Immigration policies are critical to determining how attractive any country is for migrants. There is no doubt that liberal immigration policies are more likely to attract skilled migrants to any country, including New Zealand.
However, there have been a lot of changes in NZ's immigration policies in the recent past, including the introduction of the green list, the opening of the Skilled Migrant category and parents' residence visa categories, among others.
Immigration New Zealand (INZ) recently announced that there would be changes to partner work visas in December 2022, which meant only partners of green list workers could get an open work visa. Migrant couples will instead have to find accredited employers to sponsor applications for each of them - or have a partner who can visit but not work.
However, on Monday (December 2022), Immigration Minister Michael Wood deferred the changes to partner work visas set to come into effect from December 2022 to April 2023.
He said, “Our government wants to provide greater certainty for migrant partners of their ability to work in NZ in high skilled roles, and we want to streamline this process.”
"We will be looking at some adjustments to how the proposed Rebalance partner work rights changes will be implemented to reflect some of the feedback received from stakeholders, especially around protections for vulnerable individuals.
“It is important we take the time to consider this feedback and make any necessary adjustments before the changes to the partner work visas can take effect.”
He also said that once he has received further advice, he will provide further details in February 2023.
Indian Weekender spoke to leading immigration experts to know what they feel about the decision to defer the changes and whether the Government rethink these changes completely.
Pawandeep Singh, Licenced Immigration Advisor and Director, Kiwiana Immigration
It would be utterly unfair if INZ comes up with a plan to restrict the work visa for partners. It will not only be discouraging for the families but also affect the NZ economy as many partners holding work visas can contribute to the current screaming of every sector for the shortage of staff.
The restricting of work visa rights will also encourage migrant families to look for other options in the world, as it is admittedly hard to live on one person's salary if partners are restricted to only visitor visas. The ones choosing NZ will end up living apart from their families and will be distressful. Holistically, discontinuing the work visa rights for partners will definitely not be a right and fair decision on the part of INZ.
Alastair McClymont, Immigration Law Specialist, McClymont & Associates
There is probably not a single person in the country who has any knowledge of the immigration system or of labour market pressures who believes it's a good idea to deprive the partners of work visa holders the right to work in NZ, apart from a small handful of ideologically motivated senior Ministers in the Labour Cabinet. At a time of extreme labour shortages and looming recession, we are desperate for workers yet many immigration policies, such as the plan to strip work visa holder's partners of the right to work, send a message that "migrants are not welcome, we don't need workers, go to our competitors elsewhere in the world instead".
The decision to defer this decision until April 2023 suggests that the Government knows that they have made an enormous mistake but refuses to admit it. For the Government, it appears that the perception of competence leading into an election year is significantly more important than addressing a desperate need for workers to help NZ trade its way out of a looming recession.
Arran Hunt, Partner, Stace Hammond
This delay was expected, though it should have happened some time ago. When this policy was announced, it received significant pushback from everyone we spoke to. For the employers, it meant that they were likely to lose more staff as staff would either be unable to get a new work visa or would be unable to survive off just one wage. When we spoke to the unions, they saw an attack on migrants during a time when costs are rising, forcing workers to have to learn to survive on one wage, something that isn't possible.
This policy was ideological, an attempt to shift how the market works at the expense of hard-working families. Only Australia and Canada will benefit from this policy as they will gain people deserting an NZ they could no longer afford to live in.
Though there are changes to immigration that should be made, reducing the number of people who can work in the current market while preventing families from gaining additional income is not the solution. This policy should be scrapped.
Aaron Martin, Immigration Lawyer, New Zealand Immigration Law
The decision to defer is the most intelligent decision I have seen from this Labour Government for a while. Hopefully, they will backtrack on this entirely. It is unfair and disproportionately affects many partners, especially women, so the change should be abandoned.
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