With low unemployment continuing in New Zealand and the requirement for work on our farms continuing to increase, migrant workers is an increasingly popular avenue for employers to explore.
No8HR is working with Immmigration Specialists Pathways to help employers who want to source migrant workers have confidence they are not only getting good migrant workers but that they can be confident in the process that will see their team member successfully in New Zealand.
At No8HR we also work with migrant workers who are already in NZ, helping them secure employer changes to their work visas so you can gain from the fact that they already have some work experience ‘in country.’
Talk to us today about how we can help. And follow these links to
Recent arranged marriage immigration policy changes
Changes coming up over the next 18 months:
Over the next 18 months, the Government have signalled they will be bringing in changes that affect some employers and the migrant workers they employ. Click here to see a summary of these changes (Scott this is the bullet points below or leave them in the article if you want to and it works better….)
- introducing a new employer-led visa application process that will involve 3 stages — the employer check, the job check and the worker check
- a new temporary work visa that replaces 6 temporary work visas
- classifying jobs as low- or high-paid based on whether they are paid above or below the median New Zealand wage, instead of using a combination of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) classification and pay to determine skill bands
- strengthening the labour market test for low-paid jobs and open access for high-paid jobs in rural regions and lists in cities
- introducing sector agreements for a range of industries that regularly employ migrant workers, and
- reinstating the ability for lower-paid workers to bring their families to New Zealand.
Things that are staying the same:
But some of the new visa requirements and processes introduced by the Labour Governemnt will remain the same. This includes:
People who hold visas based on lower-skilled work will still have to leave New Zealand for a 1-year stand down period after they have been working for 3 years.
The new visa will still have conditions specifying an employer, job and location, and a visa holder will still have to get a variation of conditions to change any of these.
We will still need to be satisfied that there are no New Zealanders available for a job before we grant a visa — in most cases, through the labour market test. For lower skilled or low-paid work, this will still require the employer to engage with the Ministry of Social Development (MSD).