New Zealand tightens visa rules due to “irregular” migration

(CNN) — New Zealand has announced it has tightened its visa rules after introducing language and skills criteria and reduced the length of work permits in response to “volatile net migration”.

Changes to the plan Authorized Worker Worker Visa (AEWV) came into force immediately and New Zealand “better test the local labor market and reduce the risks of putting New Zealanders out of work”, announced this Sunday Erica Stanford, the country's immigration minister.

By 2023, 173,000 non-New Zealand citizens will have immigrated to the country, the report says.

While there are still skills shortages in sectors such as education, Stanford said, “at the same time, we need to ensure that New Zealanders are at the front of the queue for jobs where there is no skills shortage.”

Changes to the AEWV scheme include the introduction of a minimum level of English, a new minimum skills requirement in the form of work experience or qualifications and a reduction of the maximum continuous stay to three years.

Employers must ensure migrants meet these requirements before they are hired, and declare that “suitable and available New Zealand nationals” are not applying to offer a job to migrants before applying for it. According to New Zealand's Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, they must advertise job vacancies for at least 21 days and state “why the New Zealanders who applied have not been hired”.

According to the website of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, certain shares in the transport and maintenance sectors are exempt from these requirements.