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The number of foreigners allowed to cross New Zealand’s Covid-restricted borders has now risen to more than 11,000.
Less than half of them were critical healthcare workers, with the rest coming from a variety of industries, including construction and entertainment.
Research and development, which brought in 1,878 of the 6,535 non-health workers, was the big winner for foreigners to enter New Zealand.
Those deemed critical enough for the country to be granted the exemption to enter New Zealand include the children’s touring group The Wiggles, companions of the theatrical show of The Lion King, more than 1000 people, including the sponsors of the America’s Cup teams, the crews of the films, including the Avatar sequels, a Hollywood babysitter and a mushroom expert.
Immigration New Zealand published on Tuesday the total number of people considered “essential” or “critical” workers, that is, people from abroad whose presence in New Zealand was considered so important that they were granted an exemption to allow them to enter New Zealand.
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With Covid-19 sweeping the world, New Zealand has earned the envy of the world for its low rates of the virus. Borders have become the first line of defense, but strict border regulations have meant months of waits for some New Zealanders wishing to return home.
Ross Giblin / Stuff
An Air New Zealand Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner at Wellington Airport. It flew directly from Los Angeles in May with members of the Avatar crew who were granted border waivers.
There is currently no place available to reserve in Managed Isolation until July, as far as the reservation calendar is concerned, for New Zealanders who wish to return home.
Those who applied from the film and television or oil and gas industries had the highest hit rate for having received their border waivers.
91% of all those applications were approved, resulting in 469 film and television workers and 152 others from the oil and gas industry being allowed in.
The 126 workers in New Zealand to The Lion King The on-stage show included 48 performers, two escorts, seven hairdressers and makeup artists, two electricians and others.
Joan Marcus / Disney
A total of 126 people, including two companions, were allowed into New Zealand for the show on The Lion King stage.
New Zealand’s struggling tourism sector had a success rate of just 14 percent: 47 foreigners applied to come to New Zealand to work in tourism and nine were approved.
By comparison, 6,880 people applied to enter New Zealand as critical health workers and 4,501 of them, 65 percent, were successful.
Immigration NZ could not immediately say in which industries the 1,062 foreigners who came to New Zealand for the America’s Cup were approved.
A spokeswoman for Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) confirmed this week that foreigners entering New Zealand, considered “other critical workers”, had to pay higher costs that more accurately reflected the true cost of MIQ.
The cost for an “other critical worker” was $ 5,520 compared to $ 3,100 for a New Zealander returning for less than 90 days.
