Visa processing delays wreak havoc
The tourism industry is increasingly anxious about delays in processing visitor visas for Southeast Asian countries.
Visa-related cancellations are hitting some travel agents hard, with one reporting a $258,000 loss for October and November.
Tourism Export Council chief executive Judy Chen said processing times for low-risk travellers from India and China had doubled over the past two years and Immigration NZ had recently issued a warning to expect delays over peak season.
While the situation for Indian visitors had improved slightly, those from countries such as the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia were now experiencing unacceptably long delays, and if some family members’ visas did not come through in time, the whole group would cancel. That was not good news when visitor growth was softening, with arrivals from Asia for the 12 months to the end of August down 40,671 on the previous year.
‘‘Everyone is very anxious ... and despite Immigration NZ saying new measures put into place had made things better, we have not seen it from an operational point of view,’’ said Chen.
New Zealand Journeys brings 13,500 mostly Asian visitors here annually and managing director John Dam said the late visa processing had cost him $258,000 in the past two months as groups pulled out of planned trips.
Earlier in the year, a corporate incentive trip for 64 Vietnamese had to leave about half the group behind because their visas had not come through by departure date, and that led to cancellation fees from hotels and a coach company. ‘‘The rest of them came but they were not happy.’’
Dam said part of the problem was that Immigration NZ had centralised processing in Beijing, and that office had told him applications were allocated to an immigration officer within three or four weeks of being lodged. ‘‘I was shocked and horrified that for a visitor visa it takes up to 30 days before it is allocated to an immigration officer for assessment.’’
Feedback from overseas agents indicated visa difficulties made New Zealand a hard sell.
Immigration NZ operations manager Michael Carley said 90 per cent of all general visitor visa applications were processed within 20 days, and from the end of October those from Indian nationals were allocated to an immigration officer within 12 working days. New staff had been recruited for offices in Mumbai and Beijing, and Immigration NZ would expand its Auckland office, as well as retaining visa processing in Manila.
That would help reduce processing times, as would an increase in visa applications being submitted online.
Tourism NZ chief executive Stephen England-Hall had earlier estimated visa delays had resulted in a $50 million loss in spending from Indian visitors opting for an alternative holiday destination.
Immigration NZ’s new electronic travel authority (ETA) now appears to be going smoothly.
As of October 1, visitors from about 60 visa-waiver countries have needed an ETA before they can board a plane or cruise ship coming to New Zealand.
The ETA application process also collects the $35 international visitor levy. As of last week it had netted more than $22.6m to be split between tourism and conservation projects.