Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has temporarily suspended the processing of all visa applications after a global Microsoft cloud outage crippled its enhanced Immigration Online platform in the early hours of 13 November (NZDT). A notice on the INZ website says customers cannot lodge new applications until further notice, although the New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority (NZeTA) remains available. The outage has forced INZ to postpone by one week a suite of policy and system changes originally slated for 16 November, including moving family-of-citizens temporary visas onto the new platform and introducing digital passport-scan uploads for Visitor and Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) forms. Also pushed back are new Short-Term Graduate Work Visa and Post-Study Work Visa features, changes closely watched by the growing cohort of Indian students and graduates in New Zealand. Impact on Indian mobility: India is New Zealand’s second-largest source of international students and a key market for tech-sector talent feeding the AEWV pipeline. Consultants report that hundreds of in-process student and work-visa files lodged this week are now frozen, with biometric appointments likely to be rescheduled. What employers should do: • Flag potential start-date slippage for assignees awaiting AEWV approval. • Advise travelling staff to obtain or renew NZeTAs as a fallback where feasible. • Monitor the INZ “planned upgrades” page; the agency says it will give at least 24 hours’ notice before re-opening the system. Longer-term, INZ insists the passport-scan feature (now rescheduled to 23 November) will cut data-entry errors and speed identity verification—welcome news for Indian applicants who currently ship hard-copy passports to VACs.
Source: Immigration New Zealand
