In an attempt to reduce migration levels, New Zealand has tightened visa rules and wants to attract more highly skilled workers. Here is what it could mean for your plans.
Discover the changes to the popular accredited employer work visa…
Following strict rules around migration during the pandemic, New Zealand introduced a new temporary work visa in mid 2022 to assist with labour shortages. This led to a near-record high of more than 173,000 non-New Zealand citizens in the year to December, according to Stats NZ. There was a net loss of 47,000 New Zealand citizens in 2023. The country currently has a population of 5.3 million.
The government is concerned that this sudden increase in migration is fanning inflation.
What are the changes?
In response, immigration minister Erica Stanford has announced changes to the accredited employer work visa (AEWV), which is the most popular temporary work visa. The changes will come into effect immediately and are as follows:
1. An English language requirement for low-skilled jobs.
2. A minimum skills and work experience threshold for most employer visas.
3. The maximum continuous stay for most low-skilled jobs will be reduced from five years to three years.
4. Employers will be responsible for ensuring that the applicant meets the specified requirements for the role. Additionally, they must employ migrants for at least 30 hours per week. They will also need to declare that there are no “suitable and available New Zealanders”.
Although the changes take place immediately, if you applied for an AEWV before April 7th, then you will be impacted differently. Head to the government website for more information.
However, Erica Stanford did say, “the government is focused on attracting and retaining the highly skilled migrants such as secondary teachers, where there is a skills shortage.” Indeed, in an effort to fulfil a current shortage, secondary school teachers have been added to the Straight to Residency pathway of New Zealand’s Green List. Erica Stanford also indicated that this was the start of a greater overhaul of the country’s migration system.
Don’t spend any money on your move abroad until you’ve read The Currency Guide to Emigration, free to download.
Updates to the Green List
New Zealand has a Green List of professions that are in demand in New Zealand. If your role is listed, and you have the experience or qualifications needed, then you be able to get residency immediately or after two years of working in the country.
On April 8th, New Zealand added six professions to the straight to the residency section of the Green List, including: aviation engineer, naval architect, ICT database and systems administrator.
However, several roles that were previously announced to be added to the Green List, including welder and fitter, were not added. Find out more information here.
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