12 August 2020
John Luke
[FYI request #13389 email]
Ref: DOIA 1920-0208
Dear John Luke
I refer to your request under the Official Information Act 1982, received on 27 July 2020, for the
following information:
I would like to know since the new criteria for the essential worker exemption -"other critical
worker category’ was issued on June 12, how many has applied under this other critical
worker’ category and how many you have declined and how many you have approved.
Our response
The new criteria for the “other critical worker” category of border exception were announced on 12
June and took effect from 18 June 2020. This response covers requests that were received between
18 June and 10 August 2020.
Please note that a single expression of interest (EOI) can include multiple workers, within which
some workers may be approved and some may be declined. As such I have provided both the
numbers of incoming EOIs and the number of individual workers who have been approved and
declined.
During this period Immigration New Zealand received 666 EOIs. 772 workers have been approved,
692 workers have been declined. 131 EOIs representing 393 workers remained under assessment.
If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request or this response, or if you require any further
assistance, please contact Cat Beach, Senior Business Advisor, Operations Support at
[email address]
Yours sincerely
Nicola Hogg
General Manager - Border & Visa Operations
Immigration New Zealand