New Zealand’s international borders are fully open but the number of visitors to the country is expected to increase only slowly.
International students were a major part of New Zealand’s economy before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Principal of Macleans College Steven Hargreaves said that the sector is keen to build the numbers of international students back up but he would have liked to see applications opened months ago so that students could return as soon as the borders opened.
He said that schools have a lot of catching up to do and that many schools have shut their international programmes and let staff go. This will cause delays in bringing new international students into the country.
Head of Immigration New Zealand’s Reconnecting New Zealand unit Simon Sanders said that although the border changes were a “significant milestone” it was hard to predict how many visitors will return as a result.
“I think it’s safe to say we’re not expecting the same level of demand we saw pre-Covid. That’s probably for a number of reasons,” he said.
“We know that China, who’s a larger visitor visa-required country, is still subject to a range of travel restrictions so we’re not expecting large demand from there, at least initially.”
Sanders said that Immigration New Zealand will start processing visas immediately, with a commitment to processing “straightforward” visitor visas within 20 working days.
However, he urged students who were looking to come to New Zealand next year to wait for a little before they apply.
“For students, we are encouraging those who have offers of study to put in applications immediately and we’ll get those underway; and for those who may be looking to study in 2023, hold off for a couple of months so we can assure that those that need to arrive this year will be able to do so.”
Immigration had already recruited 230 new staff to assist with visa processing.
