New Migrant Exploitation Protection Work Visa (MEPV)

A new visa category for those experiencing exploitation at work. The Government has announced the creation of a new work visa to help those who may have to leave employment, while their employer is being investigated for potential exploitation. This new visa is called the Migrant Exploitation Protection Work Visa (MEPV). What is the Migrant Exploitation Protection Work Visa? The main purpose of this visa is to allow exploited migrants to have peace of mind that they are in New …

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Longer Essential Skills visas, easier process for renewals

The Government has brought positive news for onshore migrants and New Zealand employers which will impact Essential Skills work visa applications from 19 July 2021. This is a temporary measure to alleviate skills shortages. This announcement is meant to ease employers’ concerns about labour shortages INZ website NZ Herald Maximum duration of Essential Skills work visas From 19 July 2021, the Government is extending the maximum duration of an Essential Skills work Visa for a job paid below the median …

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Refunds for visa applications that cannot be processed

After many months of discussions on the process to follow, Immigration New Zealand is agreeing to refund visa application fees for temporary visa applications that cannot be processed due to New Zealand’s border restrictions. A much needed measure that will see thousands of people refunded their visa fees INZ website Applications to be lapsed or returned, and refunded If you applied for a temporary visa from offshore (outside New Zealand) before 10 August 2020 your application will be lapsed and …

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New Border exemption for Teachers

Note: updated 19 January 2022 A new class of Approved Workers will see border exemptions granted for 300 overseas qualified teacher to enter New Zealand. Education Minister Chris Hipkins acknowledges a teacher shortage from the early childhood education level through to secondary school and highlights area that are deemed a priority for 2022 recruitment. More information (Radio NZ) Ministry of Education An exemption to fill the immediate gap While the Government has been pushing for more teachers to train, this …

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Restrictions on offshore visa applications extended

Temporary visa applications from outside New Zealand (or outside a quarantine-free travel zone, also known as “travel bubble”) remain suspended, unless you are exempt. Most individuals who are outside New Zealand are prevented from submitting a temporary visa application, unless they meet the strict border exception criteria or are currently in a COVID-19 quarantine-free travel zone. This suspension of the normal offshore visa application process has been on hold since August 2020. The Government has extended the suspension to 6 …

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New Zealand Immigration Employer Seminar

New Zealand Shores on a foggy Tuesday morning at Zealong Tea Estate in Gordonton, held an informative conference for employers from the Waikato region, with some businesses travelling from further afar. Guest speakers of the morning were New Zealand Shores Licensed Immigration Advisers, Immigration New Zealand Relationship Managers, Federated Farmers spokesman, our HR partner Everest and the Waikato Chamber of Commerce.  We also had some guests in our audience, that of Jamie Strange, current Hamilton East MP for Labour & …

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New Accredited Employer Work visa

As you will be aware with all the recent Immigration announcements, change is coming within the temporary work visa space. This could potentially affect your business if you are a NZ employer, or your staff on temporary work visas. 6 current work visa streams will be replaced with the new Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV), this replaces Essential skills, Approval in principle, Talent: Accredited employer, long term skill shortage, silver fern work visas. The new visa will take effect on …

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New median wage used as threshold for Select visa categories

.The remuneration thresholds used by Immigration New Zealand are being revised Thresholds increase on 19 July 2021 The Essential Skills work visa and Skilled Migrant Category resident visa are the visa categories that are being impacted. These thresholds are based on the NZ median salary and wage, and are therefore updated every year. The new thresholds were set in 2020 but their implementation by INZ has been delayed to allow employers more flexibility to retain their key migrant staff. Thresholds …

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Highest number of New Zealand job opportunities on record

Seek New Zealand reveals that jobs on offer are at an all-time high. The recent survey shows the highest number of jobs ever advertised for the third consecutive month More on Seek Plenty of jobs, no candidates As the availability of suitable candidates fell over 10% month-on-month since the beginning of 2021, SEEK.co.nz has had its highest number of jobs ever advertised for the 3rd consecutive month. This means there has never been so many jobs on offer, compared to …

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Extension for Working Holiday visas and Supplementary Seasonal Employment visas

Update 11 June 2021 Are you currently in New Zealand on Working Holiday visa or a Seasonal Supplementary Employment (SSE) visa? You may qualify for an automated 6 months extension. This extension is automatic and there is no fee. More information (INZ website) Which visas are being automatically extended? Working Holiday visas Onshore Working Holiday visa holders whose visa expire between 21 June and 31 December 2021 will be extended for 6 months. Working Holiday visa holders may work in …

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