Visa rort targeted by Labour
"Immigration needs to be sustainable.'' Labour Party leader Andrew Little
Immigration restrictions on overseas students rorting the visa scheme as a ‘‘backdoor entry’’ into New Zealand could reduce immigration by up to 30,000 people, Labour says.
The party has unveiled an immigration policy which will tighten rules to limit student visas, to remove work visas for some international graduates without job offers at the end of their course, and to regionalise the occupation list for all work visas.
‘‘Closing off the ability to work during and after study for people who do low-level courses will stop backdoor immigration,’’ leader Andrew Little said.
Prime Minister Bill English slammed the policy saying it would ‘‘stall the economy’’, but would not say whether the Government believed current immigration levels were sustainable.
Little said the Government’s settings had ‘‘the perverse effect that a 23-year-old with a New Zealand diploma and three years’ experience in retail can get more points towards residency than a 45-year-old oncologist who wants to migrate here’’.
‘‘A third of international students studying at private training establishments say they plan to work or seek residency here after study,’’ Little said.
Labour said it would stop issuing student visas for courses below a bachelor’s degree, that were not independently assessed by the Tertiary Education Commission and NZQA to be of a high quality.
International students had to be studying a minimum of a bachelor’s degree to be able to work in New Zealand while studying.
The post-study work visa – which allows any international student who has studied for long enough in New Zealand to gain an automatic one-year work visa – would also be limited to students studying a minimum of a bachelor’s degree.
And the national skills shortage list would be split into regions and Labour would also remove bonus points under the skilled migrant category for those who had already studied or worked in New Zealand.
‘‘Labour will make changes to immigration settings [that] will reduce net immigration by 20,000 to 30,000 a year,’’ Little said.
Other changes would extend the age points from 30 to 45, introduce the Kiwibuild visa – to complement its Kiwibuild housing policy – and introduce an exceptional skills visa.
This would be available to people in an occupation on the long-term skills list, and who had significant experience or qualifications that far exceeded what was normally available.
The number of people arriving in New Zealand intending to stay has surged in recent years, sending the latest net migration figures to a record high.
Statistics NZ said the net gain from immigration rose to 71,932 in the year to March 31.
Statistics NZ said 129,500 people arrived in New Zealand intending to stay for at least 12 months in the year to March 31, up from 128,800 in the year ended February 28.
Little said National had failed to foresee a population boom, and New Zealand was now paying the price through an overheated property market and buckling infrastructure and public services.
‘‘Since 2013, immigration has been more than four times what was forecast – 130,000 more people than expected have settled here.
‘‘Immigration needs to be sustainable. We reviewed the system from top to bottom and found several areas were being abused and not delivering the results Kiwis expect.’’