Recently the government announced a new "green list" (a group of 85 occupations identified as having critical gaps) as part of its immigration rebalance policy. According to the government, the list aims to give high-skilled migrants in hard-to-fill jobs a quicker residency pathway when the borders reopen next month.
However, the occupations in the green list are split into two groups “straight to residence” and “work to residence”. The fast-tracked "straight to residence" pathway means those in listed occupations can come to NZ on a work visa from 4 July and apply for residence from September. The "work to residence pathway" allows occupations listed to apply for residence but only after being in NZ for two years first.
Interestingly, while occupations like doctors, multimedia specialists, food technologists and engineers, among others, are on the fast-tracked 'Straight to Residence' pathway, Registered nurses are on a second list. This has caused disappointment to many. There is no doubt that there have been significant staff shortages across several sectors, including nursing, which were made worse due to the border closure due to Covid-19 that resulted in cutting off the flow of overseas workers, including nurses.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the inclusion of the two-year requirement was due to concerns around staff retention at some District Health Boards (DHBs).
"Essentially, all it does is ask that you just work in the field for two years, so it is recency we just ask that you stay as a nurse, and one of the reasons for that is we did have raised with us by some DHBs the concern of whether or not we were retaining everyone that was coming in as a nurse," said Ardern.
“I was absolutely flabbergasted”
New Zealand Nurses Organisation president Anne Daniels openly expressed disappointment on the issue and said, "I was absolutely flabbergasted and disappointed to see that we (nurses) weren't on the fast track straight to residence pathway. We are in a crisis as we are dealing with acute staff shortages. It is sad but true that NZNO, which has around 55000 members, were not consulted by the government before taking this decision.
“Only a small portion of the aged care sector was consulted. We need to be attractive to qualified overseas nurses as a destination; otherwise, we will lose them to countries like Australia, the UK, or Canada. We want nurses and midwives to be on the fast-track list and will be working with the government on that. I also see this decision to reflect gender discrimination, and I think we should be treated equally. We need change to immigration policy settings.”
“There is a need to bring change to immigration policy settings’
Josephine Gagan, Managing Director, Geneva Healthcare, NZ’s leading provider of home-based injury, disability, aged care and illness support, also shared the same sentiment. “The home and community sector is currently experiencing a serious sector-wide staffing shortage which has been exacerbated by the border closures and the recent pay equity discussions that would see nurses who are involved in caring for vulnerable New Zealanders who remain in their homes be paid far less than DHB employed nurses with exactly the same set of skills,” said Gagan.
Gagan maintains that to encourage more overseas-based trained nurses to consider NZ as a viable option, Geneva Healthcare fully supports offering the same fast-track residency provision that is currently open to other skilled professionals. “We need to urgently address the home and community sector workforce issue through initiatives such as a change to immigration policy settings to ensure our vulnerable Kiwis do not miss out on the essential care and support they need to recover and stay well in their own homes,” said Gagan.
‘Not right to have nurses wait for two years’
Harpreet Kaur (named changed on request), a migrant nurse, feels it is unfair to have registered nurses wait for two years to apply for residence. She says, “I think it is not right that we nurses have to wait for two years to apply for residence whereas a multimedia specialist or a food technologist does not have to. This will deter nurses from moving to NZ.”
Even a political leader has expressed his disappointment with nurses not being on the straight to residence list.
‘Minister perseveres with his anti-immigration agenda’
ACT Party's Immigration spokesperson Dr James McDowall says that NZ desperately need nurses to keep our hospitals going. "Hospitals are overrun, and nurses are in short supply, but somehow the Government believes 'multimedia specialists' deserve precedence for fast-tracked residency. The Government turned off the immigration tap during Covid, having a devastating impact on many industries and our productivity as a nation. Our hospitals are struggling under the weight of workforce shortages, but the Minister perseveres with his anti-immigration agenda.”
Another perspective
On the other hand, The NZ Aged Care Association (NZACA) feels it is good to have nurses on a 2-year-visa before they can apply for residence.
Sharing his thoughts, NZACA Chief Executive Simon Wallace said, “NZACA advocated for nurses to be on a two-year visa and, most importantly, that these two years be tied to one aged residential care employer. We have a severe workforce crisis in the sector and need to keep nurses working in aged care. With a turnover of aged care nurses at an all-time high of 48 percent over the year to December 2021, securing nurses for these two years would have been beneficial for our sector's staffing woes."
Wallace said that NZACA didn’t support a straight-to-residence visa as it puts no requirement or incentive for nurses to remain in aged care, and they can depart after a short period for more money in District Health Boards or abroad.
The government’s rationale
When Indian Weekender contacted INZ to know about the rationale behind having nurses on the work to residence pathway, MBIE Immigration Policy Manager Kirsty Hutchison explained that some roles were provided with a pathway to residence after two years of working in NZ, including nursing and midwifery, as these occupations have seen higher levels of people leaving their field after gaining residence or there are currently other concerns about retention.
“All of the Green List occupations were selected because they are high-skilled, hard-to-fill occupations in global demand. The two-year requirement for some occupations, including registered nurses, ensures NZ is both attractive to migrant workers and that the skills shortages the Government is seeking to fill will be addressed for at least two years by migrant workers. Asking migrant workers to work in these roles for two years before gaining residence also demonstrates a commitment to the role and settling in NZ.”
As long as workers are employed in NZ as nurses for two years while on an Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV), they have a pathway to the residence, even if they change employers.
According to Hutchison, “The Green List (which will be reviewed in one year, and then every three years after that) provides all registered nurses (across 13 disciplines) much more certainty about their residence path. Previously, most of these nurses did not have a dedicated pathway to the residence through the Long Term Skills Shortage List. Now they do.
“The Green List provides other benefits: the visa process is simplified as roles do not have to be advertised, and migrants' partners will continue to have open work rights. Together, these changes mean any existing migrant nurses in NZ and those coming in the future will benefit more than they did under the old system.”