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16 Jul 2020A new Essential Skills Work Visa system will take effect from 27 July 2020. This is part of a dramatic, multi-stage overhaul of the employer-assisted temporary work visa system, which the Government announced last year. The new system will go ahead as planned, but with some adjustments being made due to the continuing COVID-19 crisis.
Immediate Action!!
If you are an Essential Skills work visa holder and your payrate is between $21.68 per hour and $25.49 (inclusive) then you will only be issued a 6 month low-paid work visa if you apply for a new work visa from 27 July. If you can meet the current policy requirements for a mid-skilled work visa and apply for a new work visa before 27 July you can be issued a 3 year visa – and any family members will also get 3 year visas.Median wage threshold will be used to assess Essential Skills Work Visas
At present, the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) skill levels are used to determine whether a visa applicant is in low-, mid- or high-skilled employment for the purposes of an Essential Skills Work Visa.
Starting 27 July 2020, Immigration New Zealand (INZ) will no longer be using the ANZSCO skill levels for work visa applications. It will be replaced by a median-wage threshold, currently set at $25.50 per hour (in accordance with Statistics NZ calculations). Essential Skills Work Visa applicants will be assessed as either:
- at or above the median wage, or
- below the median wage.
Depending on which side of the remuneration threshold you fall, the visa application process, and the entitlements attached to the visa itself, will be different. The details of these differences are set out in the sections that follow.
ANZSCO
The ANZSCO is not completely obsolete. It is still important for work visa applications. INZ have indicated that they will continue to use ANZSCO occupations in their work visa assessments, to help determine whether employers have made a genuine attempt to recruit New Zealand citizens or residents. When advertising for a role, the qualifications and experience declared necessary by the job advertisement, will need to reflect the qualifications and experience of the chosen ANZSCO occupation.The ANZSCO occupation and code will be requested on the Employer Supplementary Form and also used for Government policy making purposes.
The ANZSCO (Version 1.3 of which will come into use later this year) will also continue to be used as part of the Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) visa system. For SMC residence applications, the ANZSCO skill level will still determine whether an applicant’s job is considered as “Skilled Employment”.
Essential Skills Work Visa applicants should be aware that even if their application is approved as having a remuneration of above the median wage, it does not mean that their occupation will be considered skilled when assessed as part of a future SMC application.
Eligibility to Support Family
If you are an Essential Skills Work Visa holder earning below the median wage, you can only support your partner on a visitor visa and not on a work visa. However, if your partner is approved for a visitor visa, they may then apply for a work visa in their own right. You can also support visitor or domestic student visas for your dependent children, provided you meet a separate, lower remuneration threshold of $43,322.76.If you are an Essential Skills Work Visa holder earning at or above the median wage, you can support a work or visitor visa for your partner. You can also support visitor or domestic student visas for dependent children.
If your partner or dependent child(ren) are currently offshore, they remain subject to New Zealand’s current border restrictions.
Visa Duration
If you are an Essential Skills Work Visa holder earning below the median wage, you can be granted a 6-month visa if you apply between 10 July 2020 to 10 January 2022. The maximum duration of all work visas for roles paying under the wage threshold, is 3 years. At the end of this 3-year period, a stand down period of 12 months will apply.If you are an Essential Skills work visa holder earning at or above the median wage, you can be granted a 3-year visa.
INZ will no longer be issuing 5-year work visas.
Stand-down Period
The stand down period applies to ‘lower-skilled’ roles (if you applied before 27 July 2020) and ‘lower-paid’ roles (if you applied on or after 27 July 2020).Once you have been in New Zealand on an Essential Skills visa for 3 years, you will be required to leave the country for a period of 12 months, before you are eligible to apply for a further ‘lower-paid’ (i.e. below the median wage) role.
Skills Match Reports
As an employer, if you are planning to hire a migrant worker for a role where the pay is below the median wage, and support them for an Essential Skills work visa, you will first need to engage with the Ministry of Social Development (MSD). You are required to obtain a Skills Match Report (SMR) and provide it to INZ.If you are planning to hire a migrant worker who will be paid at or above the median wage, you do not need to engage with MSD or produce a SMR. However, you will still need to advertise for the role in order to show that you have made genuine attempts to hire a New Zealand citizen or resident.
The Labour Market Test has recently become more rigorous and will only continue to do so as further immigration policy changes are implemented. Employers will have to take great care when advertising, to ensure that INZ are satisfied that genuine attempts have been made to recruit a New Zealand worker. It is recommended that you seek licensed immigration advice on advertising and recruitment, at the outset of your hiring process.
Summary
INZ has provided the following summary of changes:
| Below median wage (currently $25.50 per hour) | At or above the median wage (currently $25.50 per hour) | |
| Labour market test | Employer needs to engage with MSD and provide a Skills Match Report | Employer does not need to engage with MSD to provide a Skills Match Report, however the employer will continue to need to make genuine attempts to hire New Zealanders, including advertising for the role and considering New Zealanders |
| Visa duration | Maximum duration of each visa is 6 months for the next 18 months (i.e. from 10 July 2020 – 10 January 2022).
Maximum combined duration of all work visas in jobs paying below the median wage is 3 years at which time holders of this visa will be subject to a stand down period of 12 months. /em> | Maximum duration of each visa is 3 years
No maximum combined duration – not subject to stand down. |
| Bringing family who ordinarily reside in New Zealand. Note that anyone currently offshore will be subject to the border restrictions currently in place. | Support visitor visas for partners (partners can apply for a work visa in their own right)
Support visitor or student visas for dependent children (subject to meeting the minimum income threshold) | Support visitor or work visas for partners
Support visitor or student visas for dependent children (subject to meeting minimum income threshold) |
These changes are the product of a complicated blend of policies. They combine older Government decisions around overhauling the employer-assisted temporary work visa system, with new national considerations surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. As is usually the case with immigration policy amendments, the practical effect of the new INZ Instructions and the nitty gritty consequences for the individual visa holder and/or applicant, is difficult to ascertain.