17 Jan 2024

Million visa decisions made by Immigration NZ in 2023

10:44 am on 17 January 2024
The first fights from across the Tasman landed in New Zealand after the border reopened on 13 April 2022.

Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi

Immigration New Zealand says it reached a new record of 1 million visa decisions in 2023.

It said it processed 519,417 visitor visa applications. More than 80 percent were approved.

At the same time, there were 11.5m border movements in the first full year of travelling since Covid-19 caused disruptions.

The figures were released on Wednesday by immigration authorities.

Ten people were convicted of immigration offences, INZ said.

Chief operating officer Stephen Vaughan said more than 1500 were settled last year.

"Our people were busy navigating the first full year of borders being open since 2019 and managed to exceed all expectations with this milestone number of visa decisions."

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