6:07 pm on 26 April 2016
Mohamed Hassan Temporary migrants fighting to build a life in New Zealand say it's costing them thousands of dollars to navigate the immigration process. Kareem Ismael, a tutor at Auckland University, is in his final year of a PhD in city planning, which he started in 2011. Most of the money the Egyptian-born man earns tutoring is saved to show Immigration New Zealand he has enough to live on at the start of every year. If he doesn't have $16,500 in his bank account when he applies, he can't renew his visa. That translates to more than 70,000 Egyptian pounds. "It is of course a huge amount of money, especially since I'm self-sponsored from Egypt. "Our economy is not in its best shape in the last five years." Mr Ismael said once he finishes his study, he wants to apply his expertise as a planner in Auckland, a place he now considers home. He will apply for residency this year, but doesn't know what his chances are. "I have heard different cases, some people got it really easily in three months, some people didn't get it at all. My qualification, my age, the point system - of course it's worrying me." In the meantime he is trying to stay positive and hopes the government will see him and other migrants not as a burden, but as contributing members of society. "Those people coming from all over the world, they have suffered all of that financial strain to stay here, they really want to stay here, and they really want to increase the abilities of this country. "They deserve to have an opportunity." A report from Auckland University found migrants were having to jump through financial hoops, leaving them economically vulnerable without any assurance they would be allowed to stay. The study found 86 percent of residence approvals in the skilled/business category last year were on a temporary visa of some kind before they applied, and many ended up with large amounts of debt to help them finance their stay. Only a fraction of temporary migrants who said they wanted to stay in New Zealand were accepted, and only 17 percent of students managed to transition into residents. Sarin Moddle has been a staple voice on Auckland independent music station 95bfm for six years. She also works organising music festivals, writing and doing the occasional stint in hospitality and as an operations manager for BizDojo. She moved to New Zealand from Canada in 2008 as a student, but eight years and several work visas later, she realised she had built a life here. "The first couple of years it was like 'oh I'm having so much fun, it would suck if I have to go home'. "But then after that it becomes 'I've set my life here', and if I have to leave I effectively have to start my life over again somewhere else." Soon the uncertainty of not knowing if her next visa application would be accepted became a source of anxiety. "The thing that is constant is that you still never know that it's for sure. "Immigration is this faceless bureaucracy. You can call them 20 times in one day and talk to 20 different people and get 20 different answers." So she decided to hire an immigration lawyer to help her get her residency, which she eventually got last Christmas, after forking out more than $8000 in payment fees. "I started saving a couple of years after I got here once I got a real job, and I started putting money into what I thought was a retirement savings." "Pretty much all of that went to the lawyer." Marie Pfister, 29, is in New Zealand on a partnership visa. The French native met her now-husband, Omar Abdullah, in Auckland while working as a barista and travelling the country five years ago. They fell in love, got married, and then began the arduous process of trying to prove all that to immigration. "Have you and you partner been together long enough, have you and your partner been living together, spending money together. I've been keeping all the paper bills and invoices for internet, electricity, flights. It's been four years." During that time, they spent thousands on visa payments, compulsory medical checks, and translating documents from back home. They are now waiting to have enough money to apply for her residency, which costs $800. Until then, thinking about buying a house, or even having children, is out of the question. "When you apply for a visa here in New Zealand, if you're a female, they ask you if you're pregnant, and if you are planning to give birth in New Zealand or not. "I'm not quite sure if you actually can stay if you're planning to give birth." Immigration minister Michael Woodhouse said the government recognised the difficulty for some who have been in New Zealand for several years. "There are issues with temporary visa holders being here for a long period of time, but with no pathway to residency." A review was currently underway, and there were plans to introduce some new pathways to residency this year. The changes come in light of bedrock unemployment in the South Island, with the Canterbury earthquake recovery efforts, horticulture in Nelson and farming further south. However, Mr Woodhouse said those new pathways don't extend to the North Island, and especially not to Auckland-based migrants. Temporary migrants shouldn't get to stay in New Zealand if they're not filling a gap in the market, he said. "They shouldn't have an expectation that residency will follow if they aren't in areas of high skill shortage." With high youth unemployment in Hawke's Bay and Auckland, the government needed to make sure New Zealanders were at the front of the queue for jobs, he said. To read the actual article, visit here.
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Saturday, 28 May 2016
Many New Zealanders can tell the Government exactly how to fix the problems of housing affordability and much else: stop immigration. The Government clearly has no intention of doing so. In the Budget publications this week there are facts, figures and graphic illustrations of the level of net immigration the country is receiving. Six months ago it was forecast to peak at 62,700 for the year ending next month. Now the forecast peak is 70,700. The country has been enjoying annual immigration gains most years since the turn of the century but the previous peak, in 2003, was 40,000. The latest rise started after a slight net loss of people in 2012 and it has been steeply climbing ever since. The Treasury reports that about two thirds of the population gain is immigration, a third is lower emigration. It is now forecasting a slower fall in the annual figures than it did six months ago and does not expect annual net migration to return to its previously "normal" level of about 12,000 until 2019. Consequently, it sees little prospect of house prices relenting within the next three years. The forecast fall is only a forecast, there is no sign of it happening and no hint from the Government that it wants it to happen. The population increase is helping to generate the growth in the economy that puts New Zealand ahead of most other and larger economies at present, which in turn makes it a magnet for yet more migrants, as well as persuading more young New Zealanders to stay here. The Government would not want to say this out loud, but clearly it is not controlling immigration as tightly as previous governments have done. This attitude undoubtedly comes from the Prime Minister and it is consistent with his disinclination to restrict foreign investment or even monitor its impact on the house market. He deeply believes the country is better off being open and connected to the world's flows of capital, trade and people. The performance of the economy on his watch suggests he is right. Even the housing affordability is a cost of prosperity. If we want drastic steps taken to stop rising prices we need to be careful what we wish for. [The Prime Minister] deeply believes the country is better off being open and connected to the world's flows of capital, trade and people. The Budget documents always include a Treasury paper on the risks that its working forecasts might be wrong, on both the optimistic and pessimistic sides. It sees little prospect that migration will drop more sharply than it predicts, even if, say, Australia was soon to become a drawcard for employment again because much of New Zealand's immigration is students coming to study and staying. New Zealand's desirable population size has always been a contentious subject, though not previously an urgent question. The increase since the turn of the century followed 25 years of static population figures as more people left than arrived. Immigration policy was a notoriously capricious. Each time the economy dipped, governments would close the door. Now that we appear to have a rapidly growing population again, we need to be discussing how high we want it to go, and how it might be channelled to regions that most need it, and the houses and services it is going to need. This country would benefit from many more people, and better preparation for their arrival. To read the actual article, visit here. Immigration NZ grants Iranian film director Rokhsareh Ghaemmaghami visa after international outcry22/5/2016 THOMAS MANCH
Last updated 10:16, April 20 2016 Immigration NZ has backed down, granting a visitor visa to an award-winning Iranian film director after calls for her initial denial to be reconsidered. Rokhsareh Ghaemmaghami, director of the documentary Sonita, planned to travel to New Zealand to attend the screening of her film at the Documentary Edge Film Festival next month. She was denied a visitor visa, considered by immigration officials a potential 'overstayer'. In a statement this morning, Immigration NZ area manager Michael Carley said a visitor visa had been approved after a review of the application, and receipt of further information from Ghaemmaghami. Immigration NZ have apologised to for the inconvenience caused to Ghaemmaghami. Yesterday, film festival director Dan Shanan said New Zealand's reputation was damaged by the decision to deny Ghaemmaghami's visa. More to come. - Stuff For the actual article, visit here. |
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