Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has announced plans to bring the bulk of its visa processing service back onshore.<\/p>\n
This will include the shutdown of eight overseas offices – including Pretoria Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Bangkok, New Delhi, Moscow and Shanghai – as well as two offices in New Zealand.<\/p>\n
INZ said that it will still retain a skeleton presence in these parts of the world to gather market intelligence, manage risk and carry out verification activities.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe estimate that as a result of these changes there will be a net reduction of between 250 and 300 jobs offshore, mainly locally engaged staff,\u201d said the head of Visa Services, Steve Stuart.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has been an unsettling time for our staff and I do want to take this opportunity to acknowledge their professionalism, dedication and commitment,” he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven for customers who don\u2019t apply online there is no need for visa applicants to physically go into an INZ office to lodge their applications,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cVisa Application Centres (VACs) have been operating effectively all over the world for more than five years and provide services on behalf of INZ, including receiving applications.”<\/p>\n
“Using VACs to undertake administrative tasks allows INZ staff to focus more on managing risk and making decisions on visa applications. This improves services for customers and leads to quicker decisions on visas,” he said.<\/p>\n
The changes will be affected by 1 April 2018.<\/p>\n
Stuart stressed the closure of offices will not have an impact on customers, which means the only significant change for South Africans should be the loss of face-to-face applications.<\/p>\n