Indian Newslink Sept 1 2017 Digital Edition

14
Businesslink
SEPTEMBER 1, 2017
With changes galore, INZ looks for skilled migrants
Arunima Dhingra
Immigration has been at the forefront
of government policy development
and change over the past few months.
Being an election year, it is perhaps
one of the most divisive and controversial
campaign issues for all political parties.
The government has announced major
changes to immigration policy within
the Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) for
Residence and the Essential Skills Work
Visa Category. These changes came into
effect on August 28, 2017.
As a Licensed Immigration Advisor,
it is my duty to provide people with a
breakdown of the changes and explain
how they may affect them.
Policy Overview
Here is an overview of what has
changed.
SMC has undergone a complete overhaul,
resulting in a new points calculator.
Here is a brief breakdown:
Introduced two remuneration thresholds
in order to be eligible for Residence under
the SMC Category
Salary at or above $23.49 per hour,
equating to $48,859 per year for jobs at
ANZSCO skill levels 1, 2 and 3
Salary at or above $35.24 per hour,
equating to $73,299 per year for job at
any ANZSCO level or no ANZSCO
match
Bonus 20 points for high salary at
or above $46.98 per hour, equating to
$97,718 per year.
More points available for skilled work
experience only
Bonus 10 points for skilled work
experience of 12 months or more in New
Zealand.
Points for recognised level 9 or 10
post-graduate qualifications (Master’s
degrees, Doctorate) increased to 70
points.
30 Points now for people aged 20 – 39
years.
Points for partners’ qualifications
is only awarded if the qualification is
recognised level 7 or higher.
Points Removed
Points no longer available for:
employment, work experience and
qualifications in identified future growth
areas; qualifications in areas of absolute
skills shortage and for close family in
New Zealand.
Essential Skills Category
Essential Skills work visa category has
also undergone significant changes and
below is the brief overview:
Introduction of remuneration bands to
help assess the skill level of employment
offered to Essential Skills visa applicants
The skill band determines the maximum
visa length and whether your partner
or dependent children will be able to apply
for visas on the basis of their relationship
Note: After three years, lower-skilled
workers will need to spend 12 consecutive
months outside New Zealand before they
can be granted a further Essential Skills
visa to undertake lower-skilled work.
Partners and children of Essential Skills
workers in lower-skilled employment
can stay in New Zealand for existing visa
holders if they already hold a visa based
on their relationship.
Essential Skills visa holders who are
undertaking lower-skilled work and previously
held a student visa can support visas
for their partner or dependent children if
(a) they held a student visa which allowed
them to support a partner for a work visa
or a dependent child for a student visa (b)
they held a post-study work visa based on
that student visa, and (c) they supported
their partner or dependent child for a visa
based on their relationship while holding a
post-study work visa.
These are major changes that will most
definitely have flow-on effects across multiple
industries especially farming, retail,
hospitality and healthcare. However, for
any change to take place, there will always
be a rough transition period.
Attracting high skills
The government’s goal seems to be
clear – attract migrant workers with high
levels of skill and experience, who may
not necessarily have a formal qualification
but have much more work and life experience,
and therefore earn higher salaries
and bring in migrants to fill important skill
shortages.
However, though the intention may
be positive, and may in fact change the
face of immigration in New Zealand in
a positive way in the next five years, the
Jonathan Curr, our envoy to Fiji
Career diplomat Jonathan Curr has
appointed High Commissioner
to Fiji.
The Fiji-New Zealand relationship has
warmed since 2014, with the reciprocal
visits of former Prime Minister John Key
and Prime Minister Bainimarama in 2016
a significant milestone.
New Zealand’s bilateral engagement
with Fiji continues to grow in terms of
two-way trade, tourism, defence and
Jonathan Curr
(Photo Courtesy: Radio New Zealand)
development. New Zealanders travel to
Fiji in increasing numbers to enjoy the
way in which these changes were brought
in was problematic to say the least.
My hope is that the to-be government
is willing to patch up the gaps in these
changes as they come to light, to ensure
that our country continues to be seen as a
desirable migrant destination.
Justified shift
I believe this is a justified shift but
whether it will have the desired impact or
effect, and whether it will in fact meet all
its intended objectives, is something that
only time will tell.
Arunima Dhingra is Director and a
Fully Licensed Immigration Advisor at
Aims Global Education and Immigration
Services. She won two Awards at
the Annual New Zealand Association
for Migration and Investment (NZAMI)
Annual Awards last fortnight as
reported under Educationlink in this
issue. Aims Global Education and Immigration
Services is the joint sponsor
with ‘The Fund Master,’ of the ‘Best
Accountant of the Year’ Category of the
Tenth Annual Indian Newslink Indian
Business Awards.
sun and sea, and Fiji is our largest trade
relationship in the Pacific.
We also have close defence links in the
Pacific and in international deployments.
Mr Curr is currently Ambassador to the
Republic of Turkey, cross-accredited to the
State of Israel, the Hashemite Kingdom
of Jordan, Georgia, and the Republic of
Azerbaijan.
He has also served at the New Zealand
Embassy in Cairo and the New Zealand
High Commission in Nuku’alofa.
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