NZ Immigration Programme to attract talent 2/4

New Zealand Immigration Programme Overview

New Zealand needs to re-focus immigration policy on skilled and business
migrants in order to attract talent.

The New Zealand Immigration Programme actively manages the number of
approvals for skilled and business migrants.

In addition to the programme details outlined below, Government is also
working on a Talent Visa - a means of attracting highly employable people who
will then be able to move from temporary to permanent residence status.

The programme also introduces more flexibility about who can be included in a
resident's application, or be sponsored by New Zealand citizens or residents in
order to reflect the diversity of migrant family relationships.

The programme at a glance
Three
Streams
There will be three streams of migrant approvals:
Skilled/Business; Family Sponsored; and International/Humanitarian with set
approvals for each group.

Number of Approvals
The number of
approvals will be managed at 45,000 per annum (plus or minus 10 percent) and
maintained at that level for three years.

Approvals will be set at achievable levels that reflect current approval
numbers in each stream.

Passmark
The Minister of Immigration
will no longer need to intervene to manage the passmark in the General Skills
category to maintain its proportionality with other migrant categories. This
will be managed by set approvals for each migrant stream and set quarterly
rather than weekly.

What's new for skilled or business migrants seeking
residence
Number of Approvals
Approvals will be at
around 60% of all total approvals. That's at least 27,000 approvals each year in
the Skilled/Business stream.

Approval Passmark
The passmark will be
confirmed quarterly by the Minister of Immigration.

Applying for residence for dependent family
members
Dependent Child
The definition of a dependent
child is now expanded to recognise financially dependent children up to and
including 24 years of age.

Spouses and Partners
The numbers of
spouses and partners that can be sponsored will be limited to two applications
with at least five years between them in cases involving separation and divorce.

Sponsoring a less-dependent family
member
New Zealanders wishing to sponsor less-dependent relatives
are responsible for providing accommodation and financial support for the first
two years of the sponsored relative's residence in New Zealand.

Period of Residence
Sponsors will need
to be resident in New Zealand for at least three years before they can sponsor
less dependent relatives.

Oaths and Declarations
Sponsors will now
need to make a declaration enforceable under the Oaths and Declarations Act 1957
that they can meet these responsibilities.

Enforcing Responsibilities
The
sponsorship undertaking will be enforced so that, if appropriate, legal action
will be taken to recover costs from sponsors who fail to honour their
obligations.

Which less-dependent family members can be
sponsored
Parents
If the majority or equal number of
siblings in one family live in New Zealand then the parents can apply for
residence under what's called the "centre of gravity" principle. Children can
also sponsor parents who are "alone in their home country".

The definition of a parent is now expanded to include grandparents, where
parents are deceased. And where parents are deceased the definition now also
includes legal guardians.

Adult siblings and adult children
New
Zealanders' adult brothers or sisters or adult children (and their dependents)
who are married or unmarried, who have no other brothers or sisters or parents
living in the same country are now eligible to be sponsored.

All adult siblings and adult children now require an offer of employment in
New Zealand to be eligible for sponsorship.

Family members who do not qualify under any other
residence category
A Family Quota will be available for parents,
grandparents, siblings and adult children of New Zealanders who do not qualify
under any other residence category. The quota size will be announced each year.

In 2001/02 there will be 250 places in this category. Sponsors need to
register for a place in the quota for their family member/s between 2 April-30
April 2002. Registration must take place in New Zealand.

Applicants for the Family Quota do not need a psychiatric or specialist
health report to be eligible.

This along with other new categories in the International/Humanitarian stream
replaces the Humanitarian Category.

Relationships that end due to domestic
violence
Ex-partners of New Zealanders whose relationship has
ended due to domestic violence and who cannot return home for cultural and
social reasons can now apply for residence.

Refugee families
Three hundred places
will be available for family members of residents who are former refugees. Those
family members must have been unable to gain entry though any other category.

New Zealand Immigration Programme Streams