The Government’s immigration “rebalance strategy” has introduced new visas. (File photo)
The Government is making a raft of changes to the immigration system as part of a “rebalance” it says will fill skills shortages and fuel the economy after the pandemic closed borders.
Since May, immigration ministers have been outlining what this system will look like. The ministers, originally Kris Faafoi and then Michael Wood, revealed new “fast track” visas for certain professions and rich immigrants.
Earlier, Faafoi said the country needed to stop relying on immigrants to fill low-paid roles and said the new immigration rules were made to focus on high-skilled workers and wealthy investors.
These changes have faced scrutiny. Opposition politicians, unions and commentators have questioned why certain professions – most notably nursing – are not eligible for the “fast track to residency”.
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Why it matters
Many sectors just can’t find enough workers.
Skills shortages are impacting the public service, with teacher shortages and a need for thousands of nurses as well as doctors and other healthcare workers. In the private sector, engineering companies, construction firms and hospitality businesses across the country have said they need more staff.
Such widespread shortages have obvious economic consequences, subduing possible growth. It’s also adding pressure to the existing health and education workforces, who warn they are stretched as they try to meet the demands of every patient and student needing assistance.
KEVIN STENT/STUFF
Dr Bryan Betty, medical director of the College of GPs, warns if workforce shortages are not addressed, the problems we are seeing now will begin to repeat themselves every winter.
The breakdown
The Government’s immigration “rebalance strategy” has introduced new visas. The main ones are:
A new fast track straight to residency visa, which gives residency to people in well paid, “globally in-demand” professions. These professions cover most engineering roles, most doctors – including surgeons, psychiatrists and GPs – and ICT specialists and developers.
A work to residence visa will give residency to people from certain professions who work in New Zealand for two years. Those professions are from in-demand workforces which are typically paid less than those covered by similar roles in the “fast track” category”. Professions covered in this visa include electricians and plumbers, teachers, nurses, midwives, medical technicians and dairy farm managers.
An Accredited Employer Work Visa will give certain workers, from professions including most tradies and healthcare assistants, the right to work in New Zealand after two years if they earn above a certain threshold.
There have been a bunch of changes to attract wealthy workers and investors. A special active investor plus visa was announced last week, targeting people willing to invest more than $5 million in New Zealand.
On Wednesday, Wood announced another option for wealthy workers – a “highly paid – twice the median wage” visa. This would give residency to people younger than 55 years old who have worked for two years in New Zealand earning double the median wage, currently $55.22 per hour.
Who said what
Wood said the changes would “enable thousands of migrant workers in skilled roles” to move to New Zealand.
ROBERT KITCHIN/Stuff
Michael Wood has taken over the immigration portfolio from the now retired Kris Faafoi.
Faafoi, who recently retired from politics, said the changes were because “New Zealand cannot return to pre-pandemic trends that saw us overly reliant on growing numbers of lower-skilled workers and resulted in the increased exploitation of migrants”.
Unions representing nurses and midwives say the immigration rules disregard their professions.
“It’s a completely sexist model, all the doctors are in the privileged group,” hospital midwives union co-leader Jill Ovens said in May.
Erica Stanford, the National Party’s immigration spokesperson, said the Government wasn’t responding to the needs of business or healthcare sectors.
She said the Government needed to make the country more welcoming to migrants willing to fill a range of roles, from hospitality workers to wealthy migrants and nurses. She launched a petition to put nurses on the fast track to residency, and called on the Government to extend Working Holiday Visas.
Green Party immigration spokesperson Ricardo Menéndez said these changes were allowing the wealthy to “purchase residency” while leaving migrants, doing essential work, in perilous positions.
“People should not be able to purchase a residency without showing that they are committed to the wellbeing of their communities,” he said.
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