Key points

• Border will reopen to vaccinated New Zealand citizens and residents travelling from Australia at 11.59pm 27 February
• Reopens to New Zealand citizens and residents in the rest of the world on 13 March
• MIQ removed for most travellers in phased reconnection, replaced by self-isolation and tests on-arrival
• Unvaccinated travellers, and those who do not meet New Zealand’s vaccination requirements, who are eligible to enter New Zealand will continue to enter MIQ.
• Five-step plan prioritises returning New Zealanders and brings forward the reopening of key visa categories from 13 March in order to address worker shortages.
• Further visa categories reopen throughout the year to help accelerate economic recovery

Step 1 — From 11:59pm, 27 February 2022
The following fully vaccinated people can enter New Zealand from Australia and self-isolate upon arrival:
• New Zealand citizens and residents
• Other eligible travellers under current border settings.

Unvaccinated travellers, and those who do not meet New Zealand’s vaccination requirements, who are eligible to enter New Zealand will continue to enter managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ).

Step 2 — From 11:59pm, 13 March 2022
The following fully vaccinated people can enter New Zealand from anywhere in the world and self isolate upon arrival:

• New Zealand citizens and residents
• Other eligible travellers under current border settings.
• Skilled workers earning at least 1.5x the median wage.
• Travellers on a working holiday scheme.
• Partners and dependent children of New Zealand citizens and residents, provided they meet the usual visa and vaccination requirements. A family group does not need to travel to New Zealand together.

Unvaccinated travellers, and those who do not meet New Zealand’s vaccination requirements, who are eligible to enter New Zealand will continue to enter MIQ.

Step 3 — From 11:59pm, 12 April 2022
The following fully vaccinated people can enter New Zealand from anywhere in the world and self isolate upon arrival:
• Current offshore temporary visa holders with a valid visa who can still meet their visa requirements.
• Up to 5,000 international students for semester 2

Step 4 — July 2022
The following fully vaccinated people can enter New Zealand and self-isolate upon arrival:

• All travellers from Australia.
• Visitors from countries who do not need a visa (visa waiver visitors)
• Travellers arriving under the Accredited Employer Work Visa categories.

https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...iver-countries
https://www.immigration.govt.nz/empl...-and-work-visa


Step 5 — October 2022
All visa categories will reopen in October 2022, including visitor and student visas.
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BARNZ executive director Justin Tighe-Umbers said that some airlines had already stopped flying to New Zealand and more could follow
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"The airlines have told me they want to fly here, but they need to know New Zealand is open to business. Leisure and business travellers will not come if they have to self-isolate for days – it's a market killer."

Tighe-Umbers said the loss of international tourism had hit the New Zealand economy hard over the past two years.
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The Ministry of Health has backtracked on a claim by director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield that tests requisitioned from private businesses were not already in New Zealand when the Ministry took them.

Last month, when news broke that the Ministry was requisitioning tests ordered by private companies for its own stocks, Bloomfield said private and public orders of the tests were being "consolidated" into one order for the Government. Bloomfield twice assured the public that tests taken by the Ministry were "forward orders" from overseas, not tests already in New Zealand. "Many businesses already have tests onshore and we're not requisitioning those or doing anything like that," Bloomfield said.

This was only partly correct. While tests from one of the manufacturers, Abbott, were not being requisitioned, tests from another manufacturer, Roche, very much were. He added, "we have discussed with our three main suppliers which are Abbott, Roche and Siemens, that forward orders of tests that haven't arrived in the country be consolidated into the Government's stock so that it is there for the whole country including private businesses". While no stocks of Abbott tests that are already in the country have been requisitioned, a substantial stock of Roche tests have been, a fact the Ministry now admits. A spokeswoman from the Ministry acknowledged it "did take the full February allocation from Roche and their stock on hand in New Zealand as part of having our orders fulfilled by Roche".
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National's Covid-19 spokesman Chris Bishop said the Government had been "tricky" on the issue of RATs "right from the start". "They have used sophistry and deliberately confusing language to hide what happened here," Bishop said. "Which is that the Government nicked tests from the private sector because they were too incompetent to order their own," he said.

When asked about the requisitioning fiasco, Bloomfield and ministers tend to answer with reference to Abbott's tests, which had not been requisitioned. This was despite no companies with Abbott tests on order actually alleging their orders had been taken. The two largest firms who complained their tests had been taken, InScience and Health Works Group, both ordered Roche products. Instead of answering what had happened to the missing Roche tests, Bloomfield answered questions relating to Abbott tests - tests which no one had reported as being stolen.
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