New Zealand - Calm In The Storm
Every few weeks (or even days), another global headline reminds us how unpredictable the world has become. The latest example comes from the U.S., where a tragic shooting involving National Guard members immediately ignited calls for sweeping immigration crackdowns. This sits alongside already heavy crackdowns on migration across the U.S., including the deployment of ICE raids, raising fees for skilled work visa applicants and an increased focus on slowing down border movements. The U.S. has also recently banned visa applications from various high risk countries - signalling a strong nationalist intention, one that will have flow-on effects economically and socially.
It isn’t a U.S. only problem however, as the UK is also tightening up, announcing a major overhaul of immigration policy, including far tougher screening of student and work visa applications - changes that have resulted in a surge in politically charged and often hostile public sentiment toward migrants and refugees, which adds social pressure and potential conflict.
Regardless of where you might sit politically, these significant changes and reactions to immigration reinforce a fairly simple truth: when societies and economies are under pressure, immigration gets pulled into the storm, often weaponised for political gain, and at the expense of those caught up in that system - the migrants.
We do live in a more complex and more challenging world and at a time where technology is advancing faster than ever before, we are also seeing an increase in global instability, conflict and strong moves towards a more nationalist approach. For some, this swirling chaos is not just cause for concern, but a motivation to find a lifeboat, somewhere out there in case the ship they are on happens to sink. For many, New Zealand is that lifeboat.
Global Instability
The world has become a far more fractured place, ironically at a time when we are making some of the most significant technological advances in human history. Despite having access to this incredibly powerful technology, it almost feels like we are less connected than we have ever been. While there are a lot of things that have contributed to this situation, the fact that we were all locked down during the covid era, and having emerged from that situation in many ways shocked and divided, the world does seem to have changed in response.
The World Is Complicated
For some people that complexity is leading them to find “safe harbour” in other countries, away from chaos and uncertainty.
You dont have to go far to find examples of this turmoil…the ongoing war between Russia and the Ukraine, continuing conflict in Gaza and Israel and the political tensions driven out of trade negotiations between almost everyone and the U.S. are all contributing to significant uncertainty for many people.
On a less country-specific note, the proliferation of AI has been both a blessing and a curse, as the nature of work and how we interact is slowly being changed, by machines - whether for good or for bad, has yet to be seen. However this technological advancement has also seen significant advancements in cyber-security risks as well as the rise of mis and disinformation. We live in a world where access to information has never been easier, and yet working out whether to trust that information or not has become equally more difficult.
As these global tensions increase, many countries react by slowing down the inflow of people. As economies struggle, one way to respond is to protect the local populace by reducing the inflow of migrants, and of course that has a dual impact - the import of talent and investment slows, but you also signal to the existing migrants in your country, that they may not be so welcome. We are seeing significant interest in New Zealand from expatriates in places like the UK or the U.S., both countries taking a much tougher stance on migration and migrants. Those migrants are now looking for alternatives and as the world continues to become more fractious and complex, the choices available for migrants are reducing.
New Zealand, despite facing its own economic and social headwinds, is taking a very different approach to our stance on migrants and is looking outwards to try and secure more skills, more talent and more investment. The last 12 months have seen significant changes across a wide range of visa categories, covering our skilled migrants, family migrants and investor applicants. We are in some ways bucking the trend, looking to migration as potentially a solution, rather than the cause of any perceived problems.
How New Zealand Compares
Just this year alone we have see the introduction of the digital nomad policy (a minor but interesting tweak to allow visitors to work remotely), an updated investor visa, which has been a roaring success, a new parent boost visa to increase family reunification and then only last month a business investor visa to attract additional capital and entrepreneurial skill in to the country.
While many countries are applying the brakes to immigration settings, we are opening the doors…not quite fully, but certainly in a far more enticing fashion than the rest of the world. In fact our biggest change is yet to come, which involves adding two entirely new options to our skilled migrant category, to enable those with work experience or specific trade skills to qualify, where they might not currently.
Peace & Quiet
While New Zealand is not immune to global issues, we do tend to stay on the margins, offering relative peace and quiet.
Compared to the typical migrant destinations, NZ is laying on a smorgasbord of options, whilst everyone else appears to be locking the doors to the fridge.
However, we don’t have a lot of choice, because on the other side, we have a number of younger New Zealanders, leaving our shores to explore opportunities overseas. Coupled with a sluggish birth rate (common when the economy is slower) and an ageing population, migration is set to play a much bigger role in our population make up in years to come.
So we do have our own set of challenges in New Zealand, and as I say to every migrant I work with, New Zealand is not paradise, but despite those challenges we still stack up pretty well against some of our global counterparts. We consistently rank as one of the safest countries on earth (3rd safest in the 2025 Global Peace Index), we have a murder rate of 0.96 people, per population of 100,000 and a fairly transparent and stable political system, despite how locals might perceive it. We do pretty well for a small country, punching well above our weight in sports, research and development and a range of other factors. Everything is relative and even when things are challenging in New Zealand, that still compares very favourably to the challenges other countries might be facing.
This also isn’t just about the wealthy, looking for an escape plan, but for those with skills, talents and entrepreneurial spirit. We do tend to focus on those who come to invest, which is a crucial part of our visa system, but there are also those who bring considerable value through the work they do, in turn creating more jobs for more people. If New Zealand is a lifeboat, we have plenty of spare seats available, for those keen to make the move.
Finding Your Place
One thing that having that smorgasbord of options creates is confusion - and while the skilled migrant category is set to expand in 2026, that expansion will bring with it a new level of complexity. Being involved in various consultations on that policy, I can tell you first hand, that it will not be an easy set of rules to navigate and to be fair, while the current system was supposed to “simplify” things, the use of various wage rates and timing for work experience has made it relatively complex.
Just like restaurants who often want to add as many items to the menu as possible, sometimes less is more. I think we are on track to have the right mix of options, covering a wide array of applicant types, but I do worry that by adding layers to various visa policies we end up with a very confusing patch-work quilt of criteria. To take advantage of the market, which at this point is ours to take advantage of, we need to be offering clear, straight-forward pathways to residence, that can be processed and delivered efficiently.
That might mean that we have to exclude some applicants and that is okay - New Zealand doesn’t have to grant residence to everyone and in fact being a little selective in who we approve and why, means that we will always have room in the lifeboat.
If you are watching the world change and wondering whether or not you need to plan for an escape or simply want to find some calm amidst the storm, then New Zealand might be the right option for you. Whether you are looking to work, invest or run a business here, or are planning to reunite with loved ones, New Zealand has a broad range of visa options and relatively swift processing times. You might just need some help in navigating the complexity of these options and that is where our team works best.
To take your next steps, get in touch with the team at Turner Hopkins Immigration Specialists today - 09 486 2169 or email immigration@turnerhopkins.co.nz.
Until next week.
