New immigration rules
Sandra Kirby, one of our Co-Chairs and the CEO at Physiotherapy NZ, recently talked to Ruth Isaac at MBIE about the changes to the immigration system. Ruth has since sent through a simple explanation of the full settings as they might affect recruitment of migrant physiotherapists; the information will probably also be relevant to a number of other Allied Health professions (though it may not apply to all).
- Migrant workers can be recruited through the new Accredited Employer Work Visa which opens on 4 July. Accreditation opens on 23 May, then the job check on 20 June, then the visa on 4 July – it is a fully online system. The key criteria here are: must be paid over the median wage ($27.76/hr from 4 July) and at the market (going) rate for the job; must have been advertised for New Zealanders; must be for an accredited employer; and must be for 30 hours a week or more.
- A small set of occupations on the new Green List have pathways to residence built into the AEWV system. The list will be reviewed in 1 year, and then 3 yearly. There are two types of residence offer here – a 2 year work-to-residence path, and a straight to residence (fast track) path.
- AEWV workers who earn twice the median wage also have a 2 year work-to-residence path. The Skilled Migrant Category is the third channel to residence that awards points for skills and experience. This is currently under review and will reopen in the second half of the year. Physios may be eligible for residence under this category both from offshore or onshore once applications restart.
- A small number of sectors with a high reliance on lower paid/skilled workers have time-limited agreements to be able to bring in workers under the median wage. This doesn’t apply to physios.
- Most partners of temporary migrant workers will have to get an AEWV in their own right if they wish to work, but they can work for less than 30 hours a week as a secondary earner (by definition). They can also get visitor visas if they don’t wish to work and want to join their partner, and can apply onshore for an AEWV at any time.
- Migrants in NZ on current work visas are not affected until their current visa runs out – at that point, they will need to apply for a new AEWV, another visa type, or depart NZ.
- The Government also has extended visas for temporary migrants onshore as part of the transition arrangements – so current workers are likely either to be extended or already applicants for the special one-of 2021 Residence Visa.
We are hoping that Ruth or one of her colleagues will be able to come to the Members Meeting in June, so you will have an opportunity to discuss in more detail what the changes mean for your profession and your members.
Links for you and your members to get more information are here:
New Zealand border fully reopening by July 2022
New employer accreditation and work visa
In addition, Immigration New Zealand has two videos about the Accredited Employer Work Visa:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nz6navMjjQ - for employers
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWDofClQ3tA - for migrant workers
Best wishes,
Nikky Winchester
Executive Director, AHANZ
executivedirector@alliedhealth.org.nz
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