In September of 2025, the Government announced big changes to the Skilled Migrant Category (SMC), due to be rolled out almost 12 months later in August 2026 (we wrote about it here).

In that announcement, the Government proposed two new SMC pathways, changes to how the median wage would be calculated for SMC applicants and then also the potential of new Amber and Red lists - lists of occupations that require additional criteria to be met, in order to qualify under these new pathways or excluding them entirely.

This weeks article is inspired by a discussion I had (albeit brief) with an employer via LinkedIn…and when I say discussion, I mean, my comments on one of their posts which resulted in a back and forth exchange related to the visa process.

The original post was from a small NZ business, working in the agricultural tech space, looking to bring someone in from overseas. It was common of a number of posts, where employers have embarked on the visa process, assuming its just an online thing, but then hitting the reality of how complex and specific it can actually be.

It almost feels normal to start off your blog post with a disclaimer that this was not written by AI, but by a human being, tapping away at a keyboard (which it was). I can however appreciate the potential irony in a post about AI replacing my job, being written by…AI. When I last wrote about this topic, AI was a website that people used to help them answer questions - in a relatively short space of time, AI has developed its own social network, is producing videos indistinguishable from live action and occupies 75% of the online influence marketing selling products.

AI has literally worked its way in to almost everything we do and continues to do so, day by day, hour by hour. In fact by the time I written this, something new will have surfaced in the AI space.

Immigration is essentially all about consequences - the most significant of which being the outcome of an application for a visa - approved or declined. Those consequences however, can and do change lives forever.

Whilst most consequences are planned events and if done right they are successful, however not all consequences in this process are intentional. There are things that can cause the trajectory of an application to shift dramatically, some of them based on simple mistakes by applicants and others, by the design of the very rules they are relying on to apply.

The countdown is on - in nine months time, the New Zealand voting population will be heading to polling booths, to cast their vote for who gets a shot at running the country for the following three years. As the campaigning starts to heat up, immigration will play an ever increasing role in each parties policy positions.

Immigration is almost always a headline issue in election season, given it sits right at the crossroads of workforce needs, housing and infrastructure pressure, international education, and the simple reality that New Zealand relies on migrants more than the general public sometimes like to admit. Elections have a habit of bringing those details to light, both positively and negatively.

For many Americans, the idea of living outside the United States has been a quiet, recurring conversation rather than a concrete plan.

It comes up around election cycles, after major global events, during moments of burnout or when reflecting on what kind of future they want for their children. Often, the conclusion has been the same: interesting idea, but not now.

More recently however those abstract conversations have turned in to action and its not just the wealthy, looking to secure a future insurance policy.

I am covering some old ground in this week’s article as I have discussed Student Visas before, however with the new year upon us and big changes coming to our SMC program that bring certain NZ qualifications in to the spotlight, I thought it was worth revisiting.

Student Visas are a mixed bag - some applicants simply want to study here, secure a great education in another country and then take their skills back home. For some studying in NZ is financially more viable than studying at home or the opportunity to attend a good university here is far easier than trying to compete in their own education sector…

2026 officially started for us on 12 January with the team arriving back from the summer holidays, although admittedly there was a bit of work done over the break as well.

If the first few days of our return to the office are anything to go by, 2026 is shaping up to be a very busy year and with the new SMC rules being introduced in August of this year, the opportunities exist for a much bigger pool of migrants to make the move here.

It’s almost time to turn off the screens, pack up the keyboard and head home for the holidays - which for most of us in NZ means some time at the beach after time with family over a good Christmas lunch. New Zealand does tend to pretty much shut down over the break, although in more recent years plenty of people are heading back to the daily grind a little sooner.

For us, we will be closing down on 23 December, and heading back to the office on 12 January. INZ will be closed from 24 December and then slowly opening back up from 05 January, although not with a full staff complement from day one.