Teachers & The Green List
In a somewhat surprise announcement yesterday, the Government has decided to add Secondary School Teachers to Tier 1 of the INZ Green List. This means that where these applicants previously had a two-year pathway to Residence, they now have the ability to apply for Residence directly.
For reasons known only to INZ and the Minister, the change only takes effect in May (a month away) but it will open the door for a number of applicants to get through the process much quicker. We have yet to see what the specific requirements will be, although you can be assured that some form of registration (likely provisional) with the New Zealand Teachers Council will be on that list. There may also be subject specialties added, although going by recent reports, we need pretty much every Secondary School Teacher we can get our hands on.
There are no surprises really with this addition and the Green List was designed to give the Government this level of flexibility - to add and remove occupations as required. However what is interesting is that 17 other occupations, including Fitter and Turner and Corrections Officers were set to go on the list in March - yet we have had not update on that as of yet.
Why are we waiting?
Work Visas (most of them) tie migrants to employers, with an overly complicated process to remove those shackles.
Green List Updates
In September 2023, the previous Government announced that 17 new occupations would be added to the Green List, to increase employers access to various skills that are in demand.
It is of course April and those roles have not yet been added, with no updates from the Government or INZ on when they might appear.
Interestingly there has been a lot of promotion of these roles by various agencies and some advisers, well ahead of them actually appearing on the list, and I am wondering if some of those promoters are going to end up looking a little silly. Whilst those roles could still appear and this might just be (as the Government would say) a case of ‘competing priorities’, there is also the possibility that they don’t appear at all.
With New Zealand steering through some more challenging economic times and unemployment, particularly at the lower skill levels, set to increase there is the potential for the Government to be taking a breath on adding this number of new roles to the list. For reference, here are the occupations that were going to be added:
Aviation Engineer (Avionics, Aeronautical, Aerospace Engineer)
Naval Architects (aka Marine Designer)
Mechanical Engineering Technician
ICT Database and System Administrator
Aircraft Maintenance Engineer
Road Roller Operator
Paving Plant Operator
Corrections Officer
Metal Fabricator
Pressure Welder
Welder
Fitter (General)
Fitter and Turner
Fitter-Welder
Metal Machinist (First Class)
Panel Beater
Vehicle Painter
A number of these, at the higher skill level, might still very well make the cut, but I would also suggest that there is good cause for the Government to be second-guessing some of these occupations. Remember that every decision made in respect of immigration settings is balanced between economic need and political appearance.
It might not be the right time for the new Government, to be adding such a large number of roles to the list, particularly where some of those are at a relatively low skill level compared to others.
We might still need them, but the Government needs votes and with unemployment set to increase (not dramatically), adding more pathways for migrants, in roles that many would argue could and should be filled locally is never a good political play.
Our rule of thumb here is never to promote a pathway until it actually exists and of course we have had no shortage of people wanting to use these occupations as a way in - my advice to them is to wait until the rules are the rules.
