7 August 2019

It would appear that the Immigration Minister has succumbed to the same tardiness that’s affecting his department, Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean says.

“Employers across Otago are lamenting the significant time Immigration NZ is taking to process migrant visa applications, while in a similar way I have been waiting three months on a response from the Immigration Minister to a letter regarding the very same issue.

“I wrote to the Minister on 13 May asking him to step in and do something about the amount of time it was taking to process migrant visa applications, with statistics showing the processing times taken by his department this year had blown out from 73 to 120 days.

“Not a word has been heard from Mr Lees-Galloway and nothing appears to have improved at Immigration NZ either. The Otago Southland Employers Association this week pleaded for the visa application process to be improved to alleviate the stress on businesses.

“At a time when Otago employers are crying out for staff in the face of a skills shortage, Immigration NZ should be doing its part to support employers.

“Instead they are taking an extra month to process work visas this year compared to last year and the Immigration Minister appears to be condoning the delays because he's on a go-slow as well.”

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