Wellington

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New Zealand said on Sunday (Apr 7) that it was immediately making changes to its Accredited Employer Worker Visa (AEWV) following a near-record migration last year which it said was "unsustainable." The changes in the employment visa programme include introducing English language requirements for low-skilled jobs and setting a minimum skills and work experience threshold for most employer work visas.

The maximum continuous stay for most low-skilled roles would be reduced to three years from five years. In a statement, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford said that the government was focused on attracting and retaining "highly-skilled migrants such as secondary teachers, where there is a skill shortage."

Rebuilding the economy

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Immigration Minister Stanford added that at the same time, it had to be ensured that New Zealanders were put to the front of the line for jobs where there were no skills shortages.

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“Getting our immigration settings right is critical to this Government’s plan to rebuild the economy," she said and highlighted that by having an English language requirement, migrants would be better able to understand their rights or raise concerns about an employer early.

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In 2023, nearly 173,000 migrated to New Zealand

Last year, nearly 173,000 people migrated to New Zealand, a near record. Stanford also said in the statement that most of the changes in AEWV were not new, but rather a return to the pre-pandemic settings that better balanced the needs of business with the wider interests of the country.

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“It is important that the AEWV settings facilitate the right mix of skilled temporary migrants to address genuine skill and labour shortages, support rebuilding the economy, and help manage numbers and pressures on core infrastructure, such as schools, housing, and the health system,” she added. 

With a population of about 5.1 million, New Zealand has seen a rapid growth in its migrant numbers since the end of the pandemic, raising concerns in 2023 that it was fanning inflation.