Gorgeous beaches. World-renowned scenery. Friendly people. It’s no wonder that you want to move to New Zealand, but until now it’s not been a particularly easy thing to do. That is changing, however, as the nation has just announced that its requirements for residency are loosening.
In the past few years, a record number of New Zealand citizens have emigrated to places that offer more jobs and better pay. They leave behind an incomplete workforce, which has led to economic stagnation – basically, the country needs people to take their places and get things moving again.
Who is eligible?
The government’s answer to this problem is the introduction of two brand new pathways to residency: one for skilled workers, and another for technicians and tradesmen. Those in ‘skilled’ professions – that is jobs you tend to need some form of higher education to access – will need to have at least five years of relevant work experience, two of which must have been in New Zealand, and be paid 1.1 times the median salary to qualify for permanent residency.
People working in the trades will need to be making the median wage or higher, and have a minimum of four years industry experience, and 18 months of experience directly in the country.
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Nicola Willis, minister for economic growth, explained that this was an ideal way to provide employers with the staff that they need, saying: ‘Businesses told us it was too hard for some migrants to gain residence, even when they had crucial skills and significant experience that was not available in the existing workforce’, adding ‘we’re fixing it’.
It’s worth noting that this is not a new type of visa, but instead a way for existing visa-holders to become permanent residents. Immigration minister Erica Stanford explained it as being for people ‘who are already contributing to New Zealand’s economy and have demonstrated value in their roles’.
But not everyone supports the move. New Zealand First, who are currently in a coalition with the incumbent National Party, said that it would increase the number of people using the country as a ‘stepping stone’ to Australia.
Winston Peters, the party’s leader, said that immigration policy was not the solution, and instead that there is a need for a system which ‘consistently provides young Kiwis with the skills we need domestically, working alongside the education system, which fills the skills we need in our industries’.
Regardless of disagreement, it looks like the government will go ahead with the changes – meaning if you moved to New Zealand now, you could be entitled to stay for good within a couple of years. What are you waiting for?
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