Corona-virus Update on New Zealand Border Closure by Arun Jacob.

Corona-virus Update on New Zealand Border Closure by Arun Jacob.

First time I have experienced something of this magnitude where the entire world is battling something called COVID-19 which stands for corona virus disease 2019 because that's when it started and I think the whole world is gearing up for fighting this particular thing so in New Zealand we were also monitoring the situation quite closely and the government has been taking some very proactive steps to try and contain this virus because you know it seems to be growing exponentially at different places and I think we in New Zealand are already afforded the luxury of being a an island nation at the bottom of the Pacific and so in certain ways I think we know we already have some amount of unnatural protection and natural model which doesn't allow things to permeate or spread very quickly but you know that we all do live in a modern age and modern era where planes and jets flights can take you from one place to another very quickly so in that sense New Zealand is probably not immune but you know the geographic distance from the rest of the world does offer a little bit of a cushion for us I guess you know for lack of a better word so anyhow so the government has been tracking this quite carefully and I think we have all we are all aware of I think of the situation that evolved first out of China and then I think the Iran became quite a big epicenter and of course it then moved to Europe and Italy I think had a fair bit of issue and I think the still battling with it and possibly the government of New Zealand was to being the situation of how it spread to Europe and  how early preventive measures could not erase this particular virus in Italy so I think they've learnt from it and they're kind of taking good strong steps to address this and help New Zealand and possibly the rest of the world as well so a few days back the government took a decision to let people into the country and but as long as they were going to self-isolate themselves for 14 days and so we did get some of our students and clients who were still able to get into New Zealand and then went into self-isolation but today evening I was watching the news on our national channels and the Prime Minister came light and so she said that effective tonight you know we are at about 10:35 p.m. in New Zealand today but I think effective tonight tell from 11:59 p.m. which is in a starting of tomorrow the government has decided to shut the borders for all people who are going to come into New Zealand except for I guess you know partners and children of New Zealand citizens and residents so that's the little exception they've made earlier they had an exception to make for people coming from the Pacific countries but I think they've also claimed down on that as well with today's announcement in the news from the Prime Minister so that leaves a lot of people are in limbo so everybody who's supposed to enter New Zealand on temporary visa like a work visa or a student visa or a tourist visa and any other kind of temporary visa is effectively not going to be allowed to enter New Zealand after 11:59 tonight so for those people already on a plane and entering New Zealand before 11:59 they will be met by officials at the airport and I guess so some level of testing would be done before they're brought into the country are allowed into the country and there will be of course us to go into self-isolation but anybody coming after 11:59 which effectively is tomorrow which starts at midnight today they were are going to turn them away and I'm sure the air traffic controllers have already sent his messages to all those flights which are on their way to New Zealand but will not arrive here before midnight today so you know I think so they will probably be asked to turn around and just get back go back to their destination so or to the origin destination so I think that's what is going to happen so this does of course leave a lot of our clients in limbo as to what is going to happen to them so I'm going to address AJV clients who are past present and future clients of AJV and as a proactive risk possible company who's always cared for all of you I want to give the message that I'm going to first talk about the past students for already here the present students who are you know having their visa applications being processed through us and future students see them who haven't started their process but I've had you know have made plans to continue New Zealand maybe in July or August or September any I wandering into I still go ahead to that man's right so let's first get to the past you this so those AJV students and clients who are already in New Zealand I guess you know all you guys and gals are already aware of all the measures at the government test instructed all of us here in New Zealand to take up so please adhere to these instructions even if it's somebody who is already arrived at in New Zealand as an aunt isn't self-isolation please continue to adhere to the instructions from the government the government has set up a special website called www.covid19govt.nz  and that is one of the most authentic sources of information for you as to what you need to do and I already told in my last session that any AJV student who has arrived or client who has arrived and is itself isolation just talk to us and we will gladly lend whatever support we can't you even if it means that some of us have to come and leave food or medicines or other essential supplies outside your doorstep without jeopardizing your health or our health we are happy to do that we have kicked in and that is the advantage of coming into New Zealand as AJV client because we will give you that support I don't care which the remote part of New Zealand URL we will if you are in an emergency call  and one of us even if it means I have to drive the whole night and be there in your town and provide you with that support so that's for those who are already in New Zealand which is the past now coming to the present so there are some students and my team has specifically asked me to talk about you know two of our students who are on the verge of coming to New Zealand and these clients are about to come to a place called Auckland Institute of studies and so these two students who had booked their tickets unfortunately will not be able to come into New Zealand now so this message is specifically for Karan and Sakshi I know you were you know looking at coming into New Zealand on I think both of you were booked to fly around the 22nd but unfortunately you will have to delay your plans now because the government has shared borders so you will not be allowed to enter New Zealand so Karan and Sakshi specifically coming straight from me please cancel your tickets and hang in there and we will talk to the institution and find out from them so what is the what's going to happen next and we will come back to you very quickly but I can assure you will not be allowed to enter New Zealand at this point in time so yeah very unfortunate occurrence actually but both of you will have to cancel your tickets and do it so quickly so that you don't lose too much money on them don't panic because you know this is of course something that's beyond the control of the government of New Zealand or the institution or AJV so you know it's something and I'm sure you know you're both grown up and you know have the understanding to know that this is something that went completely out of control not because of any one single department or company but you know it's just something that spiraled out of control very quickly and very suddenly in New Zealand in the last 48 hours so specifically for Karan and Sakshi in there cancel your tickets and tomorrow we will talk to a is and ask them what are the next steps and we will convey it back to you and a lot of institutions in New Zealand are considering to start online classes so we will see how the situation in evolves of course you know you guys and girls did not sign up to sit in your home countries and take online classes from New Zealand universities or institutions you want it to be in New Zealand that experiences beautiful countries so I completely understand that and you depend a lot of good money for you know like having that experience but because the current situation around the world of course that's probably not a possibility so cancel your tickets sit back and hang in in there going forward to the Future students and the future students who are already in the process of applying for intakes in New Zealand for April May June or July August September my suggestion to you is do not stop your process because at this point in time we don't know when the Cure is going to be there we don't know when the wax it is going to be there it might happen very quickly it might happen on a couple of months it might take longer than that nobody is able to predict that right now including the World Health Organization but just as somebody who's gone through a lot of experiences in life and just as the elder mentor to all of you I would like to tell you that you know do not change your plans because you know nothing has changed for you you're still in your country you're still going on with your job and your life and you know with your family all you're doing is sharing documents with Team AJV all of us are you know thankfully we evolved this beautiful system where we don't have to meet you in person or we don't have to shut down offices we are still able to function at 100% capacity so you have absolutely nothing to worry about continual process for all we know something might crop up as a solution and as a white saying and as a cure over the next couple of months which means you will still be prepared to come to New Zealand in the next a few months so do everything prep yourself give us all the documents let's get your visa application ready and wait to see how the situation it was and the moment they say they look all clear good to go we will are allow visa applications I promise you we will not ensure that we will ensure that you will not lose any money so we will create your entire visa application at the end of the day we also need to you know I have work to do so send us all your documents there's no money you're spending you're not paying anything to AJV you're not paying any visa application fees to immigration New  Zealand you're not giving any money to the institutions to you know give you your offer letter so because there is no money involved it's just your time and effort continue to process continue to talk to your AJV officers and we will get will bring it to a point where we are ready with your entire application and just waiting too large at the moment immigration New Zealand tells us hey look it's all clear we are back to business as usual so that's mine since your advice to everybody and then my team also asked me to our you know talking about a few other things like you know Ruben wanted me to talk about the fact that immigration New Zealand's Beijing Mumbai and Manila offices are temporarily closed and INZ remained and you know the statements is that in remains committed to minimizing the impact on visa processing times and that's a fact because you know INZ has got offices all around the world including here in New Zealand and I think they have a beautiful system where if one particular office has to close down you know like this unprecedented time of the corona-virus or COVID-19 or they are able to quickly transfer that load on to another office so I don't think it's going to you know just as a precautionary measure in countries where there is a slightly higher incidence of the virus they are kind of cheering down those offices so don't worry I am the itself has said that there is no impact on the processing times the other thing that Ruben want to be such fun was that I&C cannot extend visa duration's visa fees or visa paid for completed applications will not be refunded or deferred for another visa you might withdraw an undecided application again as I said this was a statement that was made before today's declaration of border closure but you know Mayans is a very understanding organization I have worked with them for more than 15 years now and they're you know good people they are their kind people they understand that you know situation has changed and if it means that refunds have to be affected they will refund so again my suggestion is do not withdraw your applications let it stay in the system and we will say how it can progress from there as a policy AJV has will not charge anything from any of you up or lying to you know already in the process or those of you who are trying to apply except for whatever fees that you got to pay to it which is not a lot in the bigger a scheme of things so just hang in there so just about the weather the flights are on the way to New Zealand is that all effects and foreign travelers must have checked in for their flight to New Zealand by this time which is 23:59 on Thursday and 19th March 2020 which is today so as long as you have checked in before this time you're good I think you know the legitimate land in the country and officials will come and meet you and you know of testing will happen to ensure that you know there is no sickness being brought in possibly the last time that something like this happened must have been during the Second World War so it is a very unprecedented time so we'll only to fight this together.