Policy In A Hurry
The new AEWV rules have been out for just under a week and it has become pretty obvious that these were rushed to market by both the Minister and also by INZ. There is also significant confusion flying around on various social media platforms as to some of the very specific areas of the policy, which need some clarification.
There is no real surprise here, given the Government was under significant pressure to sort out a fix to the ailing AEWV system and a whole new set of rules would have been a very complicated thing to have tried to create. Instead what was done, was a roll back to a lot of previous policy settings that existed when we had the Essential Skills Work Visa in play.
However as is always the case when you rush a set of rules to market, there are gaps, mistakes and a few very odd pieces of policy that just don’t seem to make sense, even if someone, somewhere thought they were solving a problem.
The Confusing Bits
Let’s start with who needs to now complete an English test, which is actually one part of the rules that is pretty clear. If you are applying for an AEWV (Work Visa) to take up a role at ANZSCO skill level 4 or 5, then you will need to demonstrate you meet the English language requirements. For most applicants, this will involve sitting a test and scoring a relatively low score (IELTS 4.0 or equivalent in an alternative test).
English Language - Work Visas
There appear to be two quite different standards of English being applied under the new Work Visa rules.
There are some exemptions, however those require you to be a citizen of a certain country and have worked or studied in that country to a particular qualification level or for a set period of time. Ironically the exemptions are the same ones used to exempt people from the English requirements for Residence, which is deemed to be IELTS 6.5 or equivalent. It is strange that you would have exemptions at a much higher level, but again when you are in a hurry you just borrow policy from where you can.
The second section of these rule changes that has caused a bit of a stir (amongst clients and other advisers) is the minimum skill thresholds that have been introduced. These apply to all applicants for an AEWV regardless of the skill level of the job being applied for. These requirements are also are separate to any qualification or work experience requirements that the employer might have listed in the job check application.
The requirements are:
Have three years of relevant work experience or:
A qualification at Level 4 or higher - if the qualification is below a bachelor level qualification, it must be relevant and either be a NZ qualification or be assessed by NZQA.
Here is the odd bit…and the bit that has confused most people. If you hold a bachelor degree (from anywhere) or higher qualification, INZ will accept that degree without an NZQA assessment and it also can be in something completely different to the job you have applied for. So you might have a Bachelor of Pottery and be applying for a job as a software developer and INZ will accept that you meet the minimum skill threshold (however you still have to meet the requirements contained in the job check for experience and/or qualifications).
However if you hold a Level 7 Diploma (the same level as a bachelor degree), and it isn’t from NZ, then it would need to be assessed and would also need to be relevant to the job on offer - even if that job is to work as a labourer.
Qualifications
Bachelor degree qualifications are now considered relevant to any job and anything below that level will require a separate qualifications assessment.
Confused yet? You wouldn’t be the only one. The fact is, there are now two separate skill thresholds to meet, the first created in the job check for each individual role and the second created by the minimum threshold listed above.
This could definitely have been better managed with clearer distinctions between the skill levels, and appears more to be a means to reduce numbers than any meaningful test of actual skills involved. It also means we will have officers querying what is “relevant” and the policy lacks any real definition for that. Equally does a bachelor of pottery, really give you the skills to design the next fortnite gaming epic?
There are also other tell-tale signs of a policy whipped up late on a Friday afternoon - the new form that INZ have rolled out which asks applicants and employers to confirm the above skill thresholds, contains mistakes (the wrong median wage figures) and doesn’t read well (adding to the confusion). In fact the form itself confirms that INZ didn’t have the time to integrate in to the online platform before the Minister wanted this rushed to press.
My thoughts are that we will see some gradual tweaks and changes to refine what was ultimately a plan to reduce the numbers of lower skilled applicants. Again, this is old policy that we have seen before, wrapped up in a new pair of pants and then combined in a rather strange ensemble with the the AEWV as the awkwardly fitting jumper over the top half.
More to Come?
In terms of big-bang policy, I doubt we will see much more for a while and apart from some adjustments to the recent roll out, and perhaps further tweaks to the Green List of occupations, there is unlikely to be a lot more to see while the current coalition has bigger fish to fry in the economy.
I do however wonder if we aren’t seeing a repeat of recent policy plans with immigration, which under Labour were often pushed through quickly, full of holes and needing a lot of tidy up, all in an effort to fire-hose whatever media flames were burning. This has a bit of that feeling to it…something had to change with the AEWV process, there is no denying that, but the Government had an opportunity to do something more considered, measured and refined. Some easy stop-gaps could have been put in place in the short-term with a better AEWV system rolled out over a few more months.
This felt a lot like policy cobbled together from existing rules, and rushed out the door to quiet the masses. Time will tell of course, but as far as initial runs on the board for the new Minister, this one is about a half-score.
Until next week when I report in from across the ditch…stay tuned.
