Chinese builder applies for more visas
A Chinese construction company wanting to bring up to 200 tradespeople from China to Auckland told Immigration New Zealand last month that it only needed five workers.
Fu Wah’s application to receive accredited employer status said it needed five workers for its $200 million Auckland hotel development, two of which would be project managers on the site.
The application was filed on January 31. It is yet to be processed by the immigration department.
After Fu Wah said on Thursday that it wanted to contract 200 workers from China, Fu Wah’s lawyer showed Immigration NZ an unfinished application to to hire an extra 174 workers to complete its fitout of the Park Hyatt hotel by April 2019.
Immigration Minister Iain Leesgalloway had asked Immigration NZ for details of Fu Wah’s application on Thursday.
The information shows Fu Wah had created a joint venture with LBY New Zealand Construction Company, a subsidiary of LBY China, to source 174 tradespeople from China. Fu Wah also planned to source another 100 workers from local subcontractors.
Immigration NZ recommends companies submit an application in principle if they want to recruit overseas workers for jobs that are not facing skills shortages here.
Fu Wah’s New Zealand general manager, Richard Aitken, said on Thursday that the company had advertised the jobs before Christmas, but could not find the number and quality of workers it needed.
Lees-galloway said Fu Wah filed an application in principle yesterday to bring in the workers. Immigration NZ would consult on the request with unions and industry training organisations.
Fu Wah had successfully applied for visas for 37 people to work in New Zealand since 2015. Most of them were granted business visitor visas. Two received visas for specific work purposes and two received visitor visas. Six of them are yet to arrive here.
Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation boss Warwick Quinn said he expected more construction companies to continue to source international workers for at least a few more years. ‘‘I do not think this is the end of it.’’