Facing A Long Delay in Getting Your NZ Visa? Read On To Find Out Why

Young student waiting in a café

Facing a long delay in getting your NZ Visa? Read on to find out why.

New Zealand is one of the most popular destinations for Indians planning to study, work, settle down or just go for a vacation. The immigration department of New Zealand receives a large number of Visa applications during their summer months (November to March). This is typical for this time of the year as most of the visitor visa and student visa applications are filed. Here’s what we would like you to know:

How long does it take to process a visa application?
The visa processing time varies depending on the type and complexity of the application. The average time of a visa processing is 3-4 weeks, however as NZ authorities receive high numbers of visa applications from November to March, it takes longer. If you are applying for a visa during this season, it is suggested to check with your agent or visit the INZ website before booking your flights. To know more about specific visa application processing time visit the INZ official website.

Why so much delay in visa processing?
New Zealand immigration has recently shut a few of its visa processing branches. The new offices are also dealing with the difficulties of sorting out different profiles and prioritizing visa applications. Also, as per INZ sources, the visitor visa applications from the Indian subcontinent are up by 10% compared to this time last year. This has led to a temporary backlog situation due to which the waiting time has increased to approximately 3 months.

What can you do to avoid further delay?
One of the main reasons for delayed visa applications could be incomplete documentation. Speak to your agent and verify your documents yourself before submitting your application. If you do not supply correct information, it could hold up your visa processing. Moreover, if there is verification needed to process your application, the processing time will be longer than expected. Apply for your visa well in advance to avoid any disappointment in future.

When can I expect my visa?
The Immigration of New Zealand is focused on processing these applications as quickly as possible. They have boosted their resources to clear the backlog. Priority has been given to the student visa applications that are meant for attending any New Zealand university for post-graduate level qualification. After the student visa, the next priority is visitor visa, as the season will end soon. However, INZ also advised not to purchase tickets or do any bookings before an application is completed, as visa application will not be prioritized only because the applicant has pre-purchased travel. All the applications are being delayed as the Mumbai office has thousands of applications already pending. So if you have submitted your visa application in January ’19 then it is likely to be completed in April or May 2019.

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