Filipino News 169

02 ISSUE 169 ELEKSYON | www.filipinonews.nz | email: filipinonews@xtra.co.nz | www.migrantnews.nz | Facebook: Migrant News
MIGRANT NEWS - www.migrantnews.nz : New Zealand’s first Migrant community newspaper. Published since 1991. Print. Online. Social Media. FB: Migrant News
By Ricky Matthew
With the elections just
around the corner, fresh
immigration policies have
been released by three
political parties which look
to enhance opportunities
for parents and grandparents
to visit Kiwi family
members in New Zealand.
PARENT VISA BOOST
National’s plan is to
introduce a ‘multiple-entry
Parent Visa Boost’. The
visa would allow parents
and grandparents to stay
with their family in New
Zealand for five years, with
the ability to renew it for a
further five years.
Those under the Parent
Visa Boost would not be eligible
for entitlements such
as NZ Super. They would
need health insurance and
“must be sponsored by
their children or grandchildren”.
Erica Stanford, the
National Party spokesperson
for immigration, said
"New Zealand needs to
attract and retain skilled
people, but other countries
have more pro-parent visa
options, making them more
attractive options.
“Allowing parents and
grandparents to live with
their migrant children can
help skilled people integrate
better into New
Zealand, as relatives can
help with childcare and
offer stability and emotional
support.”
She added that the weakening of immigration
settings by the Labour government
has led to longer processing times
and “has exploded” migrant exploitation.
UNITE VISA
ACT have provided a similar policy
with a different name. The ACT ‘Unite
Visa’ enables parents to visit for five
years, but has added the requirement for
it to be renewed every year.
Political parties offer
parent-friendy visas.
Labour’s immigration spokesperson
Andrew Little. photo Facebook
Ricardo Menéndez March,
Greens immigration
spokesperson
Erica Stanford, National’s
immigration spokesperson
ACT party
leader David
Seymour stated:
"If the country
does not have
processes at least as good as
those in major competitor
countries like Australia and
Canada, then businesses
will struggle to grow, social
services will fail to deliver
and a spiral will take hold."
Uniquely, ACT’s policy
charges a $3500 yearly fee,
which would fund the visa
holder’s healthcare costs.
"We believe that migrants
and their close family
deserve to be together
and to be able to support
each other," added Seymour.
SUPER VISA
The latest to release immigration policies
is the Labour Party, who have targeted
their new policies at parents and
grandparents of migrants living in New
Zealand.
The party promised to expand opportunities
for migrant families through a 10-
year multiple-entry parents and grandparents’
‘Super Visa’.
ACT party leader
David Seymour
This Super Visa enables relatives to
make multiple visits of between 6 months
and 5 years.
Labour’s immigration spokesperson
Andrew Little said: “This is about ensuring
that migrants, who can often be isolated
and without support structures, have
the family around them when they need
it.”
New Zealand citizens must provide a
guarantee of financial support to their
parents and grandparents that hold a
Super Visa.
AMNESTY FOR OVERSTAYERS
A one-off regularization programme for
“well-settled overstayers” was also
announced by Andrew Little. The programme
is only eligible to overstayers
who have been in New Zealand for 10
years or more.
The party said that the policy would
“make good on the dawn raids apology”
to Pacific people, if elected.
The Green Party also announced their
immigration policies which challenge
Labour’s ‘high bar’ for overstayer
amnesty.
"We are disappointed with the high
bar Labour has set through the requirement
for people to be in Aotearoa for 10
years to be eligible.” said Ricardo
Menéndez March, the Green Party
immigration spokesperson.
“Migrants deserve to be treated with
dignity and respect by our immigration
system. But for many in our community,
our immigration system has left them
behind. They've fallen through the
cracks, have been left vulnerable to
exploitation, and have been denied the
safety and security of a visa. The Greens
will ensure that an amnesty for overstayers
provides accessible residency pathways
to everyone, not just those who’ve
been here for more than 10 years.”
The Green Party Pacific people’s
spokesperson Teanau Tuiono added: “A
broad amnesty for overstayers is the right
thing to do to right the wrongs of an immigration
system that has continued to fail
our Pasifika and broader migrant communities.”
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