Partnering with Visa Application Centres
We partner with Visa Application Centres to speed-up visa processing times and provide a better service for our customers.
Immigration New Zealand (INZ) partners with Visa Application Centres (VACs) to improve the service that we offer. VACs manage the administration involved in processing visa applications on our behalf.
VACs are not part of the visa decision-making process. They cannot provide immigration advice and they have no influence on the outcome of any visa application. Decisions can only be made by an INZ immigration officer.
Efficient processing leads to better decision-making
We currently have VACs in 40 locations across Asia, China, Europe, America, Australia and the South Pacific.
We prefer that all applications are processed through VACs in countries where they are available. VACs make sure that all of the administrative tasks associated with processing a visa application are completed quickly and to a high standard. What this means for INZ is that our immigration officers can focus solely on decision-making.
By receiving applications that have already been checked and processed by a VAC, immigration officers avoid the administrative delays caused by incomplete and incorrect applications. This means quicker processing times for some of our clients and better decision-making by immigration officers.
The VAC partnership also extends our reach to customers who live in regions and countries without a local INZ branch. In some countries it is not viable to run a local office and our VAC partnership gives our customers a face-to-face service. This provides countries such as the Pacific nation of Vanuatu with a local office that we would otherwise be unable to support.
VAC locations
The VFS Global website lists the locations of VAC branches around the world. The websites also details the visa application process, where to send documents, how to contact the office, and any passport handling or courier fees.