Rampant changes to immigration policies in recent years have thrown up obstacles for employers
In the global talent war, New Zealand employers have struggled to keep up, and one major reason is due to rampant changes in immigration policies in recent years.
“Since the borders have opened up, there have been several categories that have opened up to try and attract some of the talent that we really need”, Anderson Lloyd senior associate Tash Rae explained. “One of these is the Green List, which allows eligible migrants to go straight for residence, using a simple and quick online process. The downside is that it has strict qualification, experience and salary requirements which exclude many migrants in these in-demand occupation groups”.
She added that migrants in this case must go through a “pretty clunky, multi-step process”.
“In my opinion, this type of migrant should be going straight to residence. If they can’t, they may just go to our competitor jurisdictions, such as Canada, Australia or the UK”, Rae said.
Moreover, employers have to deal with the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV), which requires employers to obtain accreditation and to take the lead on the visa process. Eligible employers must be running viable businesses, have a good history of compliance with immigration policies, and confirm their commitment to supporting migrants with their settlement.
“Under the new AEWV scheme, employers need to drive the process and cover much of the cost. As part of this process, they need to commit to all sorts of obligations,” Rae explained. “The key risk is that it’s a simple initial application that requires declarations only. In practice, many employers are quickly forgetting the commitments made, with no plan to track compliance. I’m regularly having to remind employers of their post-accreditation obligations”.
Rae further discusses the issues with immigration in New Zealand today in this Exclusive Feature published in February.
