Cabinet paper PDF - New Zealand Immigration Service

visa for the remainder of the three year period, the LTBV Balance Visa. LTBV holderswho have managed their businesses successfully for a minimum of two years can thenapply for residence through the Entrepreneur Category.16 This policy has not been extensively reviewed or changed since 1999. Significantissues have been identified with this policy; in particular, a tendency for lower-endbusinesses to be established and a high decline rate due to poor quality applications.Entrepreneur Policy gives permanent residence17 Entrepreneur residence policy provides a pathway to residence for migrants who candemonstrate they have been actively participating in their business and contributing toNew Zealand’s economic development. The policy is divided into two categories:• the Entrepreneur category, for people who have successfully established orexpanded a business in New Zealand 1 , and who have been self-employed in thatbusiness for at least two years• the Entrepreneur Plus category, which provides a fast track to residence for thosewho have successfully established and run a business. Applicants need to possess aLTBV and may apply for residence as soon as they have invested at least $0.5m andhave created a minimum of three new fulltime jobs for New Zealand citizens orresidents. The Entrepreneur Plus category was added to the Entrepreneur policy in2011.What are the key policy trade-offs?18 Areas of specific policy interest include:a) Balancing quality with quantity. This issue represents the overarching trade off. Somestakeholders, such as immigration advisers, benefit primarily from the volume of migrantsapplying to come to New Zealand. For New Zealand as a whole, it is the quality ofmigration, and of migrants’ human and financial capital and the businesses theyestablish, which makes the difference to our economic development. Ambitious settings(such as introducing a points system for business migrants) might raise the quality ofbusiness migrants gaining residence in New Zealand, but this could mean fewer aspiringmigrants would qualify.b) English language ability. Requirements generally exclude non-English speakingmigrants. However, immigration advisers frequently provide feedback that Englishlanguage requirements make it particularly hard for wealthy migrants from Asia to cometo New Zealand. INZ settlement research shows that the successful settlement andproductivity of migrants, including business migrants, is highly correlated to Englishlanguage ability. Feedback from business groups, such as the Venture CapitalAssociation of New Zealand, also suggests that business migrants do need to have goodlevels of English language knowledge to realise their business potential in New Zealandand to form business networks outside of their cultural group.19 Proposed solutions need to be assessed against two major factors: minimisingcomplexity (both in policy detail and in numbers of options); and ensuringcompetitiveness (especially with Australia) in terms of both policy settings and thegeneral value proposition of New Zealand to the target market.1 Applicants need to demonstrate that their business supports New Zealand and its economic growth.This can include showing the business has introduced new products and services, generates exportbusiness, and/or employs New Zealanders (who are not family members).