SMC Update - The Analysis
Following yesterdays article on the updated Skilled Migrant Category, we now have the formal rules, which adds the detail to the headlines. In this post, we go over some of the key areas of change, the standout points and a few scenarios to help people get their head around what these changes mean.
In a nutshell, the formal rules, paint a pretty similar picture to that which was announced early yesterday morning (incidentally just before the Immigration Minister resigned).
The new SMC system, provides a tiered approach to Residence, with those at the higher skill/salary levels being able to apply right away and those at the lower end of the spectrum (but still skilled) having to work for three years to then be able to qualify.
A lot of the policy has been carried over from the existing rules for SMC, including how skill (work experience and NZ employment) is assessed, the way remuneration is calculated and the general requirements for English, health and character.
The simplification of it all comes down to how points are awarded and the fact that there are now far fewer points options to chose from, but then also far less for INZ to get confused about when processing applications.
There are a few interesting points on processing though.
The first one is the introduction of "automated systems" to screen Expressions of Interest (EOI)'s from the pool and issue Invitations to Apply (ITA's). That process is traditionally done by a human being, however these new rules allow for an automated system to fulfil this task, which could potentially lead to a large number of erroneous ITA's being issued. Provided the person fills in the online form correctly (even if that doesn't match up with reality) the system will spit out and ITA regardless. The logic here is to move towards automating administrative and repetitive tasks, yet it could end up creating more work for INZ in the long run.
Second point to note is that with the "registered occupation" category, INZ have provided a much bigger list than previous instructions have allowed for. This includes a lot of occupations that are "licensed" rather than require registration by law. For example Accountants are included, even though they do not need to be registered to practice here. There are also some unusual points being awarded to different occupations in this group - Veterinarians come in at 4 points, alongside Real Estate agents, yet these two occupations have very different levels of training involved. This part of the process feels very rush and unfinished and I suspect will be the subject of significant debate and discussion from various industry groups.
The third item to note is that INZ will now be taking previous applications in to account as part of the assessment for Residence - something we have often argued is a no-brainer. If you have to work in NZ and have provided much of the evidence INZ needs for a future application, it makes sense to be able to rely on that information and just ask for updates. This could make processing a lot easier and faster for a number of clients.
In terms of the NZ work experience component of the points on offer (between one and three years for a respective one to three points), these come with some caveats. The experience must have been gained within a certain period of time, e.g. work from ten years ago in NZ cannot be counted. It looks like this:
36 months in the prior 60 months, qualifies for 3 points.
24 months in the prior 48 months, qualifies for 2 points.
12 months in the prior 24 months, qualifies for 1 point.
Experience must have been lawfully gained (on a valid Visa) and the applicant must have been earning the median income at the starting point of the individual period being claimed. This gets complicated and will trip a few people up, so requires a check that the salary on offer at the commencement of the NZ period in question, was being paid at or above the median income that applied at the time.
Fourth point is in relation to qualifications and the importance of the "type" of qualification held. INZ will award points for qualifications in the following order:
Level 10 Doctoral degree to qualify for 6 points
Level 9 Master’s degree to qualify for 5 points
Level 8 Bachelor honours degree or Postgraduate Diploma to qualify for 4 points
Level 7 Bachelor’s degree or level 8 Postgraduate Certificate to qualify for 3 points.
However if you have a qualification that isn't already recognised by INZ and you secure an assessment with NZQA that only specifies the "Level", e.g. you hold a "Leve 9 Qualification" and no "Type" is listed, e.g. "Bachelor" then you essentially go down a step and Level 7 falls off the list.
Level 10 secures 5 points
Level 9 secures 4 points
Level 8 secures 3 points
Interesting to see INZ go with this and place so much emphasis on the "type" of qualification, over the level.
Beyond these key points, the new system is very much as you would have expected from both yesterday's announcement and the original proposal in October 2022.
If I had to offer a gut-feel on this, it would be that this final version of the policy feels rushed and is missing a lot of the feedback that we know the Minister was under pressure to consider. One has to wonder whether there was an incentive to get this out in the open, just ahead of the Minister taking a walk and leaving the job (which he did midday yesterday).
The simple fact of having vastly different occupations considered the same skill level by virtue of registration and the degree to which those occupations are then deemed "higher or lower" priority to secure Residence doesn't add up.
The wording in various sections is literally a copy and paste of old policy, and whilst the aim was to be "simple", it feels like simplicity was a side-effect of the need for a speedy roll-out.
How this all works in practice is obviously the true test and how it is perceived by the market is the even bigger benchmark for the Government to consider - although come October, it might no longer be their problem.
