25 March 2021
Nabilla
[FYI request #14775 email]
Ref: DOIA 2021-1640
Dear Nabilla,
Thank you for your email of 26 February 2021 requesting under the Official Information Act 1982 (the OIA),
the following information:
“1. The number of people who lodged EOI after March 2020 until now that have points more
than 190?
2. I would like to know out of the 5000 people that lodge EOI from March 2020 until now,
how many of them that have salary on the high remuneration threshold (above $109.000)?”
Our Response
From 01 April 2020 the selection of Expressions of Interest (EOI) for residence under the Skilled Migrant
Category (SMC) was deferred until further notice. The deferrals are a temporary measure that allows
Immigration New Zealand (INZ) to focus on processing applications from people who are in New Zealand or
those eligible to travel here while border restrictions are in place.
The most recent EOI pool draw was on 18 March 2020. Since this date, there have been no EOI pool draws
and if you submitted an EOI after 18 March 2020, your EOI remains in the pool.
As at 10 March 2021, there were a total of 1,566 SMC EOIs in the pool that were submitted after 01 March
2020 with a claim of points greater than or equal to 190. 450 of these EOIs were submitted with a salary
greater than or equal to $109,000 per annum. Please note that this figure excludes EOIs submitted by
applicants who have entered their salary in hourly rate.
INZ will continue to reassess when EOI selections can take place as the COVID-19 situation develops. The
best place to find updated information on the EOI selections is the INZ website which is being updated
regularly as decisions are made:
www.immigration.govt.nz/about-us/covid-19.
If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request or this response, please contact Lautalie Leausa Vaa,
Senior Business Advisor, Operations Support, Immigration New Zealand at
[email address].
Yours sincerely,
Nicola Hogg
General Manager - Border and Visa Operations
Immigration New Zealand
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