Border restrictions relaxed to allow in more crucial workers
Foreigners deemed critical to events like the America’s Cup, ICC Women’s World Cup, Crankworx Rotorua, Rocket Lab launches and Winter Games may now be allowed into New Zealand.
And if they need to be here longer than six months, they’ll have to work more than 30 hours a week and earn more than $106,000 a year or be deemed “essential”.
Immigration NZ yesterday relaxed its border restrictions slightly to allow more critical workers into the country and partners or dependents of citizens and residents.
But the changes won’t mean migrant workers stuck overseas will be allowed to return and Immigration NZ said decisions on easing border restrictions had to be made “based on what is best for all New Zealand”.
A list of Government-approved events and projects, and criteria the foreigners have to meet before being invited to apply for a special visa, were released yesterday.
Someone coming into New Zealand for less than six months may be considered an Other Critical Worker — which was previously Other Essential Worker — if:
● They have “unique experience and technical or specialist skills” that are not obtainable in New Zealand; or
● They are doing a time-critical role essential to an approved major infrastructure project, event, programme or has “significant wider benefit to the national or regional economy”.
If the foreigner needs to be in New Zealand longer than six months, they must also:
● Work for at least 30 hours per week and be paid at least twice the median wage at $106,080; or
● Be essential for the completion or continuation of a science programme under a fully or partially government-funded contract, including research and development exchanges and partnerships, and has the support of MBIE’s Science, Innovation and International branch to travel to New Zealand to carry out their work; or
● Be essential to one of the approved projects or events.
Among the events and projects in the list approved by the Government are:
● The Antarctic Programme
● The Pioneer
● The Badminton World Federation Junior World Championships
● 36th America’s Cup
● New Zealand Golf Open
● Crankworx Rotorua
● IronMan 70.3 World Championship 2020
● The Mill Road corridor Dunedin Hospital’s new campus.
● The full list is available on Immigration NZ’s website.
As part of the changes applicants for the critical workers will be processed by senior officials within Immigration, instead of by the Minister for Economic Development Phil Twyford.
The changes to partners and dependents of a New Zealand citizen or resident, announced last week, also came into effect yesterday.
Now anyone who is on a relationship-based visa or are ordinarily resident in New Zealand will no longer need to be travelling with their New Zealand family member and doesn’t need to apply for a border exception.
But family and dependents of Kiwi residents and citizens who aren’t on a relationship-based visa would still need to apply.
An Immigration NZ spokesperson said it recognised that the border restrictions have resulted in hardship for many migrants, including those who’d been separated from their loved ones or not been able to return to their jobs and homes.
“While we are empathetic to the situation these migrants find themselves in, any decisions to ease the border restrictions must be made based on what is best for all New Zealand.”
The spokeswoman said Immigration New Zealand understood how difficult this would be for those who still didn’t meet the exception criteria.