"Covid-19 has greatly disrupted the movement of people across borders. Our focus now is to move through this process as quickly and fairly as possible."
Visa holders can also include their partners and dependents in their application.
Applications for the 2021 Resident Visa will be open in two phases; on December 1, 2021 and March 1, 2022.
"This week we also announced October dates for the commencement of quarantine free travel for RSE workers from Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu, which will greatly help our growers," O'Connor said.
"This step today is another example of listening to employers and their people, and responding."
While the announcement helped to relieve workforce pressure, O'Connor believed the primary industries still needed to stay focused on long-term strategies for developing people.
"Immigration is one way to source people, but we also need to keep up the good work that's been done over the past 12 months or so to attract Kiwis into life on the land or our supply chains, and of course retain them.
"Wherever you go in modern economies around the world, the most valued resource is people and it's no different for our primary sector."
O'Connor said New Zealand was already experiencing very good growth in export revenues across the primary industries.
"Having great people will be key to our trade-led recovery from Covid-19."
Meanwhile, Federated Farmers agreed with O'Connor's statement that the residency initiative would provide certainty for migrants.
Feds said in a statement the pathway enabled a clear and achievable residency process for international workers and their families.
"I am delighted. This gives 9000 of the workers who have stayed on to help run our farms some certainty about their future," Federated Farmers immigration spokesperson Chris Lewis said.
"And they deserve it. They've supported us through exceptionally difficult times on-farm and we are going to need them even more in the future.
"There will be big smiles in cowsheds and tractors across the country after this announcement."
Federated Farmers said it had "pulled every lever" for 18 months to let the government know the importance of the rural international workforce to keep New Zealand's primary industries running.
"Select Committee submissions, farmer surveys, letter-writing campaigns, virtual meetings, border exception applications, and numerous correspondence have all signalled that it is essential to retain our skilled international farm workers."
The group had also just written a joint letter to Ministers Faafoi and O'Connor asking for certainty for the New Zealand-based international workforce, Lewis said.
"We have been losing people to Australia and Canada. New Zealand farm employers know what a threat these countries and their initiatives are to retaining our experienced agricultural workforce."
While the announced residency initiative was good news for those workers already on New Zealand shores, there remained "a significant shortfall of agricultural workers in many regions," Federated Farmers said.
As a result, the industry would continue to work towards attracting and retaining good New Zealand workers - but Federated Farmers believed continued access to an international workforce would remain critical for the foreseeable future.
