Visa Updates
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.
However this weeks changes signal a few other more important things, namely what might be around the corner for Work Visa applicants as well as those pursuing Residence under our Skilled Migrant pathways. There are some clues in this weeks policy update as well as noises from the Minister that suggest we are going to see a change in the way median wages are used in terms of Work Visas (and possibly Residence) and further work to be done for the Skilled Migrant process to bridge the gap for those who don’t fit squarely within the existing criteria.
So this week, we take a look at the main changes for this week as well as polishing off the crystal ball to see what might be coming further down the track.
Partner Work Visa Updates
Prior to May 2023, most partners, coming to join a Work Visa holder in New Zealand were able to secure an “Open Work Visa”, one which allowed them to work in any occupation and for any employer, with no restrictions on income, besides the regular minimum wage requirements. This was a significant component to the general Work Visa process, because most people need two incomes to survive and having your partner with the freedom to find work, even part-time to begin with, made settling in and staying here a lot easier.
Updates to Partner Visas
Partners to Work Visa holders now have a greater degree of freedom to work where they like (something they had in the past).
However in May of 2023, the former Government decided to change all of that, placing specific conditions on partners, to work only for Accredited Employers and to earn the median wage (for Work Visas). There were some exemptions where the main AEWV holder was working in a Green List role or at twice the median wage or in a sector specific role with a pathway to Residence, but the bulk of partners found themselves in a bit of tight spot. The rationale for this change, as explained by the former Minister was to protect vulnerable migrants from being exploited. The irony is that the opposite occurred and many of these partners struggled to find work, leaving families without the joint income to survive (and thrive). In reality this wasn’t about protecting migrants but more to do with reducing the availability of migrant labour. If even half of the Work Visa holders brought their partners, that would mean thousands of additional migrant workers with unfettered work rights - something the previous Government was keen to avoid.
So roll forward to this week and the current Government has now removed most of those conditions, effectively taking us back to pre-May 2023. The changes announced on Wednesday mean the following people, who come in as partners of Work Visa holders will have access to fully open work rights from 02 December 2024:
All partners of Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) holders, working in an ANZSCO level 1-3 role and earning at least NZD$25.29 an hour (80 percent of the standard median wage).
Partners of AEWV holders earning at least $25.29 an hour if they were already supporting a partner for a work visa on 26 June 2024
All partners of Essential Skills work visa holders earning at least $25.29 an hour.
Furthermore, open work rights will be available to partners of AEWV holders working in an ANZSCO Level 4-5 role:
earning at least $47.41 an hour (150 percent of the standard median wage), or
Earning at least $31.61 an hour in a role on the Green List and meeting the Green List requirements for that role, or
Earning at least $25.29 an hour (80 percent of the standard median wage) and meeting the requirements of a role in the Transport or Care Sector Agreements (or the wage specified in the sector agreement, whichever is higher).
This restores those former work rights but also goes one step further, because instead of relying solely on the median wage (for Work Visas that is $29.66), the Government has introduced an 80% weighting of that wage - making the threshold slightly lower.
This will come as a significant relief to future applicants but also those partners who are already here as they will be able to vary their existing visas to remove the presently imposed condition - a win for common sense.
More To Come
The partner Work Visa changes are the first positive step we have seen from this Government, since they took office. They have introduced other changes, but those have been targeted at reducing the volumes of lower skilled migrants coming in (we could argue those are positive as well), however this weeks change represents a common sense reset. The Minister however did foreshadow further changes to come and wrapped this up by saying:
“The improvements we are making in immigration are restoring balance to the system, ensuring we are well-positioned to continue rebuilding the economy.”
What Does The Future Hold?
The use of 80% of median wage in the recent changes signals where we might see future Work Visa policy move to, in terms of median wage criteria.
She is right, we need to restore some sort of balance to the system, because it has see-sawed between being ludicrously open with no real checks and balances being undertaken and incredibly tight with INZ crawling over every detail with a fine-tooth comb (to the point of slowing the entire process down).
Balance is absolutely what we need, but we also need to be a bit bolder than just tweaking things here and there and updating a few policies or rolling them back to where they were previously. The Minister has signaled reviews of the median wage for Work Visas and the use of the 80% threshold this week, gives us a potential clue as to where this might go. There are changes in the wind for the Skilled Migrant Category to address the gap for many of the trades we want to bring here (who can’t meet existing criteria) and the Active Investor Visa, which the Minister correctly referred to as a “lame duck”.
My hope in all of the above is that we think big and look at different options to secure the skills and investment we need, rather than simply modifying policy that already exists (and has proven to be ineffective). The challenge is changing the way we think about migrants, which over the years has become focused on being able to quantify them, through points or very specific criteria. You can in fact look at migrants and migration in a multitude of ways and not all of them need to focus on ‘points’. We have a real chance here, whilst the market is a bit quieter to do things differently and from discussions I have had with the various people involved, there seems to be a desire to do that, however as always politics will play a key role.
Whatever we do end up with, I suspect we are due to see another lengthy period of change and updates, although many of them are going to open more doors for more of the right people to qualify).
A Brighter Visa Future?
Since our borders reopened in 2022, the immigration process has been a roller-coaster of policy changes, challenging economic conditions and turbulence within INZ who actually deliver the visa outcomes. As advisers, keeping abreast of all these things has certainly kept us on our toes and made from some interesting working weeks, however it has often been a process of jumping from one negative story to the next.
For some reason, and maybe its the warmer weather or the longer daylight hours (or the fact my mortgage is getting cheaper) it feels like we are slowing turning a bit of a corner. Almost like waiting for that spinning update sign on your laptop to conclude, so you can get on with things.
The Minister seems to be making the right noises in terms of winding back rules that really should never have been introduced and rightly (and often with colourful language) identifying existing policies that are just a bit daft. I hope that all of those signals translate in to bigger, better and more optimistic plans for our system, that mean we can continue to attract the right people, who will settle and thrive here. If our migrants do well, we all do well.
Until next week!
Remember - Our last seminar for the year will take place on 08 December 2024 (via Zoom). Register here to attend.
