The Delta variant of Covid has unfortunately arrived in New Zealand and we are now in full lock down again across New Zealand.

The Government’s slow but steady approach to the New Zealand vaccination program is now going to be truly tested.

Unfortunately, the Governments approach has been replicated with their Immigration Policy reset. 

INZ continued their approach of “confusing the masses” with their recent change of direction with their postponement of the implementation of the new Accredited Employer Work Visa Scheme.

Employer Accreditation (Talent)

The new Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) scheme will no longer come into effect on 1 November 2021. Its introduction will now be delayed until mid-2022.

A further update on when the new AEWV scheme will now be introduced will be made at “some” point.

The delay in the introduction of this new policy has created uncertainty for employers reliant on migrant workers. 

It creates an immediate issue for those employers whose accreditation was due to expire, who had not lodged an application to renew their accreditation pre-30 June 2021.

At that point they understood the new accreditation system was due to come into effect, so it was logical to not extend their accreditation until the new policy was released. 

This created a major issue for those employers whose accreditation is due to expire before the delayed introduction of the AEWV next year.

Employers in this situation have no way to apply for a renewal of their accreditation. 

The delay in the introduction of the new accreditation system results in the unfortunate situation where there is currently no ability for an existing accredited employer to hire any new Talent visa holder to join their business post 31 October 2021. 

New Talent visa applications must be filed for existing accredited employers before 31 October, 2021 after this date there is no current ability to submit new ones until the AEWV comes in next year.

If you hold a Talent visa and you are approaching the second-year work anniversary, you need to file your residence application the day after that term is up. You then need to process your application to secure an approval within 6 months. 

This is currently estimated to require between 22 - 27 months processing time by INZ. If this issue is not addressed, then there are going to be a number of potentially unlawful candidates in NZ.

Changes to Essential Skills Work Visa Policy

The Essential Skills Instructions which will be welcomed by employers and employees alike. These changes, which came into effect from 19 July 2021 include:

• Increasing the maximum duration of Essential Skills work visa for employment paid below the median wage from 12 months to two years;
• Removing the requirement to provide a police certificate or medical certificate with an application (if one has been provided previously); and
• Removing the labour market test (LMT) requirement and not requiring an employment agreement to be provided for applicants who meet specific streamlined criteria.

The announcement that the two-year Essential Skills work visas will provide certainty for at least 18,000 visa holders. The streamlined application process will benefit at least 57,000 visa holders. 

It will also benefit their many employers who can now have some certainty that they will be able to retain their existing migrant workforce. 

The newly introduced instructions for those wishing to apply for an Essential Skills work visa applies to applicants holding:

• a work visa of any type; or
• a student visa with conditions allowing unlimited work rights; or
• a Critical Purpose visitor visa either granted on the basis that the holder has a critical purpose for travel to New Zealand to work as critical health workers; other critical workers with visas granted for more than six months; or people belonging to a class of workers or individuals agreed to by Cabinet or the Minister of Immigration holding visas granted for more than six months.

Increase in Remuneration Levels

The remuneration levels under both the Essential Skills and Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) have been increased to reflect New Zealand’s current median wage. The new median hourly rate is $27.00 per hour. NZ statistics lists the average wage in NZ now at $33 per hour.

Those employees earning below the median wage, they will now be eligible for a two-year visa. For those earning at or above the median wage, they will be able to request a minimum three-year visa.

Residency Pathways

Residency continues to be a dirty word within INZ with no clarity whatsoever given about this class of visas. 

The Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) is still technically frozen and the Employer Accreditation pathway for new Talent visas holders is just as confused (post 1 November). 

A number of highly skilled migrants have departed the country with many more sadly considering leaving.

The Increase in Remuneration Levels announcement is however much more significant for candidates who lodged an Expression of Interest (EOI) under the SMC to allow them to apply for residence. 

Those earning between $25.50 (the previous median wage rate) and $27.00 there is a high likelihood that once EOIs are selected again. they may not receive a formal invitation to apply for residence. 

However, for people whose hourly rate falls within this range, and who can negotiate a pay increase, they may wish to do so and then update their EOI as soon as possible. 

The government cannot be too far away from opening a revised SMC. Typically, INZ engage with applicants pre lapsing any applications.

Priority Processing of Skilled Migrant Category and Residence from Work Applications

The Instructions governing the priority of the processing of SMC and Residence from Work applications have also been amended to reflect the increase in median wage. INZ will now prioritise those SMC and Residence from Work applications where the applicant has an hourly rate equivalent to or higher than twice the median wage – $54.00 per hour or an annual salary of $112,320 +. For those with residence applications pending with INZ who are being paid below this amount they will unfortunately now have to wait for their residence applications to be processed in the order in which they were received by INZ

Conclusion

The recent INZ announcement delaying the introduction of the AEWV that was intended to avoid adding further complexity into an already highly complex system. It has created the reverse - a more difficult environment.

Our economy has full employment and a massive shortage of talent. The constant changing of rules, without providing certainty as to a long-term future in New Zealand will work to NZ’s detriment.

NZ will (are) losing valuable skilled migrants who prefer to relocate to countries where their long-term residency pathways can be secured with clarity, unlike NZ.

For more information on the current NZ immigration status please contact Steve Baker on steve.baker@enterprise.co.nz or call 027 212 5483.