ITP Techblog

Today the Prime Minister and Minister of Immigration announced they are bringing the border reopening forward, along with some Immigration Rebalance changes. Here is some useful information the amazing MBIE team have put together to help our members to better understand how this will affect the digital technologies sector.
 
Please note, there will be more information available in due course, in the meantime you can refer to Immigration New Zealand's website: https://www.immigration.govt.nz/about-us/media-centre/news-notifications/nz-border-fully-reopening-july-2022.

Class exceptions

Wondering how this announcement will impact the critical worker border exceptions, including the class exception for tech sector workers?

• The border exceptions were temporary measures while the border restrictions were in place and as they reopen. They will remain in place until Immigration New Zealand reopens work visa processing and enables offshore migrant workers to travel to New Zealand again.
• They will be phased out as the new Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) comes into effect from 4 July. More information on the phased approach will be provided by Immigration New Zealand in the coming weeks.
• In order to recruit migrant workers on an Accredited Employer Work Visa from July, businesses will need to be accredited and to submit a job check before a migrant worker can apply for a visa for the role. In most cases, roles need to be paying median wage ($27.76 per hour) or more for a migrant worker to be able to be recruited on this visa. There are different dates for when applying for accreditation and submitting job checks will begin and you can find more information here.

Green list

Several digital technology roles have been put on the Green List and given a fast-track to gain residence. From September migrant workers in these roles will be able to apply for residence, including directly from offshore. Ahead of September they can still come to New Zealand and will need to apply for an Accredited Employer Work Visa.
 
Wondering why there are salary level criteria for these digital technology roles on the green list?

• The salary levels reflect the criteria for the tech sector class exception and help to define the experience and knowledge expected for highly-skilled roles in the digital technologies sector.
• More information on the Rebalance will be provided by Immigration New Zealand in the coming weeks.

Other useful info

If you have any further questions on the above, please reach out by emailing [email protected] and we will see what we can find out for you. We are not immigration advisors however, so if they are questions about securing a visa etc please contact Immigration NZ.

Also a wee reminder that ITP also offer a qualification assessment service to help provide evidence you (or your worker) meet the needs of the long term skills shortage list - you can find out more about this here: https://itp.nz/Our-Work/Immigration

Kia pai tō rā Vic