The Government is increasing the duration of some Essential Skills visas and streamlining the application process, which it says will benefit employers and visa holders with more certainty while covid border restrictions remain in place.
Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi says the Government recognises ongoing labour demand pressures being faced by sectors, including the primary sector, and wants to make the most of the skills already in the country.
From July 19, the maximum length of Essential Skills visas for jobs paid below the median wage will increase from 12 months to 24 months. The maximum duration of Essential Skills visas for jobs paid above the median wage is already three years.
Faafoi says the application process for Essential Skills visas will also be simplified for workers remaining in their current roles.
Employers won’t be required to complete a labour market test where a worker is applying for a visa for a full-time role which the worker already holds. Those applicants also won’t need to provide medical and police certificates to Immigration New Zealand if that information has been supplied previously.
A labour market test will still be required where employers are filling a job vacancy to prove there are no New Zealanders available before a migrant worker can be hired. This is in line with the Government’s objective to ensure Kiwis are prioritised for jobs.
“These changes complement the recent extension we granted for around 10,000 Working Holiday and Supplementary Seasonal Employment visa holders,” Faafoi said.
Earlier requirements for all employers and workers to move to the Accredited Employer work visa, which was due to come into effect on November 1, have been delayed until the middle of next year.
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor says the changes acknowledge feedback that employers were desperate to hang onto migrant staff, like dairy farm managers, who had often worked for the same employer for several years on an Essential Skills visa.
“This will provide welcome certainty for those farmers and farm workers, and adds to the recent border exception to bring in 200 migrant dairy farm workers and their families,” O’Connor said.
A special report in last week’s Farmers Weekly looked at the rural labour shortfall that has been exacerbated by covid-19.
Federated Farmers employment and immigration spokesperson Chris Lewis says migrant staff are highly-valued and offer just what their visa says.
“We need them helping with calving and putting cups on cows now more than ever with the border still closed and low domestic unemployment,” Lewis said.
He says alongside the need for the current exception process for bringing new workers across the border, keeping hold of people already working in the dairy industry is key.
“We don’t want these people taking their good skills and work habits and exiting the country because of visa uncertainty, and this is an important step to help keep them here,” he said.
“We are doing what we can to attract Kiwis to the industry, but all provincial employers feel like they are fighting over the same scraps of the labour force pie at the moment.”
Meat Industry Association chief executive Sirma Karapeeva says without the extension, 100 of the industry’s 250 halal butcher workforce faced losing their right to stay in NZ next year.
“These roles are critical to supporting employment for thousands of other employees in the red meat sector, mainly in the regions, and the Government has clearly listened to our concerns,” Karapeeva said.
“Without halal butchers, there is a real potential that the overall value of each animal processed is reduced, meaning less revenue for companies, farmers and the New Zealand economy. Halal processing generates over $3.3 billion of value-add halal certified meat products.
“However, we still face ongoing challenges in recruiting enough halal butchers. New Zealand has a relatively small Muslim population and this means that the industry must recruit from overseas to make up for the shortfall.”
Faafoi says the visa changes are temporary measures to support employers in the unique covid-19 situation.
“We want to work with sectors and see them develop plans to attract, train and upskill Kiwis into roles, and invest in productivity changes that can help them move away from a reliance on low-paid and low-skilled migrant workers,” he said.
