For 165,000 people waiting to become New Zealanders, the government's recent decision to fast-track visas has come just in the nick of time. But what about those who've spent years here working and studying, but still don't qualify?

For Devdeep Singh, the government's announcement of a new fast-track residency visa came just in time.

"I was almost gone to Canada" said the 27-year-old, who has been in New Zealand since 2016 on a temporary basis.

But others - even some with skills New Zealand desperately needs - have been excluded from the policy reset and for them, it is another bitter blow.

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"There was no opportunity, no hope for us. And all of a sudden we got hope overnight" said Singh, who has been working in New Zealand after studying IT in Christchurch on a scholarship.

"I work with a company in Christchurch and we support people with intellectual physical disabilities, Huntington's disease, and even kids."

He is one of the beneficiaries of a new one-off '2021 residency visa' that allows migrants on most temporary work-related visas to win New Zealand residency.

It is estimated as many as 165,000 migrants can now be fast-tracked, becoming residents by the end of 2022.

That's about 68 percent of temporary migrants currently in the country. For them, the announcement by Immigration New Zealand on 30 September came as a welcome release from uncertainty.

Yet while migrants like Singh can now finally drop roots in New Zealand, thousands of others feel left out, despite meeting several of the criteria. In many cases, they have been caught in study, on the wrong kind of visa.

"The biggest problem at the moment is that those people who've been here five to ten years through no fault of their own, are trying to comply with the system, the immigration requirements, but as a result, now they find themselves not eligible" said Anu Kaloti, Auckland-based migrants rights campaigner and immigration advisor.

One essential healthcare worker, who prefers to keep his name confidential, has been caught in an endless rut of full-time and part-time work and study. But residency still eludes him because right now he's on a study visa, not a work visa.

"I first came here in 2015, studied level 7 courses in health. And then on the basis of that education, I worked for four years in essential healthcare.

"I applied for residency in 2018. But for nearly 22 months, it wasn't decided by Immigration New Zealand. So I decided to withdraw my application."…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details