NEW ZEALAND IMMIGRATION NEWS

Future changes to New Zealand Immigration

Tuesday, 29 July 2008

In a speech delivered to the Immigration Law Conference in Auckland this week, Minister of Immigration, Clayton Cosgrove outlined changes to immigration law to be introduced over the next few years.

According to Mr Cosgrove, “Immigration is a vital ingredient in New Zealand’s ongoing economic development. Migrants drive innovation, give our businesses international connections, and provide a range of skills to transform our economic landscape.” Immigration is crucial to New Zealand in a number of areas:

• In the past five years, migrants have made up 60% of NZ’s workforce growth. As at 9 June 2008, there were more than 85,000 people on temporary work permits in New Zealand.
• In 2006, tourism expenditure in New Zealand was $18.6 billion, highlighting the importance of short-term visitors to the economy.
• New Zealand welcomes international students from all over the world. Export education is now the fourth largest export industry in New Zealand, estimated at over two billion dollars in foreign exchange each year. The number of student permits issued in 2006/07 was 67,147, compared with approximately 20,000 in 1997/98.
• Since Skilled Migrant Category was introduced in 2003, more than 77,000 people have been approved permanent residence under this category.
• Research supports the contribution that migrants make: 94% of principal applicants for permanent residence and 67% of secondary applicants are in paid employment. Eighty-nine percent of permanent residence applicants previously held a temporary visa/permit, which allowed them to make choices about settling in New Zealand.

The Government’s Immigration Change Programme aims to ensure immigration’s ongoing contribution to the country’s growth, by offering a world-class immigration service to attract migrants, protect New Zealand’s border, and helps fulfil its international obligations.

There are three key parts to the Change Programme: changes to service delivery, changes to policy, and changes to the legislation.

Service delivery changes will include improvements to information communications technology to enhance immigration’s business, the country’s security, and settlement support for new migrants.

Recent policy changes aim to support New Zealand’s international competitiveness. From 28 July 2008, a new Essential Skills will replace the current General work policy.

This new temporary work policy encourages the recruitment of highly-skilled workers whilst protecting jobs for New Zealanders in lower-skilled occupations.

The relatively new Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme has helped fill shortages in the horticulture and viticulture industries and create opportunities for New Zealand’s Pacific Island neighbours. Eighty percent of the 6,300 workers approved to come to New Zealand over the next year are from Pacific Island Forum countries.

Legislative changes include the new Immigration Advisers Regulations, and the Immigration Bill.

Under the Immigration Advisers Regulations, all immigration advisers/consultants have to be licensed by May 2009, and May 2010 for those providing advice offshore. This new system will help protect migrants from receiving poor immigration advice from un-ethnical or unprofessional advisers.

The Immigration Bill, currently before Parliament, includes a key change that would allow delegated officials in the Department of Labour to make exceptions to residence policy. Currently, only the Minister of Immigration can approve an exception to policy, and the minister receives around 4,000 of these requests each year. “This change seeks to reduce the need for ministerial intervention where there is a clear-cut case that an exception should be considered.” This means if a person does not meet normal residence criteria but is deemed beneficial to New Zealand, the Department will be able to exercise discretion to approve the application.

Other areas of interest in the Bill include proposals to:

• develop a system for the collection, storage and use of biometric information to manage the risk of identity fraud and make travel easier and safer for most people;
• create a universal visa system to remove the current distinction between the categories of visa, permit, and exemption. It will also require all non-citizens to hold a visa to be in New Zealand. This change will mainly affect non-citizens at sea borders who are exempt from holding a visa.
• for a new appeal structure to avoid duplicate review and appeals for the same matter, making the appeal system more efficient.

The Immigration Minister is positive that changes in the Immigration Bill will boost New Zealand’s position in the globally competitive arena, and ensure immigration’s continued contribution to the economy and the richness of New Zealand society.

If you are interested in Visas to New Zealand or would like more information on Skilled Migration, contact Migration Expert for information and advice on which visa is best suited to you.