Source: New Zealand Association for Migration and Investment (NZAMI)
The New Zealand Association for Migration and Investment is applauding changes to residency rules, but says they’ll succeed only if the current high bar on English language is set a little lower.
“At present, if skilled migrant workers are unable to get residency, they’re forced to leave the country. So changes announced today address a critical issue for New Zealand business,” NZAMI Deputy Chair Nick Frost says.
“It was entirely unsatisfactory that migrant workers who didn’t have a bachelors’ degree or higher had limited ability to meet the requirements for residency. This was a particular problem for employers of skilled tradespeople in productive sectors such as manufacturing. So well done to the Government for making these changes.”
While cautiously optimistic about the changes, one critical problem is the unreasonably high level of English that skilled migrants are required to achieve. At present most resident visa applicants are required to achieve IELTS 6.5, a university-level of English, to be eligible for residence.
“This is far too high. If this is not reset, many skilled tradespeople will be lost, to the detriment of industry and economic growth,” Frost says.
NZAMI highlighted the wide gap between requirements for investors and skilled migrants. The Government recently announced a new Business Investor resident visa category for which applicants need to achieve IELTS 5.0. These investors will be required to interact in English with their new business’s stakeholders such as customers, employees, unions, and banks.
“Immigration policy needs to be consistent. If ILETS 5.0 is a sufficient level of English for a business investor applicant, then it should be sufficient for a tradesperson applicant,” Frost says. “Aligning requirements at IELTS 5.0 is critical to the success of the new skilled migrant pathway.
“If the Government continues to require university level English for tradespeople this will disrupt workplaces and communities by forcing valued skilled workers to leave the country,” Frost says.
