Hospitality New Zealand says Immigration New Zealand’s acknowledgement that changes are required to improve visa processing delays is well overdue.

Delays of up to three months are putting considerable pressure on the hospitality and tourism sectors as they prepare for the upcoming summer season.

Hospitality New Zealand Chief Executive, Steve Armitage, says the current delays continue to cause operational, financial, and mental stress for both businesses and migrants.

“We are routinely hearing from members across the country who have not been able to source qualified staff locally and need to bring in talent to keep their businesses going and to deliver high quality experiences for their guests,” says Armitage.

“Hospitality operators up and down the country lodged applications well in advance of the peak summer season to ensure they are staffed up and ready to go, but they are being let down by a system that is slow to learn from previous years. This situation is not ‘out of the blue’ – it repeats every year and should have been anticipated by officials.

“In particular, the extended wait times for Accredited Employer Work Visas (AEWV) are prompting many workers to seek opportunities elsewhere, where they can secure visas more quickly and efficiently.”

The AEWV is the main temporary work visa in New Zealand. It allows a migrant to work in New Zealand for an accredited employer for up to five years.

Immigration New Zealand has said that processing AEWV applications in an efficient and timely manner continues to be a top priority and it is working to improve AEWV processing times, but knows “there is more work to be done”. It says its current focus is on how it can use its people and processes to make efficiencies in the system.

Armitage acknowledges the need for a balance between thorough vetting of applicants and timely processing but emphasises the urgency of the situation.

Hospitality NZ says that Visitor Visa delays are also threatening to impact New Zealand’s appeal as a destination. Although the average processing time is three weeks, delays from key markets like India are significantly longer, potentially deterring visitors from travelling to Aotearoa.

“The Government has been clear it is seeking to double exports, and tourism and hospitality’s recovery is key to that goal,” says Armitage. “A functional immigration system, with streamlined and efficient visa processing, is critical to support this objective.”