New Zealand’s hard earned zero covid-19 status does not come without restrictions. To remain covid-free, New Zealand is maintaining control at the borders, rapid contact tracing of any positive cases and intensive testing. We have the advantage of being an island nation and can restrict the travel of those needing visas to enter New Zealand. Our borders have always remained open to Kiwis, along with New Zealand based residents and Australians.
Border lockouts
For the remainder of travellers, New Zealand borders remain closed unless the traveller is able to gain special approval to enter New Zealand. Approval had been granted for critical humanitarian reasons, Pacific travellers and key workers. That list has now been extended to include diplomats, maritime travellers, family members of New Zealand citizens, New Zealand based residents, Australians and work or student visa holders when travelling separately.
The announcement has also expanded the criteria for key workers beyond health workers, and from what was described as workers who are specifically agreed to be essential workers by the New Zealand Government. The light shone on the latter is most appreciated given this is where the rubber has been hitting the road, after such cases as the highly debated decision to approve the Avatar film crew. Any New Zealand employers who are crying out for critical staff are further frustrated by valuable quarantine spots going to the film industry. While the financial cost of the lockdown is huge, with businesses waiting to become fully operational again, something they can’t do without is key workers they cannot find on New Zealand shores.
If money talks, then big money (particularly for government underwritten projects, as in the case of Avatar film crew) must sing. My concern is for the small to medium size employers who need to recruit from skilled workers offshore or retain existing migrant staff. Individually the business may not be huge, but their combined value to the economy is. When family members of temporary residents are permitted to travel, one must question if this is the best use of those valuable travelling places, when many businesses are fighting for economic survival. Humane it maybe, but as with the lockdown, hard decisions for the greater good must be made.
Immigration New Zealand (INZ) which is part of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has set up a separate process for the approval to travel, however the decisions around ‘other essential workers’ is made by the Minister for Economic Development and the relevant portfolio Minister. Now the newly created and published criteria have been announced, it has provided much needed clarity on those who will be allowed to travel.
Once the approval to travel has been gained, the visa is then considered against a very different labour market than pre-covid-19.
Labour market
INZ is very sensitive to the Labour Government’s concern of rising unemployment levels, so convincing INZ there are no New Zealanders available, or those who could not easily be trained, is again not for the fainthearted.
The evident requirements for the employer has at least doubled, before an employment-related visa is granted -whether their migrant staff member is offshore temporarily, yet to arrive, or already here and needing to remain longer.
Given the intricacies of the local labour market and pressure on the economy, my further concern is the capabilities to make these judgements are beyond those tasked with these complex and critical decisions.
Other essential workers
The new rules describing other essential workers apply, in the main, to roles which can’t be filled locally and when the prospective worker is high value, paid accordingly and working on projects of national or regional significance. The threshold is high and workers will require a 14-day lockdown, in an approved facility, paid by the employer, medical testing and after enduring an expensive and possibly difficult trip. Again, none of this is for the fainthearted.
The visa is null and void
In the present climate, you must question the status of a visa issued by INZ. Firstly, a visa is an invitation to enter a country. It’s a privilege, not a right and can be withdrawn at any point. This is effectively what has happened with the new border rules; visas allowing travel into New Zealand are in effect void with the exceptions of the groups outlined above.
The second part of a visa is the conditions which may be limited to activities such as job role, course of study, employer, educational institute and region. A visa may also grant the holder the ability to work or live in New Zealand at will. Covid-19 regulations have provided limited time-bound relaxation of certain conditions for work and student visa holders in aged care and supermarkets. In the third week of June, these considerations, on the whole, will come to an end and most temporary visa holders in New Zealand will remain restricted to the exact wording of their visa.
Pressure has been placed on the hospitality, service and tourism industries, to dismiss conditions limiting migrant workers to roles, location and employers. However, now more than ever, this is essential to ensure that ‘New Zealanders first’ for roles is maintained. It is so regrettable that migrant workers in those industries have lost their jobs, however it is the reality and for many, travel home is the best solution for New Zealand.
Be very aware that while enforcement action may not actively be taken, individuals and employers are likely to answer in the future to any non-compliant visa breaches even in the heat of this epidemic.
Heartland Immigration
Heartland Immigration @ Alert Level 4, 3, 2 & now 1 remains fully operational. It is not, and will never be, business as we know it for those who hold temporary visas, employ migrant workers and those who would like to work, study and visit New Zealand. In short, the landscape has changed.
Our covid-19 reality will make international travel more complex for some time to come with visas harder to get. Never has it been more important to have the services of an experienced professional at hand.
Kind regards,
Mary Noonan.
Disclaimer: Mary Noonan is Heartland Immigration Ltd Managing Director and her views, expressed in this article, are not intended to replace the professional service provided to individual migrants by a Licensed Immigration Advisers.
As we move towards Level 3 – here is a summary of what this means for visas, migrant workers and immigration.
Heartland Immigration @ Level 3
We remain fully operational in our homes and committed to providing you with the right advice first time every time.
Employers
- Your work visa employees should all have a visa which is valid until at least the 25 September 2020.
- Limited relaxation of visa conditions and the ability to vary a small number of visas exist.
Migrant Workers
- Ensure you and each member of your family has visas valid until at least the 25 September 2020.
- Understand the conditions attached to your visas.
- Be patient with INZ
Immigration New Zealand (INZ)
For now, INZ has limited capacity with people working from their Wellington head office, and they have some still working remotely from home. They have prioritised their activities to focus on Covid-19 related activities – such as the exceptions to the border closure and subsequent visas, Covid-19 Variation of Conditions. They are also doing applications for those already in New Zealand such as Victims of Family Violence, partnership category temporary visas, full fee-paying student visas and post-study work visas.
The Border
Remains closed except for:
- New Zealanders, Australians & Residents
- Close family of New Zealanders, Australians & Residents
- Critical and essential travellers with special permission
Keep safe. Bí curamach.
A new visa option for essential business employers to redeploy existing migrant staff, has been announced by Immigration New Zealand (INZ).
Employers in essential businesses can now request a ‘variation of condition’ of existing visas for employees who are migrant staff.
These variations include an option to apply for:
• work for the same employer in any occupation
• work for a different employer in the same region
• allow student visa holders full time hours with their existing employer.
While the variation of condition changes the conditions of an existing visa – the length and type of visa remains the same.This is a temporary measure and will allow for changes which will remain in place for six weeks after New Zealand’s move to Level 2 of the COVID-19 alert system.
To qualify – the employer must be providing an essential service as defined by the Covid-19 criteria and the migrant worker must agree to this redeployment or change in hours.
The new temporary employment changes also must meet minimum New Zealand employment standards.
The change is designed to provide essential business employers more flexibility, however this is likely to be of assistance to only a small percentage of employers.
Recruitment of staff with the right skills is always critical, and more challenging in this Covid-19 environment, despite the number of New Zealanders who have or will lose jobs in the coming weeks.
Economic recovery will require skilled migrant workers, when all other avenues to fill vacancies are exhausted, likewise a bureaucracy which is up to the challenge of determining what is in the best interest of New Zealand is needed. Bold forward thinking on immigration matters is interpretative.
Disclaimer: Mary Noonan is Heartland Immigration Ltd Managing Director and her views, expressed in this article are not intended to replace the professional service provided to individual migrants by Licensed Immigration Advisers.
Every year, hundreds of young people flock to our shores – and us to theirs, on working holiday schemes. Immigration New Zealand has announced 19 of these schemes are being put on hold during this global crisis.
Working Holiday visas are agreed at a government to government level allowing thousands of 18 to 30 year-olds, or in the case of our Canadian cousins, up to 35 years-old, leave or arrive into New Zealand on these visas.
While the agreement between each country differs in its detail, what they have in common is they allow young people the opportunity to visit and work in a different country. Many participants work in their professions, however, often they travel around picking up casual work in agriculture, hospitality and retail industries. Here in New Zealand, these workers are a welcome addition for seasonal peaks for many employers. This year however these peaks will need to be serviced from within the local communities.
A number of schemes are uncapped and they remain unaffected however, a proportion have quotas with managed opening, then closing, once the predetermined number has been achieved.
The INZ announcement sees 19 of these schemes being put on hold and not opening for a new intake.
Travel to these countries on the Working Holiday scheme is now on hold:
- Argentina
- Austria
- Brazil
- China
- Croatia
- Estonia
- Hong Kong
- Hungary
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Peru
- Slovak Republic
- Slovenia
- Spain
- South Korea
- Taiwan
- Thailand
- Turkey
- Vietnam.
Regrettably, travel for pleasure is a long way off and this is a sensible measure.
Disclaimer: Mary Noonan is Heartland Immigration Ltd Managing Director and her views, expressed in this article are not intended to replace the professional service provided to individual migrants by a Licensed Immigration Advisers.
Warm Greetings
We’re open and here to help in these difficult times. I assure you the Heartland Immigration team remains committed to helping you and making any immigration or settlement query as simple as possible..
We are set up to work remotely and will answer existing phone numbers and emails as usual during our standard office hours. If the matter is urgent please phone 0800 INZ VISA.
I am very aware you are being bombarded with a huge amount of information, so I will keep this communication brief.
Visas expiring between 2 April and 9 July 2020
Immigration New Zealand (INZ) will automatically extend visas due to expire between the 02nd April to the 09th July 2020. They will either send you an email directly or most likely to us, and in that case, we will immediately send that on to you.
There will be delays at INZ, as they have had to send staff home, and not all of their activities can be done remotely, so your patience is appreciated.
Employers
For those operating at top speed, call me now if you have a concern. Let me deal with that worry, freeing you up to do what you do best. For others concentrating on forward planning, don’t forget to consider your visa plans – again this is where I can make it simple for you.
Finally in the words of my ancestors “May God keep you in the palm of his hand until we meet again”
Mary Noonan
Managing Director
While thousands of people around the country are facing joblessness, our managing director, Matt Jones is calling for people who want work.
The need for workers in essential services has increased as a result of implications from the Covid-19 outbreak.
“The work does not stop — it’s ramped up as some of our clients in the primary production sector increase production to meet New Zealand’s needs.
For the full article, click here
