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Saunders & Co  /  News  /  The Ups and Downs of the Immigration Rollercoaster
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22 May 2023

The Ups and Downs of the Immigration Rollercoaster

It has been a busy couple of months for Immigration policy, with a significant expansion to the Green List residence pathways released, a transport sector agreement put in place, and the long-expected narrowing of the partnership policy announced. We have summarised these changes below and as ever, our team of Immigration specialists are very happy to provide guidance and detailed advice on how these changes will apply to individual circumstances.

 

Partnership policy changes

As expected, these changes will restrict the conditions of “partner of a worker” work visas and will take effect from 31 May this year.

 

Workers who are in a Green List occupation or paid twice the median wage will continue to have the ability to support their partners for visas with fully open work rights – meaning they can work in any role, for any employer. However partners of workers who are paid the median wage but are not in a Green List occupation will only be allowed to work for accredited employers and in positions paying at least the median wage ($29.66 per hour), or in occupations covered by uncapped sector agreements if paid the stated threshold. Partners of workers who are earning below the median wage remain ineligible for work rights and are instead able to apply for a partnership visitor visa – or, if they wish to work, they can apply for an Accredited Employer work visa of their own.

 

Partnership work visas will not require a job offer, there are no minimum hours of work required, the employer does not require a job check and a variation of conditions is not required in order to change jobs.

 

These changes do not affect partners who already hold an open work visa or those who apply before 31 May, nor partners of New Zealand residents and citizens.

 

Helpfully, partners of current AEWV and Essential skills workers earning below the median wage, will be able to apply for a work visa if their working partner receives a pay increase to meet the median wage, without the working partner having to first change their visa.

 

 

Transport Sector Agreement

Late April saw INZ release a transport sector agreement to facilitate getting workers into the industry as well as provide a residence pathway for those workers.

 

This includes a wage exemption that will allow 24-month AEWVs to be granted for bus drivers who are earning at least $28 per hour and working in a role listed below.

 

In addition, workers in the transport sector will now be eligible to apply for residence from 29 September 2023, if they have completed 24 months of experience as one of the following:

  • bus drivers working for an employer who has signed the All Parties Memorandum of Understanding on Improving Bus Driver Pay and Conditions, or working as a school bus driver on a Ministry of Education-funded school bus service.
  • truck drivers primarily driving vehicles that require a class 4 or 5 licence
  • ship’s masters (skippers) holding a Skipper Restricted Limits for 500GT endorsement, or higher qualification by the time they apply for residence
  • deck hands holding Qualified Deck Crew or higher qualification by the time they apply for residence

 

 

Green List expansion

The list of occupations that have a direct pathway to residence has also dramatically increased, with 67 roles to be added from 29 May 2023.

 

Those roles to be added to Tier 1 (Straight to Residence) of the Green List are:

  • External Auditor (221213)
  • Internal Auditor (221214)
  • Addiction practitioner/alcohol & drug clinician
  • Audiometrist
  • Chiropractor
  • Clinical dental technician
  • Clinical physiologists (sleep, renal, exercise, respiratory, neurology, and cardiac)
  • Counsellor
  • Dental specialists
  • Dental technician
  • Dental therapist
  • Dentist
  • Dietician
  • Dispensing optician
  • Drug and alcohol counsellor
  • Enrolled nurse
  • Genetic counsellor
  • Medical laboratory pre-analytical technician
  • Medical resonance imaging technologist
  • Nuclear medicine technologist
  • Nurse practitioner
  • Optometrist
  • Oral health therapist
  • Orthotic and prosthetic technician
  • Orthotist/prosthetist
  • Osteopath
  • Paramedic/emergency medical technician
  • Perfusionist (cardiac)
  • Pharmacist
  • Physiotherapist
  • Play therapist (hospital)
  • Social worker
  • Speech language therapist
  • Sterile processing technician
  • Anaesthetic Technician (moved from Tier 2)
  • Audiologist (moved from Tier 2)
  • Medical imaging technologist (moved from Tier 2)
  • Medical laboratory technician (moved from Tier 2)
  • Medical radiation therapist (moved from Tier 2)
  • Occupational therapist (moved from Tier 2)
  • Podiatrist (moved from Tier 2)
  • Sonographer (moved from Tier 2)

 

The following roles are to be added to Tier 2 (Work to Residence) of the Green List:

  • Building Associate (312112) – Common example job titles for this role are site supervisor, site manager, site foreman, build supervisor, build manager and civil project manager
  • Gasfitters (334114)
  • Drainlayers (334113)
  • Crane, Hoist or Lifter Operator (712111)
  • Earthmoving Plant Operator (General) (721211)
  • Backhoe Operator (721212)
  • Bulldozer Operator (721213)
  • Excavator Operator (721214)
  • Grader Operator (721215)
  • Loader Operator (721216)
  • Slaughterer (831212)
  • Motor mechanic – General (321211)
  • Motorcycle mechanic (321213)
  • Telecommunications Technician (342414)
  • School Principal (134311)
  • Kaiako Kura Kaupapa Māori – Māori-medium Primary School Teacher (241211)
  • Pouako Kura Kaupapa Māori – Māori-medium Primary School Senior Teacher (241212)
  • Primary School Teacher (241213)
  • Middle School Teacher / Intermediate School Teacher (241311)
  • Secondary School Teachers (241411) - all specialisations
  • Special Needs Teacher (241511)
  • Teacher of the Hearing Impaired (241512)
  • Teacher of the Sight Impaired (241513)
  • Special Education Teachers nec (241599)
  • Teacher of English to Speakers of Other Languages (249311) - if working in a primary, intermediate or secondary school

 

What’s next?

Immigration New Zealand has indicated that the Skilled Migrant category review is imminent, so we are anticipating that to be the next significant media release from INZ. Based on last year’s proposal, this will see another shift in emphasis from duties performed, to remuneration – a shift already put in motion with the Accredited Employer work visa regime replacing Essential Skills policy last year.   

 

All of these changes reflect an undoubted concern for New Zealand’s workforce, which in the wake of Australia announcing a direct pathway to citizenship for New Zealanders, and an already stretched health sector seeing high rates of migration to Australia, is entirely justified. The introduction of the Highly-Paid residence pathway and an increasingly broad Green List residence pathway, coupled with the imminent reset of the Skilled Migrant category clearly indicate an objective of encouraging net migration and driving up wages in New Zealand in a bid to retain our workers. But it is as yet unclear whether this broadening of the net will be enough to bolster our labour market, or whether such a paradigm shift will simply prove unsustainable for New Zealand businesses.