New Zealand's Immigration Policy: Information for Migrants from IMMagine New Zealand Immigration

Like all Governments around the world, the New Zealand Government operates an immigration policy to achieve social and economic goals through the temporary and permanent movement of people and skills. Nowadays, the New Zealand Government is focusing more on migrants who can demonstrate they will quickly add economic value to New Zealand although there is also a focus on allowing entry to those who will enhance the creative industries that occur in New Zealand.

New Zealand Immigration Eligibility Assessment

The process is cyclical and successive Governments have struggled to achieve consistent inflows of migrants. This was never more true than today.

It is a disturbing reality that successive New Zealand Governments have failed to manage a consistent level of migration with wild swings in numbers of migrants causing distortions to the economic fabric of New Zealand.

What is clear is that the current Government will only allow entry to those migrants it believes will settle well.

This means a greater reliance on competency in English language ability under many categories and a greater sense of picking "winners and losers" before migrants will be allowed to come and live in New Zealand. The Government is moving to a far more selective and subjective approach when deciding those people it will and will not let into the country and this is making satisfying entry criteria far more complex.

The Government is now seeking to allow entry to around 48,000 people each year which includes a tolerance level of +/- 10%.

Cutting through New Zealand's immigration complexity for Migrants:

Although changes to the system over recent years have been made in an attempt to bring some transparency to immigration decisions, it has in fact added greater inconsistency and complexity to the process, with regional and even local differences making the task of the applicant a frustrating and often daunting one.

In this challenging and frustrating environment, a thorough understanding of immigration policy and practice, experience in the preparation and presentation of residence applications and a close working relationship with the bureaucrats who decide the outcome of applications is paramount to their successful passage.

We know government immigration policy even better than most people who work for the Immigration Department and even receive unsolicited referrals from the NZIS themselves! We understand intimately what is required to qualify for residence and focus on a clients strengths and ensure that Government officials get the documentation they need to approve an application if policy allows or to maximise the applicant's chances of success if they are applying under one of the more subjective categories. This has never been more important than it is now.

Government officials are there to administer government policy rigidly and dispassionately, with concern for rules, regulations and numbers. Their task is to accept or reject according to prescribed criteria not to facilitate. In recent policy changes the power of these bureaucrats has been increased.

In this bureaucratic climate a worthy applicant can often be deterred, disadvantaged or denied approval simply by their lack of knowledge of the finer points of New Zealand Immigration law, policy and practice and access to reliable information.

The rejection rates under some categories remain that high and for skilled migrants is around 30% in recent years.

Not surprisingly, the best private sector consultants have become critical to many applicants wanting to increase the certainty they will get the residence they seek. IMMagine Limited is among the very best in this field.

The eligibility criteria are complex and it is not possible to provide anything more than a fairly generalised overview here. If you seek further information on your eligibility we urge you to complete our preliminary assessment attached to this web site and if it indicates that you may qualify, you should then download and complete our comprehensive questionnaire and return it to us along with our assessment fee so we can advise you on what options you might have and what barriers you might confront.

In the feedback we receive from our web visitors we are often asked to add a detailed breakdown of the various immigration categories and a detailed explanation of how they work. We have resisted this as far as we can for a simple reason it is too complex to do so effectively. The risks to the reader are too high when trying to offer anything more than a summary of policy criteria.

The NZIS also operate a Website that will give you some idea of your eligibility but should be treated with caution. It is valuable as far as it goes and can be lethal for what it leaves out.

The reality is that every persons situation will be different and every angle needs to be explored if a successful strategy is to be identified. We therefore insist on carrying out our own assessment before accepting an assignment to ensure that the initial preliminary assessment points to a strong possibility of meeting eligibility criteria.

This is for the good of our clients because if we say you dont qualify it is highly unlikely any application you file will be successful. The Residence Appeal Authority (now called the Residence Review Board) continues to confirm that even the NZIS own web information and their so called self-assessment guides are only summaries which give an overview of policy but which cannot be counted on to convey all the critically important information the applicant requires.

Given the difficulty in speaking to an Immigration officer in person, with the current trend of Call Centres with inexperienced staff and high staff turnover (the highest of any Government Department in New Zealand) many people fail in their application because they cannot rely on the information provided by the NZ Immigration Service. We often spend days tidying up the messes caused by the NZIS and/or applicants not understanding a potentially very complex process.

The New Zealand Government operates three immigration policy streams:

Within these major streams are many subcategories of permanent entry and within those sub categories are further sub categories.

The Skilled Migrant Category process offers two pathways to permanent residence. There is a third being a "Work to Residence" pathway in the for those employed by "accredited" employers with salaries of NZ$50,000 to illustrate another option. But that is another story.

How does one obtain Skilled residence of New Zealand?

1. Expression of Interest (EOI):

An applicant is required in the EOI to make their claim to their points (if they can work it out) and must score a minimum of 100 points to be considered. A fee of between NZ$300 for the online version and $465 if you are filing manually is charged by the Government. It is non-refundable.

No documentation is required when you file this application beyond the form itself (this "paperless process" involves a 50 page form!). All EOI applications are centrally processed within New Zealand.

The EOI will be entered into a pool so long as prima facie the applicant has claimed at least 100 points.

Class 1. Those claiming 140 points which includes an offer of skilled employment.

Class 2. Those claiming 140 points which does not include an offer of skilled employment.

Class 3. Those claiming 100 -135 points which includes an offer of skilled employment.

Class 4. Those claiming at least 100 points which includes a claim to six years of work experience in an area of absolute skills shortage.

Class 5 Those claiming at least 100 points which includes a claim to two or more years (but less than six) of work experience in an area of absolute skills shortage.

Class 6. Those claiming at least 100 points which includes a claim to a recognised qualifcation in an area of absolute skills shortage.

Those who have a claim to 140 points (with or without an offer of employment) will be automatically selected from the pool i.e Classes 1 and 2.

Those with offers of employment or current employment and who have claimed between 100 and 135 points will be ranked and selected if they are required to meet the Government's annual target of skilled migrants. Most are likely to be selected. This is Class 3.

Those claiming 100 points or more without job offers may be selected and invited to apply based on criteria issued by the Minister every six months. This is covered by classes 4 - 7.

a) Class 4 - Including in the points claim 15 points for work experience in an area of absolute skills shortage; and if that doesn't provide the numbers the Government needs;

b) Class 5 - All those EOIs which include in the points claim 10 points for work experience in an area of absolute skills shortage; and if that doesn't provide the numbers the Government needs;

c) Class 6 - All those EOIs which include in the points claim 10 points for a qualification in an area of absolute skills shortage; and if that doesn't provide the numbers the Government needs;

Every fortnight or so the Government identifies the highest scoring applicants based on the "passmark" set for that period and selects them for further processing.

There is no right of appeal if your Expression of Interest is unsuccessful even if the mistake was the NZIS'.

The NZIS will then seek to establish whether the points claimed is 'credible' (as high numbers of applicants get things very wrong) and then passing the case to another team of bureaucrats to verify some aspects of the application to see if the applicant has a reasonably solid claim to the points they have claimed and there are no false claims e.g. to jobs, for qualifications, etc. If they do conclude the case looks solid the applicant will be invited to apply for residence. If they don't because the NZIS believes deliberately misleading information was presented the application may be declined or if the NZIS believes there was no intention to mislead the application but the points claimed appear to be wrong, the EOI may be processed and the applicant invited to apply for residence on a case by case basis. More on this below.

So if the pass mark has prima facie been achieved the NZIS will invite the applicant to apply for residence.

2. Invitation to apply for Residence(ITA):

Only at this stage will the applicants claim to points be assessed against actual policy and an applicant's points claim verified. The fact that an applicant received the Invitation to Apply for Residence means very little in terms of outcome. Processing of the actual hard evidence presented once the applicant has been invited to apply for residence is the important part of the process.

Class 1 applicants who have offers of skilled employment will once their points claim has been tested against actual immigration policy be granted residence permits pursuant to Section 18 (a) of the Immigration Act 1987 once any further verification on the hard evidence presented with the actual residence application is carried out. This basically means that a residence permit will be issued and the applicant will need to present evidence that they have worked in a skilled job for three months following the granting of their residence permit. If they do not present such evidence within seven months their residence permit may be revoked.

Class 2 applicants will also be invited to apply for residence if they have the "pass mark" but they will then follow one of three pathways. Each will likely involve an interview with an immigration officer to determine the applicant's ability to settle into New Zealand (something that the NZIS used to do years ago and abandoned because it proved inconsistent and unwieldy):

(b) Grant a six month work visa allowing the applicant to travel to NZ, find skilled employment and having worked for three months have their residence permit issued (with the possibility of a one off three month extension if required); or

Class 3 are treated and processed the same as Class 1 i.e. there is no interview and residence will be granted once the points claim has been verified and processed to approval.

Classes 4 - 7 are treated and processed the same as Class 2 i.e. there is ultimately an interview and residence or a six month work visa will be granted once the points claim has been verified and processed to approval.

How long can your application remain in the "pool"?

If you are not successful in being drawn from the EOI pool within six months your application will be declined (or rather you will be told your expression of interest has not been successful).

So how can you know how many points are required to be selected from the pool?

This is because the pass mark which applies to you and your familys application is the pass-mark on the day your E.O.I. points claim is selected from the pool.

As part of our consultancy we regularly obtain and analyse the statistics necessary from the NZ Immigration Service and other Government agencies to enable us to observe trends in the numbers of people applying for residence, being rejected, approved and "in processing". This assists us greatly in predicting potential pass mark movements. In fact this information is critical to any credible consultancy in our view.

If you want to check how reliable our analysis is of future pass marks read the archived newsletters on the Newsletters page of our site. We are, if we may be so immodest, very accurate in making predictions on future pass marks.

Who is most likely to qualify?

The most important factor that will impact on your chances of entry now is having an offer of 'skilled' employment as well as a strong command of the English language. This generally means that only those that are highly employable will gain residence. The Government only wants those who are able to readily assimilate (on our terms) and that means finding jobs in their field of employment. Obviously this will favour those from native English speaking, Anglo-Saxon backgrounds over those from elsewhere.

This will disadvantage those who are not from native English speaking countries or for whom their English is not fluent.

With the pass mark as low as it is and the work to residence pathway opened up (through Tier II i.e Classes 2 and 4) it pays to remember that if you have sufficient points to meet the pass mark but no job offer you can only be awarded work experience points if you are claiming work experience from countries the NZIS deem to have labour markets that are "comparable" to New Zealand's. This list excludes countries such as India and China and most other "third world" countries or countries where English is not the mother tongue.

Confused?

You are not alone. Having a general understanding of how the process works is valuable but unless you work with the system daily it is doubtful you can fully grasp the complexity of it. You are not stupid. You are normal!

What you really need is to know is whether you stand any chance of emigrating to New Zealand. That is what we can offer you. The process begins with our free preliminary assessment and if that is positive you should seriously consider ordering a formal written Immigration Eligibility Assessment from us.

The pass mark and the factors influencing it:

The Government still wants around 47,000 skilled migrants and their spouses and children to migrate here each year under this category.

We have established that somewhere between 25% and 50% of people who have filed online applications have over claimed their points or been over awarded points by the NZIS at the Expression of Interest stage. This means then that the Skilled Migrant Category pool has at any time a reasonably high percentage of people contained within it who will not in fact score the points that they think they have.

The fewer people that now apply and lodge EOIs the more places become available for those that do. It is a self correcting system. The Government hasn't dropped the number of migrants it wants. The fewer people that apply for the available places, the lower the pass marks go. When it drops it encourages people to apply. That in turn may push it up again! Solution? You have to be in the pool to take advantage of a supply and demand mechanism.

Talent Visa:

The Government has decided to try and provide a more logical transition for some people on work permits to residency that might not otherwise qualify under, say, the Skilled Migrant category.

To obtain a talent visa an applicant must be offered a position with a New Zealand employer who has been accredited by the New Zealand Government for the purposes of employment.

This requires the employer initially to pay a fee to the Government and to provide all sorts of information concerning the financial viability of the company and it being an ethical employer. If these issued are satisfied then accreditation will be granted for 12 months. This will need to be renewed every twelve months by the employer and while they have accreditation they can employ people from overseas without having to present a case to the Government proving that they cannot find a local for the position or train a local for the position they seek to fill so longas they are paying a salary of NZ$50,000 or more. The applicant for the work/talent visa will be granted permission to be in New Zealand for 30 months.

Once the applicant has been working for that company for two years, so long as they pass the medical standards required for a permanent entry, the character standards required for entry, and any English language requirements necessary along with any registration or other issues, they will be able to apply and will be granted residence.

Long Term Skills Shortages List

The Government hasa list of occupations the Immigration Department deem to be in continuing acute and chronic under-supply across New Zealand.

If an applicant is offered a job for which their occupation is deemed to be in chronic shortage, a work visa/permit can be issued, subject to their proving qualifications and experience in that field, registration if applicable with the appropriate local institution, character and health for a period of 30 months. Once the applicant has been working for the company for two years, they can then apply for residence, so long as they are under the age of 56 and comply with health and character requirements.

Residence is technically available to migrants who are in occupations on the Long Term Skills Shortages List under Tier II outlined in the Skilled Migrant Category flow chart above.

1(b). Business Category:

There are five sub-categories under this category - two relating to the self employed, two relating to Investors and one relating to employees of a relocating business.

Investor Category

(i) Investor Plus (Investor 1) – top priority category for high value investors, investing NZ$10 million or more for 3 years.There is no age limit or English language requirement.The investor must stay in New Zealand for a minimum period of 20 % for each of the last two years of the three year investment period.

An application for Residence is filed with the Department with all the evidence that the investor wishes to have considered. This covers health, character, source of funds and nominated New Zealand investment.

Upon approval in principle the investment funds must be transferred to New Zealand within 12 months (with a possible extension of a further 12 months) through the trading bank system and placed within an acceptable investment.

(ii) Investor (Investor 2) – a category for those investing a minimum of NZ$1.5 million for four years.

Age limit is up to 65 years old. Applicants must be selected from the “pool” through a points system. The investor is also required to have NZ$1 million as settlement funds, although these do not have to be physically transferred to New Zealand and must stay in New Zealand at least 40% (146 days) in each of the last three years of the four year investment period.

This is a points system with a 'floating' pass mark i.e. you will not necessarily know when you express an interest in the policy if you qualify or not (although like the Skilled Migrant floating pass marks there are always trends readily identifiable to those working with the system daily). There are 300 places available through a pool system (as per the Skilled Migrant Category). The process is broadly:

The process comprises two stages.

(i) An Expression of Interest.
This is a rather large application form requiring you to outline why you believe you qualify for residence under this category. At this stage no hard evidence of your claim is required to be presented i.e. medicals to prove health, police clearances to prove character, birth certificates to prove identity, evidence of business background and so on. This information will be scrutinized by the INZ who may carry out verification on your claim. If they believe that the claim is credible and can be verified, you will be invited to apply for residence.
You must meet minimum entry requirements and achieve a minimum score of 20 points to be in the Pool.

(ii) Application for Residence follows an Invitation to Apply for Residence issued by the Immigration Department. The applicant must at this stage prove their residence case though hard evidence. On the assumption they satisfy the Department permanent residence (with conditions) will be approved in principle subject to the transfer of your funds through the trading bank system into a New Zealand bank account. Thereafter residence will be granted with the condition that you keep the investment in New Zealand for four years and fulfill any other criteria necessary.

Entrepreneur Category (permanent residence) and Long Term Business Visa (LTBV temporary residence)

The most important aspect of the LTBV process is the presentation of a detailed business plan in which the benefits to New Zealand are made clear and is accompanied by evidence of English language ability, health, character and business experience.

If the Immigration Department believes your plan is credible and you have the personal and business finance lined up you will be granted a nine month LTBV. This means you have that long to get to New Zealand and (if you are already in New Zealand that is okay) put the business plan into action. On the presentation of acceptable evidence of having done this the NZIS will issue a further permit for 27 months.

Within this grand total of 36 months (9 + 27) you must own and operate the business for 24 months following which you are free to apply for residence under the Entrepreneur Category if you choose.

Entrepreneur
This is the ‘permanent residence’ stage of the process for those that started out with the Long Term Business Visa or who have been owning and operating a business in New Zealand for at least 24 months. Under this category applicants are required to prove that their business has been successfully established and operating and is of clear benefit to New Zealand (recall that under the LTBV applicants need only demonstrate potential benefit to New Zealand so the bar is now higher). This means that the business will need to be trading profitably or showing the potential to be profitable. Medicals, character checks and so on all need to be repeated.

Entrepreneur Plus.
This is a permanent residence application for those that plan on (future tense) owning and operating a business here in New Zealand for a minimum of two years.

Although those that apply under this category must have been granted a Long Term Business Visa/Permit the Entrepreneur application can be filed immediately thereafter. Residence will be granted under Section 18A of the Immigration Act. This basically means that the investment of $500,000 must be maintained for two years, the positions created must be maintained (or at least three positions still be in existence at the end of the two years) and the business must either be profitable or ‘clearly’ capable of being so.

This policy is designed to enable key employees of businesses moving to New Zealand to gain residence. It is not a points system but requires the employer/company owner to put up a case of that employees residence.

2. Family Immigration Category:

Residence can also be granted to those who are in a relationship with a New Zealand Resident or citizen in a heterosexual or same sex relationship, either married or de facto (common law). Contrary to popular opinion, being married to a New Zealander is not an automatic guarantee of success.

As with all relationship based applications the system requires the applicant to demonstrate they are in a genuine and stable relationship. This is not always that easy. Under the marriage and de facto categories there is a requirement that residence can be granted only once you have been living together for 12 months or more. Work permits can be issued if you are married or living in a de facto relationship for less than 12 months.

(ii) Sibling Category:

Residence is also an option for those who represent the last family member of the family living in the home country. If that person has an offer of employment in New Zealand, is aged under 56, their family sponsor has held a residence permit for three years and they meet health and character criteria they can qualify for residence. Under this category the applicant must have the job offerprior to applying for residence. Sponsors must now hold residence permits for three years in order to sponsor their siblings. The Government advised us a few months ago that they were considering softening that qualifying period so that the sponsor must have been in New Zealand for three years i.e. on a temporary permit such as a work permit and now hold a residence permit, but nothing has happened.

(iii) Parent Category:

(a) If parents have the same number, or more, adult* children living permanently in New Zealand than in any other country (including their home country) and they have no medical or character issues, residence can be approved, or

(b) If parents have no adult* children living in the home country and at least one lawfully and permanently resident in New Zealand (and again there are no character or health issues) they will qualify for Residence.

*Parents with dependent children (up to the age of 25) have a more complex situation as dependent children do impact on eligibility.

Sponsors must now hold residence permits for three years in order to sponsor their parents as for the sibling category above.

(iv) Dependent children of New Zealand residents or citizens:

3. International/Humanitarian Immigration Category:

(i) Refugees:

New Zealand is also a signatory to the 1951 Untied Nations Convention on Refugees. As a country we accept a quota of 750 refugees each year as directed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. An individual arriving in New Zealand can also apply for spontaneous refugee status but they will not be accepted under the United Nations quota system they must satisfy the New Zealand Government that they have a well founded fear of persecution if they were forced to return home.

(ii) Victims of Domestic Violence:

For reasons best known to the Government a special category of residence has been created for victims of domestic violence. These will be people who are married or in a de facto relationship with a New Zealander and who have yet to be granted residence but who leave the relationship because they are suffering domestic violence and abuse. If these people can show that for cultural or social reasons they cannot return home they can apply for residence under this bizarre category. We hope you dont get the impression that New Zealanders are a violent lot in thirteen years of practice we havent come across a single person who might qualify under this category.

Special Direction:

Finally, it is also possible for any individual who believes that their situation is special to approach the Minister of Immigration directly and put their case to him or her. The Minister does not have to approve the application but the Government understands that from time to time deserving individuals may not meet the strict and rigid criteria laid down under the current categories and the Minister has the power to grant residence.

Should you use an Immigration Consultant?

In writing this we realise just how much we have left out in each category summary. The Manual out of which the NZIS operate is more than 1000 pages long. So be warned this is an overview designed only to give you some idea of the criteria.

We do not believe that the NZIS is capable of providing you with all the advice, information and support that you require. If they were there would be a far lower rate of rejection than occurs (around one in three Skilled Migrant Category applicants for example).

Would you put your family's future entirely into the hands of a bureaucrat in another country?

Applying for residence of another country is a big decision and we believe based on our many years of experience dealing with the fallout of those trying to negotiate the process themselves that professional guidance should always be sought.

At the moment potential migrants are not protected by any law and if you wish to use a consultant caveat emptor. And you should. There are widely differing standards that consultants apply to their own businesses.

In New Zealand there are two self regulating industry groups. These are the New Zealand Immigration Institute and the New Zealand Association for Migration and Investment.

The New Zealand Immigration Institute only allows membership by invitation to those individuals who are New Zealand based, have a minimum of five years industry experience and are covered by New Zealands tough consumer protection laws.

The New Zealand Association for Migration and Investment on the other hand is a more broad organisation of consultants, lawyers, real estate agents, bankers, accountants and others involved in the immigration industry who are spread all over the world.

We are founding members of the NZ Immigration Institute and previously held posts as Directors and Board Members of NZAMI with Iain being Vice Chairman.

Your Consultant should be prepared not only to assess eligibility and complete the significant paperwork required, but should also give guidance on such important issues as cost of living, employment opportunities, housing, education, lifestyle, putting you in contact with banks, insurance companies, getting tax numbers and so on. If they are not New Zealanders living in New Zealand it is hard to see how they can be as credible.

Without the assistance and support of a consultant who is bound by strict ethical rules and who lives under New Zealand law an applicant has little or no protection from unscrupulous operators.

Consultants do make a significant difference if they have a track record of success and ethical behaviour. Of that there is no doubt.

Information For New Zealand Migrants: New Zealand's Immigration Policy

New Zealand Immigration Policy - Residence: