What is the Skilled Migrant Category and how does it work?
The Skilled Migrant Category is a points-based residence policy, for people who wish to live permanently in New Zealand. A person who wishes to apply for residence under the Skilled Migrant Category must first put in an Expression of Interest (EOI) to Immigration New Zealand, claiming points for factors like their qualifications, work experience and job offer. Immigration New Zealand does a fortnightly draw selecting EOIs based on the points claimed, then invites people with sufficient points to apply. All applicants must meet some minimum criteria, regarding health, character and English language. What is changing, when? Two changes to the Skilled Migrant Category have been announced:
What was the situation before?Previously, all EOIs were selected where the person had claimed:
From 12 October 2016 only EOIs with 160 points or more will be selected. This will enable the number of Skilled Migrant Category resident visas granted in 2016/17 to remain within the target range. Why does this have to change? New Zealand is currently a popular destination, and therefore there is a very high demand for places under the Skilled Migrant Category. To ensure that this demand is managed effectively, the Government has set the total planning range for the Skilled/Business stream of the NZRP across the 2016/17 and 2017/18 years at 50,500–57,500. If INZ was to continue to select EOIs using the same thresholds as previously, more visas would be granted than the target range allows. Is the new points threshold of 160 permanent? No. The automatic selection mark for EOIs may be adjusted as necessary to manage the achievement of the overall New Zealand Residence Programme. What is happening with evidence of English language and why? What was the situation before? The minimum English language requirement for applicants under the Skilled Migrant Category is an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) overall score of 6.5 across the four language domains (reading, writing, listening and speaking). Prior to the 12 October change, immigration officers could also consider a variety of alternative pieces of evidence of English language ability in place of an IELTS score, including:
What are the changes about who has to do a test?People who are invited to apply from 12 October onwards will not be able to use the same alternative evidence of English language in place of a test as previously. The evidence that can be accepted in place of a test will be limited to:
People invited to apply before 12 October will not be affected and may still use the alternatives previously in place. They only need to provide what Immigration New Zealand has already requested on the invitation to apply. What are the changes about what kind of tests Immigration New Zealand will accept?From 21 November 2016, Immigration New Zealand will accept a wider range of English language tests. The new tests that INZ will accept are:
Why do the requirements have to change? The new requirements add clarity to the assessment process. Particularly, the new requirements will:
If you have already been invited to apply, the new English language evidence requirements do not apply to you or your partner or children. If you are invited to apply after 12 October, the new English language evidence requirements will apply to your partner and any dependent children over the age of 16. If you have claimed points for your partner’s qualifications or work experience, those points will not be awarded unless your partner meets the new evidence requirements. If your partner or dependent children do not meet the minimum standard, you will be required to pre-purchase English tuition. The amount of tuition fees you will be required to pay depends on their test results. What should I do if I was planning to put an expression of interest in under the Skilled Migrant Category but I can’t meet the new points threshold? If you cannot meet the new points threshold, we would not recommend that you submit an EOI as it is unlikely to be selected. You may wish to look at our other options for residency to find a category that is more suitable for your situation. To find out about other categories for applying for residence in New Zealand, explore residence options on our website. If you are already working in New Zealand, or you have an offer of work in New Zealand, you can apply for a temporary work visa based on your job. Your employer may need to show they cannot find any New Zealanders to take up the work. What if? I put in an expression of interest in which I claimed enough points to be selected under the old threshold, but from 12 October only people with 160 points will be selected. What can I do? If you think you might be able to claim more points and you submitted your expression of interest online, you can log back into your expression of interest and make changes. If you claim more than 160 points you could be selected as part of the next draw. Remember you will have to show evidence for all the points you have claimed if you are invited to apply. What if I have already been selected, but I haven’t been sent an invitation to apply yet? If you have already been selected your application will be assessed on the basis of the points threshold for selection on the date that your EOI was selected from the Pool. However, if you have not been invited to apply on or before 11 October, you will need to meet the new requirements for evidence of English language. What if I’ve already been invited to apply? If you’ve already received a letter inviting you to apply and setting out the documents you need to provide, you just need to follow the instructions on the letter. The new points threshold and new requirements for English language evidence do not apply to you regardless of the date of your application. You must make your application within the timeframe specified in your invitation letter. What if I’ve already applied under the Skilled Migrant Category? If you’ve already applied, the requirements that were in place on the date you made your application will continue to apply to you. You don’t need to meet the new point threshold and the new requirements for English language evidence do not apply to you. I think I can meet the new points threshold, but I was planning to use my one year of skilled employment in New Zealand as evidence of meeting the English language requirement, so what do the changes to English language mean for me? If you are invited to apply, you will need to provide an English test if you do not meet any of the other new requirements. If you apply after 21 November, you can use one of the new tests. Your invitation to apply requires you to apply within four months, so you should make sure you organise your test soon after being invited. What scores will be required on the new English language tests? Remember that if you lodge your application before 21 November 2016 IELTS is the only test INZ can accept. How long are the English tests valid for? English language tests are valid for two years from the date they were sat.
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The Government is tightening the number of residency permits it grants, in a bid to stem rising demand among foreigners to live and work in New Zealand.
The number of points a migrant has to attain to gain residency has also been lifted, raising the skills threshold under which a migrant has to qualify. But opposition MPs are criticising the changes as "window dressing", accusing the Government of making a populist move without addressing the issue. Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse made the surprise announcement on Tuesday, with a headline figure that would see 5000 fewer residency permits planned for. But the changes would have no material affect on the overall numbers of immigrants able to work in New Zealand – no changes had been made to any of the temporary working visa categories. A spokeswoman from Woodhouse's office clarified that the changes were a bid to pre-empt rising demand for residency, which was forecast to blowout beyond the normal planning range within a few years. The changes announced would apply for the next two years and see the Government work to a "planning range" for residence approvals of 85,000 to 95,000 - down from 90,000 to 100,000. The number of places for migrants to enter on the basis of family members already being here had also been lowered from 5500 down to 2000 per year. Prime Minister Key said the changes were "at the margins". "We don't normally bang into the self-imposed cap, which was 90-100,000 people. Because we have done that very recently and we are going through the digestion of that we thought it probably made sense to reduce it a small amount." A spokeswoman from Woodhouse's office clarified that the changes were a bid to pre-empt rising demand for residency, which was forecast to blowout beyond the normal planning range within a few years. The changes announced would apply for the next two years and see the Government work to a "planning range" for residence approvals of 85,000 to 95,000 - down from 90,000 to 100,000. The number of places for migrants to enter on the basis of family members already being here had also been lowered from 5500 down to 2000 per year. Prime Minister Key said the changes were "at the margins". "We don't normally bang into the self-imposed cap, which was 90-100,000 people. Because we have done that very recently and we are going through the digestion of that we thought it probably made sense to reduce it a small amount." "PANICKING OVER POLLS" Labour leader Andrew Little said the Government's announcement was a "U-turn under pressure". "It doesn't look like it addresses the real issue, which is those on temporary visas coming into semi-skilled rolls which the Reserve Bank and Treasury says is driving down wages. "Nor does it deal with the student fraud and student visa fraud and exploitation of students that we've seen in the headlines recently." Little said the real issue to address was people being recruited into senior skilled rolls, rather than penalising those who had already been here and earned the right to apply for residency. "I think they've got it round the wrong way frankly." NZ First leader Winston Peters accused the Government of moving to a populist position, without doing much. "They're panicking from reading their polls, the public has serious concerns and they're tinkering around the edges. "The message for the people of this country is you can't trust National on this most important issue." Peters said the Government should have gone further. "If you look at the numbers, still gross about 1900 are going to come in every week now - 1900 a week." National had created a "massive problem" by bringing in large numbers of unskilled migrants, Peters said. The Parent Category meant their parents had "flooded in" as well. "Over 15 years we have taken in over 87,000 parent migrants who have no requirements to contribute to the economy while they receive free access to public health immediately, and superannuation after just 10 years here." The New Zealand Residence Programme sets a planning range for the total number of people approved residence over a multi-year period, across three streams: Skilled/Business, Family, and International/Humanitarian. "NOT A HARD CAP" The Minister's office said the programme was "not a hard cap". The Skilled Migrant Category, within the Skilled/Business stream, made up around half of the entire residence programme. "Migrants make a valuable contribution to New Zealand both culturally and economically, and the Government periodically reviews all our immigration settings to make sure they are working as intended," Woodhouse said. "While we are confident our immigration settings are working well, the residency programme is reviewed every couple of years to ensure we have the right number and skill mix of people gaining residence. "As part of that review, today I am announcing a small change to the total number of people gaining residence." Demand for entry under the Skilled Migrant and Family Categories was increasing, raising the number of points required for residence from 140 to 160, Woodhouse said. "Increasing the points required to gain residence from 140 to 160 will moderate the growth in applications in the Skilled Migrant Category and enable us to lower the overall number of migrants gaining residence. "Changes to the Family Category, including temporarily closing the Parent Category to new applications, will also reduce the total number of migrants being granted residence. "Raising the points will also prioritise access for higher-skilled migrants, ensuring we strike the right balance between attracting skilled workers that allow companies to grow and managing demand in a period of strong growth." IMPACT ON INDUSTRY There are fears immigration curbs could impact on the hospitality industry and rural New Zealand. Financial markets reacted swiftly to tighter immigration controls set out by Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse, with the dollar sliding a quarter of a US cent within an hour. The Kiwi briefly sank below 71 US cents for the first time since July in mid-afternoon trading. Business NZ chief executive Kirk Hope said the changes were positive and showed the Government had taken on board employers' concerns regarding the skill base of people applying for permanent residency. Kim Campbell, chief executive of the Employers and Manufacturers Association, said the immigration changes "probably made some sense". But Hospitality Association spokeswoman Rachael Shadbolt said it would be "very concerned" if the new skilled-migrant threshold made it harder to attract chefs to New Zealand. Only time would tell if that would be the case, she said. Xero's global "people manager" Andy Burner did not believe the higher number of points required by skilled migrants would stop Xero from attracting software developers to New Zealand. Xero was mainly recruiting "highly-qualified individuals" who should sail clear of 160 or 165 point level, he said. But he believed other employers might not be so lucky. Federated Farmers employment spokesman Andrew Hoggard voiced caution about the changes, noting unemployment was very low in parts of Canterbury and Southland. The rural lobby group wanted to see more "pathways for residency" for people who had been in the country on temporary visas and who had become productive members of rural communities, he said. "The raising of the points is probably not going to lend itself to improving that," Hoggard said. To read the actual article, visit here. Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse today announced changes to the Government’s New Zealand Residence Programme (NZRP) for the next two years.
“Migrants make a valuable contribution to New Zealand both culturally and economically, and the Government periodically reviews all our immigration settings to make sure they are working as intended,” Mr Woodhouse says. “While we are confident our immigration settings are working well, the NZRP is reviewed every couple of years to ensure we have the right number and skill mix of people gaining residence. “As part of that review, today I am announcing a small change to the total number of people gaining residence. “We will also be making some changes to better manage the Skilled Migrant and Family Categories at a time when demand for gaining residence under these categories continues to grow.” The changes include:
“Changes to the Family Category, including temporarily closing the Parent Category to new applications, will also reduce the total number of migrants being granted residence. “Raising the points will also prioritise access for higher-skilled SMC migrants, ensuring we strike the right balance between attracting skilled workers that allow companies to grow and managing demand in a period of strong growth. “Today’s announcement demonstrates the Government is taking a responsible, pragmatic approach to managing immigration.” Note to Editors: The New Zealand Residence Programme (NZRP) sets a planning range for the total number of people approved residence over a multi-year period, and determines the proportion of residence places allocated to the different residence streams in order to balance economic and social benefits. The NZRP is not a hard cap as within each stream there are both capped and uncapped categories. The three residence streams under the NZRP are Skilled/Business, Family, and International/Humanitarian. The largest single category is the Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) within the Skilled/Business stream, which makes up around half of the entire residence programme. To read the actual article, please visit here. |
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January 2025
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