Who are the eligible travellers?
INZ has defined eligible travellers who can travel to New Zealand, these include:
NZ citizens
NZ permanent residents or resident visa holders
Australian citizens or permanent residence visa holders where NZ is their primary place of established residence
Holders of a critical purpose visa (with a border exception), and
Partners, dependent child/ren or parents of a dependent child who is:
A New Zealand citizen,
A New Zealand resident, or
One of the people listed in the bullet points above
Changes to MIQ requirements and entry dates
The previously announced date to allow self-isolation for eligible travellers travelling from Australia has been delayed from 17/01/22 to the end of February 2022.
Eligible travellers travelling to NZ will need to provide a negative Covid-19 test that is obtained from the local health authority 48 hours before the first international flight instead of the previous requirement of 72 hours).
Very high-risk countries
All countries have been removed from Very High Risk country list.
Approved worker border exception request changes
The government have announced a new border class exception for the technology sector, which will enable 600 specialist tech workers and their partners along with their dependent children to travel to New Zealand.
The government have renewed the following approved worker border exceptions for:
200 rural contractors paid at least $27 an hour
40 shearers
615 deep-sea fishing crew (to enter in September and October 2022)
30 travellers per month nominated by Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to transit New Zealand on the way home to Australia
550 cargo crew servicing the Pacific to undertake managed isolation in New Zealand
What we think
Based on the information that has been released, NZ Government is taking a prudent approach to keep the Omicron variant out of New Zealand. We wouldn't be surprised if there are more delays, especially if the COVID situation escalates. It seems that the current border setting that is in effect will continue to apply at least till 01 May 2022 and the Government will open the borders in a stage wise manner which will allow some groups of people to enter before others.
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