The removal of India from the very high-risk countries list leading to easing of restrictions to travel from India has brought smiles and happiness for many Kiwi Indians.
On 23 April 2021, the New Zealand government introduced a new category of ‘very high-risk country,’ which included India, Brazil, Pakistan, and Papua New Guinea, to further bolster the country’s defense against Covid-19. And later, on 11 August 2021, Indonesia and Fiji have also added to the list.
Due to India being a very high-risk country, only New Zealand citizens and their immediate families could travel to New Zealand from India. And all others, including NZ residents and Permanent residents, had to spend 14 days in a green zone country before traveling to New Zealand. But according to today’s announcement, even the permanent residents and residents who want to travel from India will not have to spend a fortnight in a green zone country before travelling to New Zealand. It has brought relief to many who want to travel from India or travel from New Zealand to India and then come back to New Zealand.
Giving details around when travellers can enter New Zealand without going into MIQ, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins had said, “It’s very encouraging that as a country we are now in a position to move towards greater normalcy. We always said we’d open in a controlled way, and this started with halving the time spent in MIQ to seven days. Retaining a seven-day isolate at home period for fully vaccinated travellers is an important phase in the reconnecting strategy to provide continued safety assurance. These settings will continue to be reviewed against the risk posed by travellers entering New Zealand.”
Another cherry on the cake is today’s announcement is that fully vaccinated New Zealanders will find it easier to come home from January 2022, with foreign nationals to follow from April onwards, as the Government removes the requirement for MIQ for most travellers….