On 29 October, a month after the big announcement of a One-off visa, the much-awaited details of the policy were made public by Immigration New Zealand.
The One-off resident visa will put some 165,000 migrants on the fast track to residency. To be eligible for this visa, the applicant needs to be in New Zealand on 29 September 2021 and the date the application is made and must meet either of the three criteria (Settled, Skilled or Scarce) and hold any eligible visa listed on the policy. The application will open in two phases – Phase One: 1 December 2021 and Phase two: 1 March 2022, and closes on 31 July 2022.
While the news has been welcomed by those eligible, many are upset because they have been rendered ineligible owing to the visa type they hold despite meeting the other criteria.
Indian Weekender spoke to experts to know their views on the recently released new policy. Read on as they reveal the good and not-so-good aspects about policy.
Aaron Martin, Immigration lawyer:
I think it is a good policy and takes account of Covid disruption to businesses and the flow-on impact on wages in a considered manner. It is good that children who have turned 25 years during the pandemic can be included and that they can enter NZ after the grant of residence if they are currently offshore.
The transportability within the new system whereby people who may have qualified based on a job under the Scarce list can apply under the Skilled criteria if there has been a subsequent change in circumstances since 29 September and vice versa is excellent.
The simplified medical and police clearance aspects will also be welcome news.
Some stringent rules that have been designed defeat those who must apply in phase 2 from applying in the phase 1 group in December 2021. The rules are unequivocal – people who try to game the system in this way will get declined.
Even though Immigration NZ wanted this to be a simple and quick process, but there is a capacity for applications to be declined based on ‘insufficient evidence’ of criteria being met.
The scarce lists still leave some ambiguity as everything is classed by occupation and by reference to an occupation title. It has the potential to drag people back to the difficult arguments around consistency with ANZSCO descriptions.
For those communities where arranged marriages are customary, there is some disappointment as spouses cannot be included if a couple has not lived together for 12 months. Those in that situation will need to plan what they need to do after residence to secure a visa for their spouse to come to NZ.
Alastair McClymont, Immigration Lawyer
There are huge gaps in the policy. Immigration NZ has clearly learnt nothing from their previous failures in policy drafting. There are a lot of unanswered questions, vague definitions and an absence of guidance and certainty regarding eligibility. The same problems that existed before regarding failures in policy drafting will inevitably recur, and in the absence of new staff being hired and trained, we can expect anomalies, appeals, loopholes, inconsistencies and inconsistent decision making.
The government had the opportunity to fix a problem with simple, direct and consistent policy drafting but have instead reverted to type through inconsistent, vague and contradictory policy drafting.
Madhu Behl, Immigration Adviser
The positive changes in the newly announced visa include the removal of the requirement to submit a police clearance and medical certificate and the inclusion of dependent children of 25 years of age.
Moreover, Dependent Children above 25 years can submit applications on their own if they are in NZ without paying an additional fee.
The fact that consistent contract work history will be considered is also a good move.
While these are some of the positive changes made in policy to simplify the application processing, it is unclear what role ANZSCO plays in meeting the requirement of a scarce list.
Also, there is no flexibility on dates in settled criteria which means if you first arrive on 30 September 2018, you will not qualify in settled criteria. Similarly, temporary visa holders who got stuck overseas due to border closure will not qualify, even after living in NZ for more than three years, if they do not meet the requirement of 821 days in the last three years.
Due to the policy allowing only those on the eligible visa to apply, student visa holders, including those pursuing Master or PhD degrees, will still miss out under the policy even after working full time and contributing to NZ for a long time.
Similarly, qualified Doctors on Working Holiday visas will also miss out.
Ricardo Menéndez March, Green Party Immigration Spokesperson
Upon first impression, it's very much a mixed bag. Overall the criteria settings remain deeply unfair, but I am pleased to see a move towards removing the ableist acceptable standards of health requirements for many applicants and moving towards not requiring people to go through the arduous process of obtaining overseas police certificates. It is also good to see that if you have already submitted a Skilled Migrant Category Expression of Interest or Residence from Work application, you will only have to pay the difference between what you have already paid and the cost of the 2021 Resident Visa.
However, it is upsetting that no clear efforts have been made to support split migrant families due to the stringent living together requirements. Also, there is a lack of clarity of how casual workers will be included in the visa. Moreover, applications will be paused if applicants go overseas, which is again a deterrent for the many desperate families who have been apart for years.
We are still fighting to expand the eligibility criteria. It is a political decision Minister Faafoi needs to make, and we will continue supporting the grassroots efforts of campaigners to fix our immigration system.
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