For anyone planning to make the move to New Zealand, the myriad of emotions, fears and thoughts that you will experience are enormous, in fact I often tell prospective clients, that next to getting married, buying your first home or having your first child - migrating will be one of the biggest emotional events you will ever experience. It is a big deal.

Unfortunately many people underestimate the impact an international relocation will have and instead tend to focus more on the logistics and financial impacts, and overlook the less obvious factors such as the process to acclimatize and settle in to your new surroundings.

There has been a lot of talk lately about the volume of migrants New Zealand has seen coming across the border over the last 12 months - something I have commented on frequently. In general terms, the media and indeed the Government refer to this number as “migrants” generally, which creates the image of an ever-increasing population.

However what is slowly starting to come to the surface is the fact that despite these higher numbers, the level of skills we are importing is in fact reducing and the increased numbers of lower-skilled applicants on temporary Visas are starting to reveal the cracks in our Visa system.

It would be fair to say that the rivalry between Australia and New Zealand carries over well past any sporting arena and in recent years, both countries have been in a quietly competitive race to attract talent, with very different approaches. Australia is just three hours away from New Zealand (well the closest part) and for any prospective migrant offers many of the same benefits and attractions that New Zealand does, all of which form part of their motivation for moving.

However they are still very different countries with different environments, people, economic conditions and of course Visa processes. Over the years, they have borrowed from each other in terms of visa rules and settings offering the would-be migrant quite different options.

The new AEWV rules have been out for just under a week and it has become pretty obvious that these were rushed to market by both the Minister and also by INZ. There is also significant confusion flying around on various social media platforms as to some of the very specific areas of the policy, which need some clarification.

There is no real surprise here, given the Government was under significant pressure to sort out a fix to the ailing AEWV system and a whole new set of rules would have been a very complicated thing to have tried to create. Instead what was done, was a roll back to a lot of previous policy settings that existed when we had the Essential Skills Work Visa in play.

Big changes announced to the AEWV overnight, which will have plenty of people wondering where that leaves them. The changes introduce new requirements, depending on the skill level of the role in question, a minimum skill threshold and increased compliance for employers.

However this is (largely) policy we have seen before. With the exception of the English tests for lower skilled applicants, much of what the Government has rolled out is familiar territory. So a case of “back to the future” - we dive in with a detailed few explainers and a couple of plot spoilers.

If you were on the fence about migrating to this great little country, given all the recent media attention on our economy and the job market - I wouldn’t blame you. Its hard not to be distracted by the noise.

Things aren’t always that clear cut however and in this week’s article we take a closer look at what is happening in terms of the job market, the impacts on those would-be migrants and some tips on how to navigate the job search process.

In a somewhat surprise announcement yesterday, the Government has decided to add Secondary School Teachers to Tier 1 of the INZ Green List. This means that where these applicants previously had a two-year pathway to Residence, they now have the ability to apply for Residence directly.

For reasons known only to INZ and the Minister, the change only takes effect in May (a month away) but it will open the door for a number of applicants to get through the process much quicker.

There are some applications and some clients, where not only do you have to go the extra mile, but you find you are going those extra miles on more than one occasion. When it looks impossible, being able to stay the course is an exercise in patience and dogged determination.

We have just had one such case, spanning the last year for a simple Visitor Visa, which has finally been decided and approved - not after one attempt but three.

Over the last 10 years and counting, the Work Visa has overtaken the Resident Visa in terms of complexity and importance. Before, the Resident Visa process was the most complicated and ultimately most talked about, however with our current settings, the Work Visa is now the most important piece of the puzzle.

We have moved gradually towards a ‘work to residence’ immigration model in New Zealand, following the lead of many other migrant destinations…but are we on the right track and is our Work Visa process fit for purpose?

Once again, our record migration numbers have hit headlines as the media spins itself into a flurry recording the tens of thousands of people who arrived in the last few months. With a net gain of 5300 new ‘migrants’ in January, slightly down from December, the numbers remain high.

So is New Zealand filling up, will there be any space left for new arrivals and what does all of this mean for anyone looking to come here and the visa process that they might have to follow?

If you have engaged in the Visa process already, you will know the feeling that washes over you when you finally click the “submit” button on your application. A mixed sense of relief and then a momentary pause, followed by a unhealthy dose of paranoia. Did I get it right, did I provide the right evidence, did I tick the correct box, will my payment go through?

If you think that an adviser is immune to that feeling, you would be wrong, we still get it as well, although I would argue that any adviser that claims they don’t, is doing it wrong. The application process is a big-deal and so being a little paranoid about what happens when you do submit is completely normal.

Thanks to the power of social media (which is ironic, given the rest of this post), I am able to engage with a number of immigration professionals around the world, all working with different systems. It is fascinating to see how our process here in New Zealand stacks up against, the systems of other countries.

Yesterday I was engaged in a really interesting discussion with someone in Canada, who was in turn discussing the process of “DIY visa applications” with another individual, keen on selling some sort of automated application process. Obviously that got me thinking about the way the application process has changed here over the years and the role that the “DIY” process takes in the context of trying to secure a New Zealand visa.

This weeks blog is a game of two-halves, with the first part focussing on the trials and tribulations of telling your children, that you are about to uproot them, to move to another country. The second half, is focussed on the slightly more technical aspects of actually including those children in your application (there are different rules for different visas).

The inspiration for this blog came from a conversation I had with a potential client earlier in the week. Bob (not his real name) was contemplating the big move, along with his wife (who was already onboard) their two children - somewhat less enthusiastic. As we discussed the various steps involved, and some of the challenges, the topic of “when and how do we tell the kids” came about. Bob was already knee deep in some teenage angst, having dropped this particular bombshell on his children already.

The term “Permanent Residence” or “PR” is probably the most commonly misunderstood Visa reference in the INZ vocabulary and that is largely because the term itself doesn’t actually refer to whether you can live here permanently or not, but instead it refers to your ability to travel in and out of New Zealand, once you have your Resident Visa approved.

PR as we will call it in this article, is actually the right to leave NZ and then return as a Resident (referred to as “Travel Conditions”) and comes with various timeframes attached. We also take a look at the options to extend these travel conditions, as well as what happens if you miss the boat on being able to turn your Resident Visa in to a Permanent one.

The term “Permanent Residence” or “PR” is probably the most commonly misunderstood Visa reference in the INZ vocabulary and that is largely because the term itself doesn’t actually refer to whether you can live here permanently or not, but instead it refers to your ability to travel in and out of New Zealand, once you have your Resident Visa approved.

PR as we will call it in this article, is actually the right to leave NZ and then return as a Resident (referred to as “Travel Conditions”) and comes with various timeframes attached. We also take a look at the options to extend these travel conditions, as well as what happens if you miss the boat on being able to turn your Resident Visa in to a Permanent one.

There is an unfortunate truth in the world of visas, which is not specific to New Zealand, but applicable to any immigration system, where human beings are involved in making decisions that impact on other peoples lives - that truth is that the outcome and the process involved to reach that outcome are very heavily influenced by the person who ends up processing the application.

You can have one set of rules, one set of standard operating procedures and one organisation in chart of all of it and yet, applicants of a similar background with similar situations can end up experiencing the process and coming out the other side, in very, very different ways.

For many migrants, particularly those arriving in New Zealand under one of our skilled categories, the thought of bringing mum and dad along, at some point, is not only an idea, but a crucial part of their move.

In this article we explore some of the current options for both a temporary and permanent stay and a look ahead at what might be just around the corner.

For most of us the holidays (summer or otherwise) have come to a close and I suspect many of us will be saying, what we say every year, that they were too short and over too quickly.

However 2024 is now firmly upon us and for many that will mean firming up plans to make the big move. If that is you, or might be you in the next month or two, then this article might be worth a read.

For most of us the holidays (summer or otherwise) have come to a close and I suspect many of us will be saying, what we say every year, that they were too short and over too quickly.

However 2024 is now firmly upon us and for many that will mean firming up plans to make the big move. If that is you, or might be you in the next month or two, then this article might be worth a read.

I think I say this every year, but I cannot believe how quickly the end of this year has arrived - and what a year it has been. There has been plenty going on in NZ over the last 12 months and there is potentially a lot more to come on the Visa front in the new year.

We wind up the year with a bit of a recap and a look to the future. We also line up for more seminars in 2024 (first one in January) and we have a small (and very useful) Christmas gift available for our regular readers.