Qualifying For New Zealand
During the course of this week, I had the unfortunate opportunity to engage in some spirited Facebook debate over a proposed petition to reduce English language requirements for a specific group of Visa holders, looking to apply for Residence. The author of this post and it appears the individual behind the petition, was arguing that the existing English language testing standard was too high for Truck Drivers.
His argument, which appeared to be more about self-promotion than anything that came close to common sense, was that Truck Driver’s dont need to speak English as well as every other migrant, because…well because they drive Trucks. What he failed to appreciate is that our English language testing, particularly under the Skilled Migrant category is not just about your ability to do your job, through the use of English but also how well you can integrate in to society more generally. You might not need to use fluent English, when you are behind the wheel (although I would argue its still important), but when you are in urgent need of medical care, need to speak to your children’s teachers or require any other form of assistance, being able to converse in one of the key languages in your new home, is incredibly important.
Sadly, Facebook and other social media venues are full of these self-styled immigration advocates who believe that the rules shouldn’t apply to a particular group of people, usually the people following them or adding likes to their posts. However it did get me to thinking about the perceptions that exist out there, that a move to New Zealand doesn’t work for everyone and perhaps explaining why New Zealand has the rules that it does.
I will caveat this article here, by stating that I am not suggesting that our rules are perfect, but the fact we have rules, criteria and requirements for migrants to meet is logical and in fact necessary.
Rules, Rules & More Rules
To give this all some context, the rules that govern our immigration system are actually based on a series of different documents, the principle one being the Immigration Act (2009). The Act is the legislative arm of our process, but on it’s own doesn’t tell an immigration officer how to process a Visa and nor does it explain to an applicant how they qualify. This is where the “Operational Manual” or “Immigration Instructions” come in to play - these documents which are vast and complex are not specifically laws, but rather guides as to how the Act is to be delivered. They set out the various categories that are available, the criteria for each category and then also contain general qualifying rules for health, character and so forth. They are all available online for anyone to see, but brace yourself, because they are not an easy read.
Rules For Days
Not everything is as simple as it might seem on a website, but the rules we have, serve a valuable purpose.
One of the quirks of our system however is that different parts of the Immigration Instructions offer varying degrees of discretion.
For example, under Temporary Entry rules (Work, Student and Visitor Visas) there is a magical clause that basically says if a person doesn’t qualify against the specific criteria they have applied against, but their are good reasons to grant the Visa anyway - they can. However in the same rule book, but for Residence, no such discretion exists. For Residence, the rules are the rules are the rules. Yes, there is discretion much higher up the food chain, where INZ has the ability to make decisions in a similar way to the Minister (without any restrictions for the most part) but for the vast majority of applicants, their eligibility for Residence is governed by those rules.
It therefore pays to know what you are getting in to, before you get in to it and a good adviser will explain how you fit within these rules, assessing not just your overall eligibility for a Visa, but all the other aspects of that process. If you have a health condition, character issue etc., all of these need to be considered and then addressed in terms of the overall plan. However because the rules are there and visible, there really is no excuse for applicants not to have at least considered them.
Which is why, when the Facebook keyboard warriors argue that those rules shouldn’t apply to a specific group, it does tend to ruffle my feathers a bit. Our rules, whilst they might be very complex are very transparent and very visible and therefore every would-be migrant has the ability to measure themselves against those rules before they apply. There are of course situations where rules change and that can create challenges for people, who might already have started the process, but in recent history, those changes have actually worked in most applicants favour.
The message here from me, is that it pays to spend some time working out whether you meet the requirements by actually understanding what those requirements are before you commence the process. Relying on the sage advice from a handful of Facebook experts is going to potentially end in disaster. Invest the time and a little money in to asking the right questions and getting the right answers.
Winners & Losers
It might come as a surprise to some out there, but New Zealand is not a destination that works for everyone. In fact, I receive roughly 15 inquiries a day from people keen to make the move and I tend to decline more than I approve. Obviously we never like to say no to people, but the reality is, New Zealand has a selection process, that not everyone will be able to achieve.
That selection process is for a good reason, because we have specific social and economic goals we are trying to achieve with our immigration system that has to then be balanced by our ability to support those coming here in terms of healthcare, education and other vital infrastructure. So as disappointing as it might be to hear that you don’t qualify, there is a good reason for it.
Not Everyone Qualifies
The simple fact is that not everyone will qualify to make the move, and there are always winners and losers in this game.
Interestingly, even though we have fairly specific criteria for most of our applicants, under the Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) we have no caps on the number of people who can qualify. So on the one hand, we raise the bar in terms of the quality of people we want to import, but there is no limit on how many of those eligible people who can actually get here.
That idea is largely reinforced by the fact that our SMC system requires applicants to secure employment and therefore the market will ultimately determine the overall numbers. The more jobs there are available (that we cannot fill locally), the more migrants we will need to bring in and as things slow down, those numbers will fall. Sort of like “surge pricing”, only for Visas. The same applies to temporary Work Visas, which also have no specific cap and are designed fill temporary, local labour market shortages.
However where our system becomes confusing and something we see often in this process, is that many hopeful migrants who secure work here and a Work Visa, assume that they will then qualify for Residence. The fact however is that there are two separate sets of rules, and you need to qualify for both independently, if that is the pathway you are following.
In my line of work, saying no to applicants is a daily occurrence, because for some people, this process simply won’t work and generally it comes down to not meeting the skill or qualification requirements that form part of the eligibility process. Other candidates may be disqualified for very specific reasons, but overwhelmingly the interest in NZ is far greater than the supply of Visas, largely because of the criteria we use.
To be fair, as a New Zealander, I am okay with that, because ultimately I want the best, brightest and most adaptable people to make the move - those who will and can contribute. So if we raise the bar, to get those sort of people, that’s all good by me. Unfortunately there are those (self-promoters) who will sell the dream to anyone and that often leads to disappointment for those that might fall for it. It isn’t the rules that are difficult, its the social media commentators who misrepresent them, that form the biggest danger to a potential migrant.
Not Sure If You Qualify?
I could every easily be accused of “banging on” about the importance of getting an initial assessment of your options - and for good reason. All too often we meet people (I have been approached by two this morning alone) who have been told to jump on a plane, secure a job here and the rest will work itself out. It very rarely does. If you watch the short video below, you will hopefully understand why, and why the work we do is so important for those who want to tackle this process properly.
I recall a comment from a very senior INZ manager, made many years ago, which essentially stated that being selected to apply for Residence in New Zealand (under the previous SMC expression of interest system) was a privilege and something to cherish - underlining the importance of the criteria and the complexity of the rules we have.
Whilst the system has changed somewhat, I still think that securing the right to live in this great little country, is something that should be tightly controlled, because otherwise we might lose some of the “great”.
That has nothing to do with numbers necessarily, because we need to grow and having more people will achieve that, but we need to make sure that we attract and then support the right people in that process.
Establishing if you are one of those people is the first step in the process and something we can assist with, online, via email or with a quick phone call. Thankfully with decades of experience, wading through those rules, we have become pretty good at picking the winners. If you are interested, then get in touch today.
Until next week…
