Lower-paid foreign workers will be able to bring their families to New Zealand again after it was restricted in 2017 by the former National-led Government.
Former Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse announced the change in April 2017, part of measures "designed to strike the right balance" for immigration to New Zealand. "It's important that our immigration settings are attracting the right people, with the right skills, to help fill genuine skill shortages," Woodhouse said at the time. But that restriction on lower-paid workers bringing their families to New Zealand will now be removed, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway announced Monday. The minister also said a simplified system for both employers and foreign workers will be introduced, with only one 'Temporary Work Visa' replacing the current six listed below:
"The new employer assisted temporary work visa process is more streamlined and less complex replacing six visa categories with one temporary work visa," the minister said. A new employer-led visa application process will be introduced that will involve three stages: the employer check, the job check, and the worker check. The new process will require all employers to be accredited before they can recruit a temporary foreign worker. There will be three types of accreditation:
The requirement to undertake a labour market test will also be removed entirely for employers in the regions looking to employ foreign workers who will be paid above the median wage. That means there is no need for skill shortages lists in the regions and they will only exist for the five following cities: Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. For jobs with very high pay - 200 percent or twice the median wage - there will be no labour market test requirement. And for jobs paying below the median wage, the labour market test settings "will be strengthened" to "better ensure" New Zealanders have the opportunity to fill the roles first. The Government will also introduce 'sector agreements' in which certain sectors will agree to a conditions that must be met for recruiting foreign workers for specified key occupations. "Sector agreements will be targeted at sectors with high reliance on temporary foreign workers and will enable specific terms and conditions for recruiting foreign workers," Lees-Galloway said. The first agreements to be negotiated will likely be for the residential care and meat processing sectors. The process will formally begin before the end of 2019. The other visa system changes will be implemented in stages to "help manage a smooth transition". The new visa and application process will have a phased implementation in 2021. In the meantime, employers and temporary foreign workers are being advised to continue using existing processes for hiring foreign workers. The current immigration system has been criticised that it leaves employees vulnerable to exploitation. Lees-Galloway said the changes will allow help to reduce exploitation.
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The Minister of Immigration has announced the introduction of a new accreditation process for employer-assisted work visas. While specific details of the new policy are yet to be finalised, all the currently available information is on the Immigration New Zealand website.
Current information on changes to work visas This process will not be fully implemented until 2021. However, there are some other changes that will be implemented in October this year. Immigration instruction changes to come into effect on 7 October 2019 These changes are:
The immigration instructions that apply are those that are in place when the relevant application is received by INZ. For example, any Talent (Accredited Employer) Work Visa application that is received by INZ on or after 7 October will need to meet the new salary threshold, regardless of when the applicant’s employer was granted accreditation. People currently holding Talent (Accredited Employer) Work Visas and people who apply before 7 October will still be able to apply for residence based on the salary threshold of $55,000. Details regarding these upcoming changes can be found on INZ's website. Changes to the Talent (Accredited Employer) policy Permanent closure of the Silver Fern Job Search Visa |
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