ISSUE
Friday, August 15, 2025
Volume 16 . Issue 72
The government is set to expedite thousands of residence visa applications, RNZ understands.
A now-deleted page on Immigration New Zealand's website suggests the government is also creating a one-off residence visa for migrant workers.
The immigration minister has been under pressure to stall an exodus of highly skilled staff from New Zealand.
Figures early this month showed 26,000 people including nearly 3000 nurses and doctors were still waiting to apply for residence under the skilled migrant category. Expressions of interest have been stalled under the category since autumn last year.
The National Party has been calling for existing migrants to be able to settle in New Zealand after a certain number of years in the country under a "Covid contribution" pathway.
National immigration spokesperson Erica Stanford this week said the government had backed itself into a corner and would have to back out of its "immigration reset".
She noted the deleted page, and celebrated what she said was the government implementing the party's plan.
Questioned by National in Parliament this afternoon, Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi said someone in Immigration New Zealand had "got a little trigger happy" and they would have to wait for the decision to be announced.
"When the government is ready to announce that, we will, and as I said yesterday it will be comprehensive and give certainty to both employers and migrants."
He said critical health workers were "by some distance" the largest group of workers the government had been able to bring across the border since the border closed in March last year, about 14,000.
National MP Nicola Willis sought to table the screenshot of the now-deleted document, but that was objected to.
Immigration consultants have also been signalling a likely increase in the number of points migrants will need for skilled migrant category (SMC) visas.
The government is set to expedite thousands of residence visa applications, RNZ understands.
A now-deleted page on Immigration New Zealand's website suggests the government is also creating a one-off residence visa for migrant workers.
The immigration minister has been under pressure to stall an ...
The government is set to expedite thousands of residence visa applications, RNZ understands.
A now-deleted page on Immigration New Zealand's website suggests the government is also creating a one-off residence visa for migrant workers.
The immigration minister has been under pressure to stall an exodus of highly skilled staff from New Zealand.
Figures early this month showed 26,000 people including nearly 3000 nurses and doctors were still waiting to apply for residence under the skilled migrant category. Expressions of interest have been stalled under the category since autumn last year.
The National Party has been calling for existing migrants to be able to settle in New Zealand after a certain number of years in the country under a "Covid contribution" pathway.
National immigration spokesperson Erica Stanford this week said the government had backed itself into a corner and would have to back out of its "immigration reset".
She noted the deleted page, and celebrated what she said was the government implementing the party's plan.
Questioned by National in Parliament this afternoon, Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi said someone in Immigration New Zealand had "got a little trigger happy" and they would have to wait for the decision to be announced.
"When the government is ready to announce that, we will, and as I said yesterday it will be comprehensive and give certainty to both employers and migrants."
He said critical health workers were "by some distance" the largest group of workers the government had been able to bring across the border since the border closed in March last year, about 14,000.
National MP Nicola Willis sought to table the screenshot of the now-deleted document, but that was objected to.
Immigration consultants have also been signalling a likely increase in the number of points migrants will need for skilled migrant category (SMC) visas.
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