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COVID 19 – Immigration Minister Drops Another Bombshell On Migrant Families

The Minister of Immigration has dropped another bombshell today relating to temporary visa holders and their families, says Ms June Ranson, chair of the New Zealand Association of Migration and Investment (NZAMI).

Having granted an automatic six-month extension to visa holders this month to avoid complete chaos in September when a backlog of visa applications would have expired due to the COVID-19 lockdown, it turns out that this provision only applies to the principal applicant visa holder.

“Their dependents (partner and children) are required to apply separately for what must be the most expensive visas in the world for six months from September 25,” she comments.

“This approach is totally discriminatory, as the dependents are part of the family group and this is breaking up the family. Currently Immigration NZ cannot cope with the volumes of applications already lodged, and state they will not employ more staff, so we would question how they will have time to process all these family visas.

“Another revelation is that from the end of this month proving the skills of the migrant to get the temporary visa is abolished, instead the length of time a temporary work visa is issued for, is driven by the salary offered by the employer for the job. Skills are going to mean nothing, all driven by salary offer!

“Is this is not going to create exploitation of the migrant which we are trying to stop? You can see it now, some employers will pay high salaries, but a separate arrangement will be in place between employer and migrant, that the migrant pays half their salary back each week to the employer. This is opening the door for manipulation.”

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About NZAMI

The NZAMI is made up of lawyers and licensed immigration advisers who must uphold professional standards and comply with the Association’s strict Code of Ethics. This Code always requires them to uphold the integrity of the New Zealand immigration system and to respect the vulnerability of migrants. For more information please see: www.nzami.co.nz.

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