In our line of work, there is obviously nothing worse than having a Visa declined and thankfully, given the way we operate that doesn’t happen very often. Whilst we could claim some sort of ludicrously high success rate, the reality is, Visas are declined for various reasons. For us and on the very rare occasions that an application is rejected, it is almost always because the application carried a degree of risk that we would have prepared the applicant for or something surfaced during the process, that we were not made aware of.

The reason we are able to avoid applications being declined, is because we understand what each visa requires, and even if there are some challenges we can generally plan ahead for them. In the rare situations where we can’t predict the outcome, we let our clients know in advance and warn them before they make the decision to proceed. Having decades of experience helps you figure out what will work and what is potentially going to fail.

We talk a lot about planning and preparing in our business and that is because we believe those two things are the most important tools a migrant has in their toolkit. Having a clear and sensible plan, which covers your eligibility, the various visas you will need to apply for and then also takes account of any potential issues along the way, is your starting point. Within that plan you also need to build in some flexibility, because the rules can and do change, although usually for most skilled applicants those changes, don’t have a big impact.

Once the plan is in place and you know you can adapt where necessary, you need to commence the preparation phase and that involves understand both what to prepare and when. Most of this is very logistical, but also crucial, because having all of the documentation in place, as well as understanding what needs to be done during each step of the process ensure that there are far fewer surprises or delays along the way.

The visa process is complicated…if it wasn’t I would most likely be mowing lawns or putting up flat-pack furniture. The whole system has been created with rules, on top of rules on top of even more rules. In many ways, our current visa process is a little bit like flat-pack furniture - if you borrowed parts from one set to try and fix the holes in another.

However in amongst all of this complex policy and confusing criteria lies a really simple core requirement - how can we bring in the skills that New Zealand needs, whilst balancing demands on our vital infrastructure, attracting those that will benefit the country long term and remaining competitive as a migrant destination.

In yet another policy change (we are seeing quite a few of these coming through), primary school teachers have come out as the winners, being moved to Tier 1 of the Green List, meaning that instead of a two-year pathway to Residence, primary school teachers can now apply for Residence directly (called Straight to Residence).

This is quite a significant move and follows secondary school teachers who were also upgraded, some time ago. Teachers have always occupied a place on our various shortages lists, although to varying degrees, because the profession is a bit of a moving target in terms of “shortages”.

During the Covid period, we saw an enormous number of NZ Teachers return from overseas, so shortages slowed down, however with the influx of migrants in the post-Covid border opening, many of whom have relocated their family’s here, the number of teachers needed has increased at the same rate.

Change is constant - never a truer word has been said in terms of the New Zealand immigration process and this week has seen more changes announced, which will take effect in March (just a couple of weeks away). These updates were foreshadowed in previous announcements so don’t come as a significant surprise, but of course it is always interesting to see the details when they finally land.

So, this week we will be taking a look at the key changes being released, what they mean for applicants and how this might all develop in terms of some of our other immigration policies, particularly as it applies to Residence. Considering the bulk of these changes are in relation to Work Visa policy, which has a natural link to Residence, there are some clues to be extracted here.

Last Sunday, the Government rolled out plans for an update to our Active Investor Visa category, which has attracted a substantial amount of interest both from potential applicants but also the local press and other commentators. The changes are pretty significant, but in many ways are a bit of a “back to the future” moment.

The investor visa has always been an interesting category for the Government, Immigration New Zealand (INZ) and of course for applicants. It is, in my view, an absolutely necessary part of our visa ecosystem, but it does create a level of, sometimes heated, opinion amongst the local populace.

This week’s article is a bit of a walk back through the investor category and its history, what the recently announced changes will mean for future applicants and some of the things, potential investor applicants should consider if they are keen to move ahead with the process.

Unlike Santa who makes a list and checks it twice, our immigration equivalent (the Green List) is checked once in a blue moon and probably could do with being updated a little more often. The idea of the Green List, what it does, how it works and whether it is an accurate depiction of skills we need, are questions I have heard a lot recently.

So, this week, we take a closer look at what the Green List actually is, how it works in terms of both Temporary and Resident Visa options and some of the issues that the us of lists can create for applicants. If you fancy knowing whether you are on this list, we also have a Green List Checker, available on our website (but head over there a bit later on).

There are two things that have consumed my email inbox this week (asides from of course the work we do for clients), one of those was the roll out of New Zealand’s version of the Digital Nomad Visa and the other was bacon.

The bacon issue is an entirely different story, which you can ask me about one day, however this article is obviously not about smallgoods, but of course the rise of the digital nomads and what our recent announcement means for those that might be keen to try it.

We also take a look at how this small change might benefit those looking at a longer term plan (as a skilled migrant) and also what this move represents for the future of some of our other visa policies.

The news media in New Zealand this week has had plenty to discuss, given our Prime Minister (Christopher Luxon) delivered his second “State of the Nation” speech yesterday, during which he rolled out a pretty strong agenda for growth. In fact, amongst many quick one-liners, the stand out was this one “We have to go for growth. It isn’t up for negotiation any more.”.

Given New Zealand has been dragging its heals over the last few years, trying to shake off the post-Covid hangover, this sort of rallying cry is potentially long overdue. There are some fairly grand plans in here to target a variety of sectors and to lift overall economic performance - the message being that saying no to things that might generate us an income is not language that this Government wants to entertain.

I am not sure about you, but the beginning of a new year, brings mixed feelings…there is the hopeful optimism of a full year ahead with all the potential opportunities it might bring, and then of course the post-holiday hangover, and having to pull yourself away from the beach and barbecue and back to reality.

This time of the year also brings about a lot of interest from those looking to make the move, typically because its the start of the year and there is something about doing dramatic, life-changing things at the start of a year, that makes sense for a lot of people. I get it…you have had time away from the daily grind and to contemplate whether a life abroad might be the next big step.

For those of you who have made that decision, then this article is for you. Of course if you are already here, there will be some useful information in here as well, but this is really aimed at the new years resolutions folks - the ones who have decided that 2025 is the year to move ahead with their plans to make New Zealand home.

Before we sign off for the year (we close today) and everyone in New Zealand heads to the beach, BBQ’s and spending time with family (fighting over the Christmas ham), we thought it would be good to wrap this year up with a bow and send it off in style. So a final post, with a few highlights from 2024, not only in the visa space but from around the country.

For some of you, 2025 might be the year, you decide to make the move and some of what we have outlined below will help you be better informed as you make that decision. For others, who are already here, having run the visa gauntlet over the last 12 months, you will be able to appreciate what an interesting year it has been in Aotearoa.

The week before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a …. well okay, a few things were stirring, including policy makers within the halls of Immigration New Zealand. On Tuesday of this week, the Government rolled out a second round of changes to the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) system. The changes feel a a bit like the ghosts of Christmas past, with echoes of previous policy floating around and hints that we might be dropping some of the more rigid and almost unnecessary parts of the Accreditation process for employers, harking back to the old Essential Skills system.

The changes also come hot on the heels of some our most interesting net migration numbers, and whether that was a coincidence or possibly a little of bit of clever timing, is something to consider. Either way, the Government is clearly trying to steady the ship and rolling back aspects of the AEWV to policy settings of the past, without fully dismantling the system (a system that has cost a significant amount to implement).

We take a look at what is changing, why and what further changes might come about in the year ahead.

A couple of weeks back, I authored an article on some of things that aren’t immediately obvious in the visa world, and that include a very brief commentary on INZ’s decision to decline a visa application from Candace Owens. If you don’t who she is, I would suggest a very brief google review. Candace is essentially a very controversial social and political commentator whose views are considered far-right and in the extreme (and some of them could be considered by some to be slightly off planet).

The decision to decline Miss Owens a visa to travel here and undertake a speaking engagement was based on the fact that our Australian counterparts had decided to do the same, in the interests of protecting the public. New Zealand seemed to simply follow along, and decided to decline the application using a very particular part of the Act, arguing that Miss Owens had been “excluded” from Australia.

However during the course of this week, the Associate Minister of Immigration, decided to turn the wheel, enacting a visa ‘U-turn’ for Miss Owens, deciding to overturn INZ’s previous decision and to grant her a visa. A bold move, given Australia’s position, but ultimately in my view the right one.

There is no doubt that artificial intelligence or AI is here to stay and in fact, it is slowly finding its way in to almost every aspect of our lives. Washing machines that can work out to wash you clothes, cars that (almost) drive themselves and applications that you can talk to in case you might get a little lonely. The rapid rise of AI and its integration into our daily lives is pretty impressive and also potentially a little bit scary.

Whilst these systems have caught on very quickly, it is also important to remember that they are just systems and despite our quick adoption of the words artificial intelligence, we actually haven’t achieved that yet. What we have achieved is enormously sophisticated programs that can rapidly compare, contrast and interpret vast sets of data, to give you what appears to be an intelligent answer.

It has been quite the busy week for INZ in the media, with two very interesting scenarios playing out across our major news outlets. The first being the review, by INZ, of the activities of internet sensation IShowSpeed (aka Darren Watkins Junior) who toured NZ, filming his antics for the sake of his faithful followers, but doing so whilst here on a Visitor Visa. It appears INZ might have a few questions as to whether he was actually “visiting” or indeed working here, without the legal right to do so.

The second item to make the news, only today, was the cancellation of a visa for Candace Owens, a notable conservative political commentator who ironically did apply for a Work Visa in order to attend a public engagement here in February but who was declined by INZ, largely because she was also declined to undertake the same engagement in Australia.

33 days left until Christmas (34 for some of you reading this) and as we head in to the holiday season, with the weather warming up, days getting longer and the thought of some time off on most people’s minds, there will be plenty of others, considering a summer in New Zealand - not a bad idea at all. If you were however planning to spend time here over the holidays, taking in the sights or visiting family and you need a visa, then securing that before the end of the year could be a bit tricky.

INZ has various peak periods during the year, usually centered on the holiday season (this one coming up) and the influx of students at various start dates, with February and Marching being the most significant. So securing a visa now, with timeframes where they are might be challenging. If you are looking to come over and do need to apply, then my advice would be to file in a hurry or you might end up having to delay that trip.

Yesterday the Office of the Auditor General (OAG for short) published its review in to the Skilled Migrant Category, which comes as a bit of a precursor to the Minister’s promises to review this system in the near future. The report highlights things that our industry has been saying for many years and something I have been particularly vocal on - there is a definite lack of clarity and simplicity in the process which leads to longer processing times (in some cases) and challenges in filing applications that are ‘decision’ ready and can be swiftly dispatched.

These issues sit on top of very complicated and difficult to navigate technology platforms - the irony being that those platforms have had huge funding poured in to them. The report makes it fairly clear that this group of applicants (skilled migrants) are a focus point for New Zealand, particularly given the international hunt for talent that continues…

Going toe to toe with the immigration process can sometimes feel like ten rounds in a heavyweight boxing match. You go in with a plan, a strategy and a burning desire to win but along the way you get knocked down, pull yourself back up only for it all to happen again. You hopefully finish the fight a little battered and a little bruised, but holding your title belt high above your head.

In this week’s article we look at what it actually takes to make this work and to do so, I am going to be leaning on a very recent client experience, one, which in my view, demonstrates just how important it is to plan, prepare and be ready for a few knocks along the way. My ‘mantra’ if I had one is that you can never underestimate the amount of preparation that goes in to a move like this but at the same time you have to build in a good degree of flexibility (so you can dodge whatever blows the process might be trying to land on you).

Going toe to toe with the immigration process can sometimes feel like ten rounds in a heavyweight boxing match. You go in with a plan, a strategy and a burning desire to win but along the way you get knocked down, pull yourself back up only for it all to happen again. You hopefully finish the fight a little battered and a little bruised, but holding your title belt high above your head.

In this week’s article we look at what it actually takes to make this work and to do so, I am going to be leaning on a very recent client experience, one, which in my view, demonstrates just how important it is to plan, prepare and be ready for a few knocks along the way. My ‘mantra’ if I had one is that you can never underestimate the amount of preparation that goes in to a move like this but at the same time you have to build in a good degree of flexibility (so you can dodge whatever blows the process might be trying to land on you).

Big news this week, from INZ, with changes being rolled out to partners who wish to join Work Visa holders in New Zealand. The changes mean that for most of these partners, they will now have (once more) the freedom to work for whoever they wish, earning whatever they like, as opposed to the restrictions that the previous Government rolled out in May 2023.

While it might not seem earth-shattering, it is a crucial change to our overall system, because the previous conditions and restrictions were a handbrake on our ability to attract the right people. So a big step in the right direction in terms of New Zealand being able to market itself as a top migrant destination.