The benefits of the Skilled Migrant visa for New Zealand
The benefits of the Skilled Migrant visa for New Zealand is one of the areas our advisers touch on most when speaking to clients.
It’s not that our clients don’t know that this visa offers applicants certain benefits, it’s just they don’t know the exact benefits.
We’re not surprised! It’s very easy for the average person to get lost in the immigration jargon and reams of information found on the internet.
That’s why we wanted to make it simpler for our future clients, like you perhaps, to understand the unique benefits of the Skilled Migrant visa.
First we’ll explain:
- What is a resident visa?
And then we’ll look at what comes next:
- The permanent resident visa.
The Skilled Migrant visa is a resident visa
New Zealand’s resident visas allows you to stay in the country permanently. This means:
- You are free to live, work and study in New Zealand.
- You have more or less the same rights and privileges as a New Zealand citizen:
- Access to New Zealand’s health care and education systems.
- Buy the same houses as New Zealanders.
- Voting rights after you’ve been in the country for at least 12 months.
Here’s another benefit resident visas offer – you can include your partner and dependent children, aged 24 and under, in your residence application.
There is one small limitation
We have to explain the resident’s visa Expiry Date Travel to you and you’ll understand why when we move on to the permanent resident visa.
When you get your resident visa, you’ll see three dates:
- Start Date
- First Entry Before
- Expiry Date Travel
The Start Date is the date your visa was issued on. You, and your family, must enter New Zealand at least once before the First Entry Before date. If you are in New Zealand when your visa is issued, this date won’t apply.
The Expiry Date Travel is when your travel conditions expire. To travel in and out of New Zealand as a resident after this date, the conditions must be renewed.
Here’s the big benefit once you have a permanent residence visa
The permanent residence visa gives you the same benefits, rights and privileges as the resident visa, with one exception:
Your visa does not have travel conditions.
You’ll never again have to worry about checking expiry dates. Your travels will be stress free from the moment you have that permanent resident visa in your passport.
When can you apply for permanent residence?
You can apply for a New Zealand Permanent Residence visa after two years as a New Zealand resident. As with all visas, you’ll have to meet a number requirements during the application process.
Do you want to find out if you can are eligible for New Zealand’s Skilled Migrant visa?
To be eligible for these benefits, you’ll have to be eligible to apply for a Skilled Migrant visa. How do you find out? By doing a comprehensive immigration assessment.
You can book an assessment with us today still and one of our consultants will be in touch within 24 hours to get the ball rolling.
Who knows, you might be able to call yourself a New Zealand resident soon. But you have to take that first step – a comprehensive assessment.
- Published in Working in New Zealand
New Zealand has a new government – and the plan is to become stricter on immigration
New Zealand has just established a new coalition government and both parties advocated for cutting net migration figures during their campaigns.
The coalition agreement has already been released and migration is definitely still a focus point of the new government.
This means emigration might soon become more difficult or impossible for you. Our advice? To start your emigration as soon as possible – before new immigration regulations are possibly put in place.
Background to the election
New Zealand had an inconclusive election in September in which no party won a majority.
After much negotiation, the Labour Party, one of New Zealand’s largest political parties, formed a governing coalition with the New Zealand First Party.
This coalition has introduced a good deal of new policies focusing on climate change, regional development and poverty. However, immigration is also under the microscope and specific objectives are outlined.
The new government wants to put New Zealand first
As is evident from the New Zealand First Party’s title, New Zealanders are their main concern. During the election NZ First championed slashing net migration to 10 000 per year, strictly controlling family migration and making it harder for foreigners to become permanent residents.
The Labour Party subscribe to the same opinion – New Zealand first and campaign promises included cutting net migration by up to 30 000 per year, imposing stricter labour market testing for companies that want to hire foreign workers and eliminating student visas for ‘low value’ courses.
What are the exact plans?
As mentioned earlier, the coalition government’s agreement has been released and immigration is a key focus point.
In summary, the agreement states that the government wants to:
- Ensure that work visas reflect skills shortages;
- Cut down on low quality international education courses; and
- Take action on migrant exploitation, particularly international students.
The current state of immigration to New Zealand
New Zealand has already made changes to their immigration policy this year, with the skilled migration category affected.
These changes limited the skilled jobs able to be filled by foreign workers, introduced higher salary thresholds, and restricted the ability of low-skilled foreign workers and their families to live and work in New Zealand.
The stance the new government is taking should thus not come as a shock.
Could these changes affect you in future?
At this stage, it’s too early to say. The government is brand-new and although the coalition agreement is in place, the specifics and strategies are still undefined.
All we can tell you at this stage is that doing nothing is not the best tactic if you’re set on moving to New Zealand.
However, getting the ball rolling right now is a good strategy, as the sooner you know if you qualify to emigrate to New Zealand, the sooner you can start your emigration. And hopefully, if you spring into action now, before more stricter immigration policies come into play.
- Published in Latest posts, New Zealand Immigration Advice