Global Microsoft Outage: New Zealand Suspends Visa Processing

Since Thursday, November 12, 2026, a global IT outage affecting several Microsoft services—including Outlook, Teams, and Microsoft 365—has been causing significant disruptions—not only for personal and business users, but now also for government agencies in various countries. Communication systems, internal processes, and, in some cases, administrative procedures that rely on Microsoft infrastructure have been affected.

The impact is particularly noticeable for international travelers and visa applicants in New Zealand. Immigration New Zealand (INZ) officially announced on Friday, November 13, that the processing of all visa applications has been suspended until further notice. The reason for this is the global Microsoft outage, which is paralyzing both internal processing systems and parts of the online application platform.

Specifically, this means that applicants are currently unable to submit new applications via the new “Enhanced Immigration Online” platform, which is used for several visa categories. The disruption thus affects two areas: first, the processing of applications already submitted by the responsible case officers, and second, access to certain online services for submitting new applications. As of now, the suspension applies to all visa categories, with no exceptions specified—though the restriction on submitting new applications is specifically related to the aforementioned online platform.

Other countries in the region are also reporting similar problems: authorities in Singapore and Australia have likewise reported disruptions to their digital services, indicating the scale of the global outage. It is currently unclear how long the disruption will last, as INZ has not yet provided a timeline for the resumption of normal operations.

For travelers who are currently planning a trip to New Zealand or have already submitted an application, this means one thing above all: a little patience. For example, anyone who needs an NZeTA for New Zealand should expect possible delays in processing and allow for sufficient time before their planned departure. We are monitoring the situation closely and will keep our customers informed of any impacts on pending applications.

As a general rule, planning early provides better protection even in the event of such unforeseeable technical disruptions. Submitting an application in advance through our platform reduces the risk that last-minute travel plans will be jeopardized by such outages. For more information on the costs and procedures for entering New Zealand, please visit our New Zealand visa overview page, which also lists the current fees.