New Zealand Immigration Law Immigration News

Australia was already a more attractive destination than NZ for migrant workers, for a number of reasons. The new agriculture visa adds another big one to the pile.

The NZ government announces plans to trial modified isolation instead of MIQ but has yet to say who will pay to quarantine incoming offshore workers.

Faafoi says changes to onshore visas will provide certainty, but the only thing we can be certain of is that the changes will help only a small number for a short time.

Monday’s “big announcement” from Immigration New Zealand left many wondering what happened to kindness as the government welcomes wealthy investors while continuing to delay reform of the skilled migrant category.

Immigration lawyer Aaron Martin reacts to the latest news from INZ about office closures in India, South Africa, and Manila and cuts in Beijing. The skilled migrant category will also be reviewed by the end of this month, but Aaron expects any changes will not favour non-New Zealanders.

INZ announces office closures in India, South Africa, and Manila and redundancies in Beijing, a cost-saving measure to offset an 80% drop in applications. Minister of Immigration Faafoi promises a review of the skilled migrant category by the end of this month.

The CISSL is intended to increase the available skill base of construction workers. It replaces the Canterbury Skill Shortage List and absorbs various construction roles from the Immediate Skill Shortage List in NZ.

Unions have been griping about ex-expatriate workers being brought in to complete transmission gully. They ought to be more in tune with the labour market.
Aaron weighs in on why the focus needs to change from “labour shortage” to “skill shortage” to address the current issues.