Anticipating Shifts in New Zealand’s Immigration Landscape Last week, Minister of Immigration, Erica Stanford, engaged in a revealing discussion on Q + A with Jack Tame, shedding light on the current state of New Zealand’s immigration policies. You can catch the full interview here. During the interview, she acknowledged the record net migration number of 126,000 migrants in the last year is ‘unsustainable’. She emphasised the need for structural changes to prioritise bringing highly skilled workers to New Zealand, shifting away from reliance on low-skilled labour. Possible changes on the Horizon The Minister hinted at upcoming changes to existing immigration settings. She referred to the rules under the previous Essential Skills work visa framework like: Conducting a stringent labour market test to ensure job vacancies are genuine and Kiwis are put in the jobs first. This includes assessing who the employers have interviewed for the job and why they were not successful; Employers needing to do a WINZ check for their jobs so that unemployed kiwis can be considered first; Training local employees so they can carry out the jobs the employers require. While the specific details of the rule changes remain uncertain, it’s clear that change is on the horizon and could materialize within the next month or so. Currently, Immigration NZ have started to crack down on the construction sector and triangular employers which has caused a slowdown in processing times. What to expect If you are an employer looking to hire ‘low’ skilled workers from abroad (classified at Level 4 or 5 on the ANZSCO), there could be an expectation that you provide further evidence to prove to INZ that the vacancy is genuine and local are being considered first. A labour market test may not be enough. You may need to demonstrate that you have done the utmost to recruit or train locals to carry out the job. If you are a prospective migrant considering coming to NZ to do a ‘low’ skilled job (classified at Level 4 or 5 on the ANZSCO), the door may be closing on you as INZ looks to tighten its immigration settings. Shift in reliance on the Median wage threshold under the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) scheme? The Minister said in the interview, “Putting the median wage in place has had the exact opposite effect that we anticipated with an explosion of low skilled migrants rather than the other way around”. Such comments align with the recent announcement that the increase in the median wage threshold will not apply to the AEWV. The Government signalled in December the median wage rate will pause at the current rate of NZD$29.66 an hour for the AEWV. The authorities are considering other alternatives to the median wage threshold for the AEWV scheme to ensure it is attracting the workers New Zealand needs and filling genuine skill shortages. For your information, the pause also applies to AEWV-linked work visas that are either set at or indexed to the median wage rate from February 2023 (NZD$29.66 an hour) such as: the Partner of a Worker Work Visa; variation of conditions for AEWVs, legacy Essential Skills work visas, interim visas granted under the Skilled Migrant Category, and Partner of a Worker work visas; and Subsequent Migrant Exploitation Protection Visas. Outcome of independent review of the AEWV An independent review of the current accreditation policy was commissioned last year in response to the migrant exploitation issue. The Minister stated the review will be released in the coming weeks. Changes to the immigration settings will only be announced after the release of the review. We are monitoring this closely and will share the findings when made available. Humanitarian visas for Palestinians in Gaza Lastly, the topic of providing humanitarian visas was raised to the Minister. She confirmed Immigration NZ has set up a special team to support the Palestinians going through strife in Gaza. This pertains to family members of New Zealand citizens/residents. They can apply for visitor visas and their application will be expedited as there is a dedicated inbox reviewing these applications. The government is looking at granting further visas to these applicants. Stay Connected We understand that these potential changes may raise concerns. Feel free to reach out to us if you have questions or require support in navigating these developments.