activities), and
• has evidence of funds, e.g. bank statement showing regular salary payments or savings or bank deposit with sufficient funds, and
• has strong incentives to return to China after visiting New Zealand, and
• (for people who are being invited to New Zealand by a family member or a friend) has completed a Sponsorship Form for Temporary Entry (INZ 1025) PDF.

If your application does not meet the above criteria, it does not mean that the application will not be approved. It simply means that the application may take longer to finalise.