Immigration pays staff overseas $4 an hour

Immigration officers being recruited here and sent to work for Immigration New Zealand (INZ) offshore are being paid as little as $4 an hour.

The agency, which is clamping down on employers here paying below the minimum wage, is accused of double standards and trying to skirt employment rules.

One advertisement placed on newzealand.jobrat.net for an immigration officer to be based in Tonga listed the starting salary as Tonga Pa’anga (TOP) 13,488, or $8458 — working out to about $4 an hour.

New Zealand Association for Migration and Investment chairwoman June Ranson said it was “exploitation” and “totally double standard”.

But INZ denies it is trying to skirt minimum wage laws by sending locally recruited staff offshore.

With visa applications now being lodged online, a high volume of processing is done by offshore staff who are paid a fraction of the $45,000 New Zealand-based officers get.

“Immigration New Zealand are looking for an immigration officer who operates with the highest level of integrity, an has energy an determination to achieve results,” the advert said. “Our immigration officer will need to work collaboratively and positively with all our officers.”

The advert also states the successful candidate will have to bear relocation and accommodation costs.

Ranson said the agency’s offshore staff lacked training and the ability to communicate with immigration advisers and lawyers here. Staff recruited locally did have a better understanding of NZ life and would provide consistency of approach in processing applications: “New Zealanders (who are) recruited, trained

Salaries for offshore officers are based on local market rates.