Changes in immigration application fees mean that some migrants will pay thousands of dollars more to enter the country from the end of July.
New Zealand’s chief immigration attorney Aaron Martin said the increases were an additional cost to migrant workers and their families, on top of the cost of moving to another country.
The government wanted to fill labor shortages with skilled overseas workers, but the extra cost was a barrier and not an incentive to move here, he said.
Costs to employers would not have risen without changes to fees for accreditation or job checks, he said.
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“It all falls on the applicants,” Martin said.
“It’s just a slap in the face for those who want to move to New Zealand and take their families with them.”
John Anthony / Things
Immigration fees will increase from July 31.
The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment said that when setting the new fees and charges, the government kept the price of visas in line with the rates set by comparable countries.
Some of the biggest price increases include:
- Skilled migrant category for applicants outside New Zealand or the Pacific rises 48% from $3310 to $4890
- Investor Plus category for applicants outside New Zealand or the Pacific rises 57% from $4960 to $7780
- Entrepreneurial residence category up 66% from $4140 to $6860
- Work category residence rises 136% from $1800 to $4240
The new accredited employer visas rises from $595 to $750 on July 31, just three weeks after applications open.
Martin said if immigration could guarantee New Zealand faster processing times and better service, visa applicants would be happy to pay the extra fee.
Delivered
Immigration attorney Aaron Martin says the cost hikes are a barrier to migrants moving to New Zealand for work.
“There is no evidence of where these costs will go, such as improved services or reduced wait times. It’s just making money at the expense of migrants.
“With the shift to automation and online processing, costs should go down instead of going up.”
Kirsty Hutchison, immigration policy manager at the Department of Business Innovation and Employment, said Immigration New Zealand announced on June 30 that fees and charges would increase.
“The government has weighed up a number of considerations, including maintaining visa processing capacity and ensuring prices remain competitive,” Hutchinson said.
The revenues to finance the immigration system came from three sources. Crown funding, which typically contributed about a third of the cost, and the levying of funding and visa fee revenue, which together typically contributed about two-thirds of the cost, she said.
Immigration costs and charges were reviewed regularly to ensure they reflect the cost of providing immigration services, she said.
The last review was in 2018.
The past fees and charges were not enough to cover the costs of managing the immigration system, she said.
“Overall, the price of a visa remains a small part of the total cost of travel to New Zealand and we do not expect these increases to have a significant impact on people who choose to visit, work or work here. to study.”
Martin said the government also backtracked on rules announced in the immigration reset, which would limit partners of work visa holders to visitor visas.
Under the initial reset was a plan that would have meant that partners of those with an accredited employer on a work visa (AEWV) would not have been able to get an open work visa unless they too could get a job with a recognized employer , their partner had a job on the immigration “green list,” or they were getting 200% above average wages, he said.
“If they didn’t meet any of these criteria, their partner would only be eligible for a visitor visa, which would severely limit their earning potential, leading to financial insecurity just as they moved to a new country.”
This would have made it much less desirable to move to New Zealand and thus less likely for employers to be able to fill vacancies, he said.
The government announced that as of July 4, partners were eligible for an open work visa as long as the first applicant (the AEWV holder) earned more than the average wage of $27.76 per hour, he said.