Border reopening created staffing crisis at Immigration NZ

(Image: Jacques Steenkamp/Getty)

Thu, 07 Jul 2022

Visa extensions billed as helping employers were in fact needed to solve a staffing crisis at Immigration New Zealand, documents released under the Official Information Act (OIA) show.Three weeks after the Feb 3 announcement of the government’s border reopening plan, officials advised then immigration minister Kris Faafoi that a shortfall of immigration officers of about 60 full-time equivalents (FTEs) would treble to 180 as a result.At the time, INZ had 677 staff processing visas, down from a peak of more than 900 pre-covid. Officia...

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