Though the COVID-19 pandemic has been the death knell of New Zealand immigration as we know it, it also presents a much-needed opportunity for improvement. What might the new immigration system look like? Aaron Martin, principal lawyer at New Zealand Immigration Law, explains the new rules and their possible ramifications.
Immigration News
Horticulturist Mandeep came to NZIL after becoming frustrated with the burden of proof required by Immigration New Zealand post-COVID. Aaron and the team took care of everything and took his worries away. They can do the same for you.
Leading immigration lawyer Aaron Martin discusses the reasons behind the new fees for individuals and employers. He’ll also share the most important thing you need to know about filling out your request for entry as an exception to the border closure. Beginning 10 August 2020, border exception requests will incur the following fees: NZD $380 … Continue reading New EOI Fees: How Much and Why
Neha initially attempted to renew her essential skills work visa herself but received a deluge of queries from Immigration New Zealand that she wasn’t sure how to answer. She turned to us for help. Within a week, her work visa was sorted! Read more in our latest client success story.
Significant changes to immigration rules around work visas were announced in July changes have supposedly been set up to “preserve and prioritise future job opportunities for New Zealanders” but in actual fact, they are very short-sighted – to the detriment of New Zealand’s industries, migrants, businesses and economic success.
Employers are being asked to readvertise roles because INZ is applying a blanket guideline to work visa applications due to changes to the labour force. Not all industries have been affected and there are still significant labour shortages in many industries. In this article, we question the logic and validity of this approach from Immigration New Zealand.
The government could be doing a lot more to help migrants in New Zealand after the Covid 19 crisis. Principal Lawyer Aaron Martin gives his suggestions for what the government needs to do to help migrants.
The government says it allowed the Avatar film crew back into New Zealand in spite of the current border closures because the making of the film offers “significant economic value” to our country. But this criterion is being applied unevenly. What about the America’s Cup crew, or the many work visa holders stranded overseas – … Continue reading Transparency needed for making exceptions on visas
Due to COVID-19, there have been a lot of delays and disruption to visa processing, and those changes have caused significant confusion amongst migrants. So, in this article, we’re outlining the best course of action and suggested focus for common visa types and scenarios – so that you know exactly where you stand, what you should be aware of, and what you should be doing.
As part of the changes to immigration law brought about by the Covid 19 crisis new guidance has been issued from Immigration New Zealand to immigration officers processing work visas in regard to assessing labour market tests.
This will have an impact on employers looking to fill roles from the skill shortage list. With more local workers now available, the labour market test has now become more stringent. We discuss what these changes will mean for employers.
Understanding the priority of visa applications On 17 April, Immigration New Zealand’s workflow priorities had to make some big shifts to align with emergency legislation around COVID-19. Like many organisations, first and foremost INZ had to work around some stark realities – you can’t process paper-based applications if you can’t go to the office. So, … Continue reading Visa priority processing new criteria explained
On the 4th of May, the government announced temporary changes to the Immigration Act to allow more flexibility to manage visa changes for the large numbers of migrants who are unable to leave New Zealand. Immigration law expert Aaron Martin from NZIL explains the implications for all migrants to the new rules. The temporary change … Continue reading IMZ introduces practical immigration law changes – but what about the offshore migrants?
