Category: Immigration News

Finance Minister Grant Robertson states that skilled labour shortage in New Zealand is both a “good problem to have” and one that must be addressed.

Immigration has been brought almost to a standstill due to New Zealand’s tough Covid-19 related border restrictions. Businesses across various sectors are in desperate need of overseas workers as they struggle to fill roles locally.

It is a “good problem to have’’ as the strong public health approach taken was the best economic approach that allowed people to live relatively normal lives, although with some significant impacts.

Robertson stated that the need for skilled labour showed the economy was growing and businesses were looking to hire staff not lay people off. It was the problem of growth that has to be addressed.

Though the unemployment rate has fallen, there are still people who are unemployed or underutilized.

He explained that underutilised workers were those who wanted to take on more hours but were unable and that the underutilisation rate is still high.

Border restrictions had caused labour shortages but also allowed businesses to operate openly.

Robertson further stated that the Government understood businesses frustrations and had taken measures such as creating a critical worker scheme, extending working holiday visas, enabling seasonal scheme workers to switch to different industries and prioritizing MIQ spots for workers.

It also wanted businesses to attract workers through improved work conditions, better pay, flexibility and better training.

The Government recently announced an immigration reset to up-skill New Zealand’s workforce, increase productivity and reduce the country’s reliance on overseas labour.

Covid-19 had created a rare opportunity to reassess the economic impact of immigration.

The business sector has become too reliant on low skilled labour and little effort is made to increase productivity through capital investment. However, he insisted that it is not Governments intention that inward migration should switch from one extreme to the other.

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Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has confirmed cancellation of visas of people who applied for visitor visas to be reunited with their partners.

The government decided to cancel and refund up to 50,000 applications for visitor, student and work visas. But among those cancelled temporary visas are many people waiting to join their New Zealand partners.

This includes couples in arranged marriages who cannot meet the living together criteria which would have enabled them to apply for a partnership visa.

The move follows a series of changes to how INZ dealt with couples who had not lived together before/after marriage, and where the partner applied to live with their spouse in New Zealand.

A directive to stop waiving the ‘living together’ requirement led to a political storm in 2019 which finally led to a compromise.

Immigration lawyer Alastair McClymont pointed out that the new culturally arranged visa process returned the status quo of applying for visitor visas so applicants could live with their partner long enough to prove their relationship was genuine.

Some of those whose visas were mistakenly rejected during that period were having their cases reviewed when Covid-19 started spreading. INZ has stopped processing offshore visitor applications since the start of the pandemic unless applicants have been given a border exception.

As a result, people on general visitor visas were unable to enter NZ once the Covid lockdown started, yet people who were actually living together in a partnership were able to enter the country.”

McClymont also states that couples in arranged marriages were being asked to provide evidential proof like tenancy agreements and joint utility bills, which they did not have, despite INZ acknowledging their relationships were genuine, stable and long-lasting.

An INZ spokesperson has confirmed that people applying for visitor visas in those circumstances would have their applications lapsed and fees refunded. This will not disadvantage the applications as their visa applications are currently unable to be approved due to the border closure, and they will be able to reapply with updated information once the border reopens.

INZ also stated that it was reviewing its approach to refund requests from other visa groups, including some residence applicants.

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Migrant workers already in New Zealand are struggling to get visas renewed on time to take up work for the calving season, which is beginning.

The Clark-Watts couple arrived in New Zealand in February 2020 on a working holiday visa, just before Covid 19 border closures. They did not qualify for a visa extension but were instead approved a Supplementary Seasonal Employment (SSE) visa after an employer sponsored them. Recently, they had extensions to those visas approved under the direction of Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi

The couple has been working all over the country to fill labour shortages.

A trained primary school teacher, Clark had applied for a skilled migrant visa prior to the extension for SSE visa holders being announced last month. Immigration advised her not to withdraw her application until her extension had been confirmed, which was due to happen on June 25.

The confirmation never came. Instead, she was placed on an interim visa which did not allow her to work. At the same time Watts was granted the extension for his seasonal work visa, and his essential skills visa application was withdrawn. The couple is confused why the husband was not placed on an interim visa.

Clark was thankful for the last-minute approval, which meant the couple could work the calving season. They feel the process should be streamlined given the severe labour shortage. Australia and Canada had a made it much easier for migrant workers.

Federated Farmers immigration spokesman stated visa processing was taking seven to eight weeks. Calving was already happening in some regions.

Applications for visas for 200 overseas dairy workers under a border exception were now open, as per a statement from Dairy NZ.

Dairy NZ will continue to ask the Government to allow class exceptions to have their own allotment of managed isolation and quarantine spaces and to urge it to fast track residency applications for migrant workers on dairy farms. Both of those processes are very important to retain foreign farm staff in New Zealand.

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The Covid-19 pandemic has put everything on hold – especially businesses. In the ongoing situation, no one wants to run/start a new business. Some of the well-established and old businesses are also struggling. Most companies are waiting for long-term solutions as no one can rely on continued availability of migrant workers due to closed borders and frequent shifting of goalposts by Immigration New Zealand (INZ).

The government is working continuously to formulate new policies to boost kiwi employment that will favour local recruitment. For example, in October, the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) changed the process for hiring migrant workers under the Essential Skills Work Visa category.. To give Kiwis the first crack at jobs, the MSD created regional lists of occupations with an oversupply of local job seekers.

To concur with this, MSD said they would issue a skills match report to support an employer’s visa application for migrant workers to rectify the previously failed list. On the other hand, companies say that under the revised system, the MSD rarely provides skills match reports to support visa applications if the role remains on the oversupply list.

No one knows when this tug-of-war will end as COVID-19 is getting stronger day-by-day with new variants emerging.

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