Immigration is such a dynamic, ever-changing, and sometimes emotional, topic and it is often a challenge to step back and take in the bigger picture. So, what does the current immigration picture look like?
The latest Statistics NZ data shows a net migration gain of 33,200 people for the year to January 2023, which compares to a loss 17,500 in the previous year. Generally speaking these statistics are assessed on the basis of people either coming to, or leaving, NZ for a period of 12 months or more, and are not impacted by short term visitor arrivals and departures. While some of these arrivals will be people whose travel plans were previously disrupted by the border closure there is a clear, and growing trend, of skilled workers now entering the country.
Since the new employer accreditation began in July last year some 20,500 accreditation applications have been approved by Immigration New Zealand, with an average processing time of 7 working days. Applications are often approved on the same day. Employer accreditation is normally given for 12 months but INZ recently announced that standard accreditation, applied for before 4 July 2023, will be automatically renewed for another 12 months at no cost to the employer.
Following accreditation, employers must make a job check application for their vacant roles and, to date, some 27,000 job checks have been approved for around 150,000 jobs – with an average processing time of 4 workdays. Job checks remain valid for 6 months.
Once the job check is approved the employer can offer their prospective employee the role, and an Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) application can be made. There have been 45,000 work visas approved under this new accreditation regime and decisions are generally made within 3 weeks.
The Recovery Visa, which was introduced recently to assist with the cyclone and flooding recovery work, has also seen 600 visas approved to date, and 160 workers have already arrived to begin this important work.
While Immigration New Zealand comes in for its fair share of criticism, the above statistics confirm that their processing regimes are delivering, and in a timely manner. Employers who are finding any part of the visa process challenging may benefit from professional input.
It was recently reported that 90% of employers were struggling to fill vacancies, with one third of these roles having been vacant for 6 months or more. However, and while this vacancy rate is high, employers are increasingly mindful of the gathering economic storm clouds and have become much more cautious in their employment decision making, and about the specific skills they actually need. Employers are also, understandably, reticent about employing migrant workers at the new median wage rate of $29.66ph when this is higher than what is being paid to their New Zealand workers.
Especially for those higher skill level roles, the reality is that New Zealand is no longer the attraction it once was, and any reading of New Zealand’s daily news would suggest that this situation is unlikely to change any time soon. New Zealand’s residence policy settings remain the critical key to attracting and retaining the skills the country desperately needs. These settings need constant attention and tweaking, with a view to the short and long term, and must be accorded the highest priority at all times.
So, the overall “immigration picture” is one where the immigration mechanics and outcomes are trending positively, but this trend may begin to slow given the increasing cautiousness of employers’, irrespective of their apparent high vacancy rates.
