 SummaryNew Zealand Government's Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment is consulting on proposals for changes to:
The Government wants to ensure that international students coming to New Zealand are motivated by a great education and a great experience, but has concerns that current settings are not quite right, with some students still seeing study as a guaranteed pathway to residence and some students being exploited by unscrupulous people. The Government wants to ensure it has the facts and the latest information before making any policy decisions. This consultation provides an opportunity for interested parties to provide their feedback. How to make a submission1. Read below consultation Paper: Seeking your views on settings for post-study work rights for international students and eligibility of students’ partners and dependent children to work and study in New Zealand 
2. Submission form: You can download it and fill out. 
3. Send your form as a Microsoft Word document or PDF to: Submissions are open until 5pm, Friday 29 June.
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 Changes to international students post-study work rights could cost the economy $100 million a year, an economist says. ANZ economist Miles Workman said the "small" loss would result if fewer students came here to study, causing education providers' profits to drop and reduced consumer spending. International students spent an average of $16,000 a year on fees, worked 20 hours a week and bought goods and services while here, he said. It will be hard to measure the impact of the Government's post-study visa changes because net migration is already cooling, ANZ economist Miles Workman says. Roughly 10,000 international students would be affected by the Government's proposed changes, because only half of the international students coming here stayed to work, he said. National immigration spokesman Michael Woodhouse said he expected the economic impact of the policy changes to be double Workman's forecast. The changes could wipe at least $200m or more from GDP a year, he said. Workman said $200m was possible. The amount of uncertainty the proposal created overseas could swing the impact by more than $100m. His forecast was based on the Government's migration and spending figures and anecdotal evidence from the education industry, he said. Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway opened public consultation on the proposed changes two weeks ago. The changes would include removing the employer assisted post-study work visas so international students did not need to be sponsored by a company if they applied to stay here as migrant workers. Lees-Galloway said dropping that visa was justified because it led to high rates of worker exploitation. Under the changes, students studying a non-degree qualification, below level 7 had to study for at least two years to be eligible for post-study work rights. The proposed changes would affect between 12,000 and 16,000 people, Lees-Galloway said. But, "the fiscal impact should be fairly minimal," because students would be paying for higher-level, more expensive, university courses, he said. Almost 24,000 international students arrived in New Zealand last year, according to Statistics New Zealand. Immigration New Zealand granted 7262 employer assisted post-study work visas and 12,474 open post-study work visas last year. Migration hit a record 72,400 in July last year, according to Statistics NZ. That figure had cooled to 68,000 by March this year. The post-study work visa changes aimed to make New Zealand look less attractive as a place to study as a means to get residency, which would refocus the export education industry on skills, he said. Education is New Zealand's fourth largest export earner. To read the actual article, visit here.   In the March 2018 year, annual net migration was 68,000, Stats NZ said today. Annual net migration was down 4,400 from a record level of 72,400 in the July 2017 year, but still remains high by historical standards. Net migration for the March 2018 year was made up of 130,800 migrant arrivals and 62,900 migrant departures. “More non-New Zealand citizens are leaving,” population insights senior manager Brooke Theyers said. “But there are just as many migrants arriving as a year ago.” There were 29,700 departures of non-New Zealand citizen migrants in the March 2018 year, up 2 percent from the February 2018 year and up 14 percent from the July 2017 year. In the March 2018 year, migrant arrivals on work visas rose 6 percent to 46,300, while there was a 13 percent fall in arrivals on residence visas. “Migrants coming to New Zealand to work were the largest visa-type group,” Mrs Theyers said. “The sources of the largest numbers of work-visa migrants were the United Kingdom, France, and Germany.” A residence visa allows migrants to live in New Zealand permanently. There were 14,600 arrivals on residence visas in the March 2018 year, down from 16,800 in the March 2017 year. The source countries with the largest decreases in residence-visa migrants to New Zealand for the March 2018 year were:
To read the actual article, visit here  Changes to student visas are in the pipeline that would restrict overseas students working and living in New Zealand once they finished studying. But the work right entitlements for those studying at bachelor level and above would be more generous. The changes are in response to concerns about the quality of education and study being used as a back door to residence, said immigration minister Iain Lees-Galloway. "Too many students are being sold a false dream in New Zealand that the current post-study work rights can put students on a fast track to residency here. "This has led to a decline in the general skill level of migrants granted permanent residency and fraudulent and, frankly, unethical behaviour from some agents." Those taking courses below bachelor level will be able to get a one year open work visa after they have finished, as long as the course is longer than two years. "But if they want to continue on in New Zealand after that one year they'll have to apply for a new visa that's likely to be labour market-tested and that will mean they have to have a skill that is genuinely in demand in New Zealand", Mr Lees-Galloway said. Those above bachelor level could work for up to three years with the endorsement of an employer. "There have been too many cases where migrant workers have been subject to exploitation because they are dependent on a particular employer to stay in the country." The rules will be relaxed for anyone studying at doctorate level to allow visas for immediate family, as long as the area studying is on the Long Term Skill Shortage list. Mr Lees-Galloway said he had been working closely with the sector, some of whom had expressed alarm that cutting back on work rights could force some providers to close. "Those providers who are providing a low quality education, who exist solely to provide a pathway to residency, they may not do so well. I think that's good for our education sector and it's good for New Zealand." Labour also campaigned on changing the work rights while foreigners studied but more work needed to be done in that area. Public consultation on the following changes will open on 5 June
 Immigration NZ has been prioritising the deportation of male overstayers, over females, based on the assumption they may be more likely to commit crime, the department has acknowledged. Last year, 662 of the 827 people forcibly deported from New Zealand were male, though the department has not yet provided figures on whether more men than woman may have been liable for deportation in the first place. An Immigration official caused a furore last month when he told RNZ the department had been engaged in racial profiling, targeting overstayers from certain countries for deportation. However, it subsequently denied that in a briefing document demanded by Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway. It explained that the official had been referring to a profiling pilot that had never got off the drawing board and which had not in fact been intended to "score" overstayers based on their country of origin. However, it said the pilot had "evolved into a set of criteria" that was considered when prioritising deportations, and which included both age and sex. Responding to an Official Information Act request seeking clarification on that, general manager of risk, compliance and intelligence services Nicola Hogg acknowledged what appears to be gender profiling by the department. Overstayers' gender was considered "because, based on immigration investigation activity, men are more likely to be involved in immigration offending than woman", she said. Gender appears to have been a specific consideration in deportation decisions, even though the briefing paper provided to Lees-Galloway indicated that any actual unlawful activity or immigration fraud in which an overstayer had been involved would be directly taken into account. The department treated overstayers differently based on their age, because it didn't want to prioritise the deportation of the young and the elderly unless there were other factors to be considered, Hogg said. Immigration NZ manager Peter Devoy said prioritisation for deportation was based on a number of factors and "not gender alone". "Absolutely under no circumstances would Immigration NZ ever profile people based on single factors such as gender or ethnicity alone. Profiling people based only on gender is completely unacceptable," he said. Immigration NZ discussed its practices with the Human Rights Commission last month, in the wake of the racial profiling claims. A spokeswoman for the commission would not comment at the time, beyond saying it had "a productive discussion" with Immigration NZ and would be considering the information it had provided. To read the actual article, visit here.  The Government is overhauling the scheme that allows international students to continue to work in New Zealand, in an effort to stamp out exploitation. Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway expects the proposed changes will affect 12,000 to 16,000 people, and result in a drop in annual net migration. The proposed visa changes, announced on Saturday, would see the requirement removed for post-study work visas to be sponsored by a particular employer - something that has led to some migrant workers being exploited by their employer without the freedom to speak out, for fear of losing their job and their right to live and work in New Zealand. "There have been too many cases where migrant workers have been subject to exploitation because they are dependent on a particular employer to stay in the country," Lees-Galloway said. The proposed overhaul would also significantly change the ability for international students to gain a visa post-study. Especially those who had completed a shorter, or non-degree-level qualification. The length of post-study work visas for courses below degree level would be limited to one year. People who completed a course of less than two years would not be eligible for a post-study work visa. Graduates would be able to apply for other visas after their courses finished, or their post-study work visas ran out. But they would need to meet the usual skills and labour market tests. "Work experience in New Zealand is important to many students who come here to study. My proposals retain this while restricting an avenue of exploitation," Lees-Galloway said. "Too many students are being sold a false dream in New Zealand that the current post-study work rights can put students on a fast track to residency here. "This has led to a decline in the general skill level of migrants granted permanent residency, and fraudulent and frankly unethical behaviour from some agents, employers and education providers has led to students being exploited." SOLD A FALSE DREAM The changes follow a raft of horror stories of migrant work and student exploitation in recent years. Each year, tens of thousands of Chinese and Indian families were sold a dream: they sent their children to study in New Zealand to study, with the hope of them gaining employment, and eventually setting up a permanent life at the bottom of the world. While only 17 per cent of them would gain permanent residency, along the way many were exploited and taken advantage of by dodgy education providers and employers. In some cases, those running the educational institutes, which dolled out near-meaningless qualifications for a hefty sum, also owned businesses in the hospitality, horticulture, and retail industries. Those who gained post-study visas were bonded to their employer, and an some cases forced to work long hours, for less than minimum wages, and live in poor conditions. Exploited workers did not want to blow the whistle on their employers for fear of losing their job, and their spot in New Zealand. Groups including the Migrant Workers' Association and Unite Union had called on the Government to remove the provision that tied workers to employers, giving them the freedom to find a suitable job, and speak out against any exploitation or abuse. Unite Union organiser Joe Carolan said the migrant worker sector had felt betrayed by the Government, which had made big promises to clean up the industry, and help those students who had been exploited and then deported, ahead of the election. During the election the migrant population were used as "scapegoats" for Auckland's population issues - something you'd expect from Donald Trump, not left-wing Kiwi politicians, he said. And post-election a crackdown on dodgy education institutes and employers had left the Indian community feeling targeted. Carolan also criticised the Government for not following through with its promise to help students whose supporting visa documents were forged by agents in India, leaving to be deported with no qualification. The removal of the employer sponsorship requirement was a good step towards ending exploitation, he said. Lees-Galloway said international education was a significant service export industry, and the Government was committed to ensuring it remained "an attractive and credible offering". Immigration settings were a crucial component to achieve that aim, he said. "We must protect our reputation by ensuring that the students who are coming here are motivated by a great education and a positive experience." But some students, like University of Auckland food science student Violet Xu, said international students sacrificed a lot to come to New Zealand and restricting their work opportunities afterward was "unfair". "It seems the Government is shutting us out. We're here to make this a better place. We're not criminals," she said earlier this month. Universities New Zealand executive director Chris Whelan welcomed the changes, saying it might reduce the number of students coming to New Zealand, but it would improve their outcomes. "Rather than forcing students into some very shonky work arrangements, they can focus on finding proper, high-quality employment," Whelan said. The proposed changes provided a good incentive for people to gain degree-level study, meaning they would be more likely to find "meaningful jobs for themselves, but also jobs that are meaningful for New Zealand". Whelan admitted this would likely mean slightly better business for universities, which offered about 80 per cent of degree-level qualifications, but the financial gains would be "on the margins". "If there are people who are still aspiring to coming to New Zealand, this may not be as cheap or as easy, but it's sure as heck going to lead to better outcomes for them." Immigration New Zealand granted 12,474 open post-study work visas last year, and declined 210. A further 7,262 employer assisted post-study work visas were granted. PROPOSED CHANGES
Require students completing non-degree level 7 or below qualifications to undertake at least two years of study in order to gain eligibility for post-study work rights Require international students studying level 8 or 9 qualifications to be in an area specified in the Long Term Skills Shortage List in order for their partner to be eligible for an open work visa, and in turn the partner's dependent children to be eligible for fee-free compulsory schooling The public will have the chance to have its say on the proposed changes, with consultation opening on Tuesday. To read the actual article, visit here.  Immigration New Zealand will be rolling out the new partner or dependent child online application form in the Immigration ONLINE system on Saturday 26 May 2018. This will necessitate a scheduled outage to the Immigration ONLINE system from 8.25am NZ Standard time on Saturday 26 May to 1.00am Sunday 27 May. During this time members of the public and advisers will not be able to apply via Immigration ONLINE for work, study or visitor visas. INZ1242 Partner and Child Resident Visa Declaration Form A declaration for resident visa applicants if another person is applying online on their behalf INZ1241 Partner and Child Temporary Visa Declaration Form A declaration for visitor, student or work visa applicants if another person is applying online on their behalf  The Canterbury Skills and Employment Hub will be closing permanently on 29 June 2018. It will not accept any new vacancies after 1 June 2018. In preparation for its permanent closure on Friday 29 June 2018, the Canterbury Skills and Employment Hub will not be accepting new vacancies or registrations by employers or job seekers after 1 June 2018. The reason for the Hub’s closure is the reducing demand from employers in the region for additional workers, particularly in relation to the rebuild. The last day on which a vacancy can be lodged with the Hub is Friday 1 June 2018. The Hub will complete processing of any vacancy lodged on or before 1 June by the time of its closure on 29 June. Employers with vacancies after 1 June 2018 should follow the labour market test process used throughout the rest of New Zealand:
Employers who require a Skills Match Report should contact Work and Income. The Skills Match Report will record whether there are suitable Work and Income clients available and an employer’s consideration of those clients.  A Newshub investigation into Filipino workers not getting jobs during a construction boom in Auckland has prompted a Government inquiry. Immigration New Zealand will look into the matter, including whether immigration officials themselves unwittingly approved dozens of illegal employment contracts. Newshub spoke to 16 Filipino workers, all of whom said they were brought here to work - but after months in the country, most have barely picked up their tools. They're desperate to do more - not just to help their own families back home, but to contribute to New Zealand as well. "We don't just build buildings, we build the economy," one man told Newshub. First Union general secretary Dennis Maga has condemned the situation. "It is just appalling that these workers are skilled enough to help the building industry, and yet we are not utilising them." Newshub discovered an addendum to the contract workers signed with labour hire firm Allied Workforce (AWF) contains an illegal clause - stipulating termination if the worker engages with unions. Immigration NZ is in charge of reviewing employment agreements for foreign workers, and Mr Maga says they've made a "serious blunder". "We are really frustrated with how they acted on this," he said. Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway accepts it's possible that Immigration itself approved the illegal documents, but that's not a certainty. "If it did happen I would be very disappointed, but I want to give Immigration New Zealand the chance to investigate the facts and see exactly what did happen." The illegal document has the signature of AWF manager Kurt Reed. He has not responded to Newshub's request for comment. Simon Bennett, the CEO of AWF, also didn't respond - although he previously said he was "surprised" to see the document with his company's letterhead on it. Matt Folkard, the manager of another labour hire firm, says he took on four AWF workers after they approached him earlier this year, saying they didn't have work either. "They're very appreciative of the fact that not only have they got good living conditions, they are able to work full time hours and able to send money back to their families in the Philippines, which is the entire reason that they're here." He says getting foreigners here to work and then having them sit idle is bad for our reputation. "If they start hearing that people are coming and it's a waste of time, then it's highly unlikely we'll be able to attract good quality people going forward," Mr Folkard said. Newshub has been contacted by six different employers offering to help get the Filipino tradesmen into work. In terms of the suspect document, the minister says it's possible that Immigration authorities were provided with one version of the employment contract and the workers received another. To read the actual article, visit here.  Malaysian police have intercepted human traffickers they say modified a tanker to smuggle undocumented migrants to New Zealand and Australia. Authorities said the tanker was carrying 131 Sri Lankans when it was intercepted on Tuesday. There were 98 men, 24 women, four boys and five girls. The Singapore-based ChannelNewsAsia reports the tanker had the name Etra painted on its side. Three Indonesians and four Malaysians on a fishing boat used to transport the migrants to the vessel were also arrested. Malaysia's national police chief Mohamad Fuzi Harun said the large-scale and cunning human smuggling syndicate had been operating for a year and had connections in New Zealand, as well as in Sri Lanka, Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia. Immigration Minister Ian Lees-Galloway has thanked Malaysian authorities for their work, saying the interception sent a clear message to people smugglers. Mr Lees-Galloway said lives had been put at extreme risk in the most vast and treacherous ocean in the world. He said the act was not tolerated by New Zealand and the exploitation of the individuals on board was repugnant. To read the actual article, visit here. |
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