Photo by Sébastien Goldberg on Unsplash
There have been a number of updates in New Zealand this week. In short:
- For residence class visa applicants, the threshold for determining conditions that may impose significant health costs has increased from $41,000 to $81,000. See below for further details
- Travelling to and within New Zealand:
- No-one entering New Zealand will have to provide proof of vaccination, including air crew.
- International arrivals are no longer required to take rapid antigen tests (RATs)
- Masks will no longer be required anywhere other than in healthcare settings and aged care facilities.
- Air New Zealand announced it was scrapping the requirement for passengers to wear masks, but they may still be required on some outbound international flights. That was dependent on which country the plane was flying to.
Threshold for determining health conditions
From 2 September 2022, the threshold for determining conditions that may impose significant health costs has been increased from $41,000 to $81,000.
Most applicants for residence class visas must have an acceptable standard of health.
One of the requirements to meet this standard is that they must be unlikely to impose significant costs or demands on New Zealand’s health services.
The prior threshold for determining whether health conditions impose significant costs was $41,000, over:
- five years, or
- the predicted course of the condition.
Residence applications lodged before 4 September 2022 will be assessed at the previous cost threshold of $41,000. Applicants may be considered for medical waivers on a case-by-case basis.
To discuss how we can assist, contact Arno Nothnagel, our NZ Immigration Director: Arno.Nothnagel@absoluteimmigration.com
