Government announces sweeping visa changes

'The new employer assisted temporary work visa process is more streamlined and less complex'

BY John Hilton 19 Sep 2019

The Government has announced a plant for regions and businesses to get the workers they need with a new temporary work visa process, according to the Minister of Immigration Iain Lees-Galloway.

This will assist around 25-30,000 businesses get the workers they need to fill skills shortages, he said.

There are currently over 54,000 workers on the main employer assisted work visa – the essential skills visa.

From December 2018 – March 2019, the Government consulted on a number of changes to employer-assisted temporary work visa settings. A total of 947 submissions were received from the public during consultation.

“We are committed to ensuring that businesses are able to get the workers they need to fill critical skills shortages, while encouraging employers and regions to work together on long term workforce planning including supporting New Zealanders with the training they need to fill the gaps,” said Lees-Galloway.

“The new employer assisted temporary work visa process is more streamlined and less complex replacing six visa categories with one temporary work visa, and it ensures there is an employer check, a job check and a worker check.

“The process allows us to ensure foreign workers are only recruited for genuine shortages, helps us reduce exploitation, and creates better connections between immigration, education and welfare systems.

“The employment and training of New Zealanders, where they are available, will always be the key priority which is why we are introducing more requirements and incentives for employers to employ and train more New Zealanders.”

Changes to the employer-assisted temporary work visa system include:

introducing a new employer-led visa framework that will drive the application process
negotiating and introducing sector agreements ensuring there is more planning for future workforce needs
reinstating the ability for lower-paid workers to bring their families to New Zealand
replacing existing skills bands with a simple remuneration threshold aligned to the median wage
for hgher paid jobs, replacing the current set of skills shortage lists for cities and open access for regions.
strengthening the labour market test for lower-paid workers.

“The new visa system will require all employers to be accredited and will give employers more certainty about their ability to hire a foreign worker earlier in the application process,” said Lees-Galloway.

“It will also provide the foreign worker with more assurance about the employer they are coming to work for and the job they are coming to do.”

Lees-Galloway added that sector agreements will be targeted at sectors with high reliance on temporary foreign workers and will enable specific terms and conditions for recruiting foreign workers to be negotiated between the government and individual sectors.

“A regional approach to the labour market test will ensure that foreign workers are able to be recruited for genuine skill shortages in regions with lower numbers of New Zealanders available for work, while ensuring that the labour market is tested regularly in areas with higher availability of New Zealanders,” he said.

“Together, these changes represent a significant shift in the way our temporary work visa system operates.

“It will make the process of hiring a foreign worker easier and more straightforward.”

Lees-Galloway said it will also provide more certainty for employers due to upfront checks, while also increasing expectations on employers to train and employ more New Zealanders.

“These changes are part of the Government’s wider programme of workforce improvements, including the changes to vocational education and upcoming welfare reforms, which together will help create better connections between the immigration, education and welfare systems.”