Immigration New Zealand (INZ) is making changes to slow the expected increase in processing times for partnership residence applications.
The volume of partnership residence applications steadily increased between mid-2023 and August 2024 as more partnership work visa holders and partners of 2021 Resident Visa holders became eligible for partnership residence. There was also a significant surge in applications in September 2024 before fees and levies increased on October 1, 2024.
The growth in applications has increased processing times for most partnership residence applications to around seven months and this is forecast to increase further.
Changes include allocating more staff to process applications and following up by phone when more information is needed to make a decision.
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