NZ immigration

2022 - 5 - 11

Major reforms to NZ immigration settings announced (1 News)

A streamlined Accredited Employer Work Visa system will be running from July 4 with changes to speed up the process.

"Migrants aren’t just economic units to support employers make a profit. However, a cloud of concern remains due to a track record of under delivering. "Labour has no credibility when it comes to actually delivering the skilled workers they promise. Instead, a lower wage threshold of $25 per hour will be required until April 2023. There will be exemptions for sectors including tourism and hospitality, with a threshold of $25 per hour until April next year. A 'Green List' is also being introduced for specific jobs with pathways to residency.

New Zealand full border reopening date set, significant changes for ... (Newshub)

New Zealand's border will completely reopen from the end of July, including to cruise ships and international students, as the Prime Minister declares Aotearoa ...

Immigration overhaul: Government introduces 'fast-track' to ... (Stuff.co.nz)

Immediate residency offered to some skilled migrants, but others can work towards residence in a major rebalancing of the immigration system.

Minimum salary requirements apply where specified, and these will be indexed to the median wage and change over time. "Migrants aren't just economic units to support employers to make a profit. A separate list of occupations will see migrants able to get residence after two years. The list features 85 hard to fill roles, including construction, engineering, trades, health workers and tech. From September, residence can also be applied for directly from overseas. Some of the jobs included in the straight to residence pathway are electrical engineers, surveyors, industrial engineers, psychiatrists, general practice doctors, vets and tech managers. Over the past two years, over 190,000 New Zealanders have benefited from Government investment in trades training, including apprenticeships. “The cornerstone of our rebalance is the new green list which will incentivise and attract high skilled migrants to New Zealand, by providing a new streamlined pathway to residency for those globally hard to fill roles. You can see a full list at the end of this story. But these all need to be paid a minimum salary, which will be pegged to the median wage – with higher pay for some roles. Employers will not need to advertise locally for the jobs and the migrants will be eligible to immediately gain residence, rather than needing to work for a period of time before gaining residence. The changes include a new process for accredited employers to get skilled migrants into New Zealand and get them residency immediately.

Govt pushes out 2021 residency visa processing by six months (New Zealand Herald)

National doubts Government claims it will be able to process the expected tens of thousands of visas resulting from today's border announcement, with the ...

She was critical that among all of the changes new workers would still not be able to enter the country until after July 4. Six months have passed, and INZ is only processing these at half the speed required to meet that target." It also included those earning twice the median wage. "This will particularly impact migrants from India and the Philippines who make up a large proportion of migrants earning less than double the median wage, which is the requirement for the Work to Residency Pathway for roles not on the 'Green List'. The Government today announced a raft of changes to immigration settings, including a simplified immigration process, and visa extensions for around 20,000 migrants already in New Zealand to ensure skilled workers remained in the country. National Party immigration spokeswoman Erica Stanford said the changes to immigration settings, including a pathway to residency for certain "high-skilled" workers, were simply a rehash of Labour's 2017 policies, and ignored the post-pandemic reality.

New Zealand border reopening fully from end of July (RNZ)

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has confirmed the border will fully reopen from the end of July, including for cruise ships and international students.

"Our Covid response is actually a very good marketing thing for us around the world for international students. "For highly skilled workers in a global shortage it will ensure New Zealand is an attractive destination with fast-track pathways to residence and simplified application processes. The agreements would "in some cases" be temporary, he said. - Degree-level and other eligible international students' work rights last the same length as their studies. "We expect this change to impact about a quarter of migrant workers based on previous income information. A second work-to-residence pathway requires two years in the job before migrants become eligible for residency. "There's also a new immigration online platform which has come on board which we used for the second phase of the resident visa ... people will see a smarter and simpler immigration system, it will allow us to be dynamic in how we respond." Masters and PhD students will retain the right to work in New Zealand for up to three years after their studies "Each of these sectors will be provided limited exceptions to the median-wage requirement in exchange for ongoing improvements, and the length of these exceptions will be different for each sector." - Students will also not be able to apply for a second post-study visa in New Zealand Visas for some 20,000 migrants already in the country are also being extended, and there will be new restrictions on students being able to work. While the border is already open to New Zealand citizens and residents and visitors from visa-waiver countries, people from countries that need to get a visa to travel to New Zealand had been told it would be October before they could book flights.

Not much for low-waged migrants in immigration reset (Newsroom)

The Government is selling it as the 'smart' option and the answer to the business communities prayers, but will the new immigration settings ingrain ...

This announcement fails to provide certainty for the types of job many low-income and essential workers who we congratulated throughout the pandemic.” Reader donations are critical to what we do. It’s a move Ardern called both a significant milestone and a chance to put immigration settings on a “more sustainable footing”. “What we know is the large majority of people earning less than 200 percent of median wage are people like from India and the Phillipines and the reality is by setting pathways to residency that are tied to wages, on top of the fact we know there is a wage gap, we are creating a white immigration policy - whether it is intentional or not,” Menéndez March said. These roles include health workers, tradespeople, engineers, teachers, dairy farm managers and tech sector specialists. The immigration settings change was packaged as a salve to one of the larger problems the Government is willing to admit exists around immigration - a heavy reliance on low-skilled migrant labour.