Photo / 123RFBy Gill Bonnett of RNZAuckland's two recent lockdowns and the limitations of working from home have been blamed for a stalled residence visa queue. It was on track to approve its target of between 50,000 and 60,000 residence applications in the 18 months to June, it said. Photo / Mark Mitchell"INZ continues to regularly allocate non-priority applications for Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) resident visas," an INZ spokesperson said. "However, the two recent Covid-19 lockdowns of Auckland in the past month significantly disrupted normal business operations at INZ's Manukau office, which processes Skilled Migrant Category visa applications. "INZ's role is to process residence applications in line with the New Zealand Residence Programme (NZRP), which is set by the Government, and not in response to the number of residence applications received."

Source: New Zealand Herald March 14, 2021 00:45 UTC