Masterton restaurateur Travis Clive-Griffin wants to employ a foreign chef but he can't believe the hoops he has to jump through.

It could be a case of too many clauses spoiling the broth for a Wairarapa restaurateur who just wants to employ a good chef.

Masterton restaurant owner Travis Clive-Griffin said Immigration New Zealand has made it too hard to get a work visa for a prospective foreign worker and he has to reconsider whether it is worth the effort.

After finding it impossible to find a local person for the role at his restaurant The Screening Room, he gave a young Indian-born chef a spin in the kitchen to see if he would fit the bill.

Impressed with his skills and attitude, Clive-Giffin applied through the young man's immigration consultant to get a work visa transfer from the man's previous employer in Auckland.

"I couldn't find anyone like that here so I went down this process."

He first provided proof that he couldn't find a New Zealander to fill the position, such as showing evidence he had widely advertised for the position in print and online.

After the initial application was knocked back, Clive-Griffin said he was asked to provide an extraordinary amount of detail about his staff and the financial workings of his business.

This included the company's organisational flow chart showing the employees' positions, a list of the full names and birth dates of all current employees; the business's sale and purchase agreement, business forecasts and more. 

Clive-Griffin threw up his hands in frustration and decided it was all too much of a rigmarole, but may yet reconsider whether the many hours of work required to collate the information would be worth the effort.

As the founder of award winning Greytown restaurant Bar Salute, Clive-Griffin said he has a long and reliable history as an employer and he has never had such hassles helping staff get work visas.

Immigration New Zealand manager Michael Carley said every visa application they receive is assessed against its own individual merits and relevant immigration instructions.

"Robust processes exist to ensure that there are genuinely no other New Zealanders available to do the job."

Immigration policy allows overseas workers to fill jobs when no New Zealanders are available, and/or when there are particular skill shortages.

"We encourage any employer having difficulty with an application to contact Immigration New Zealand directly for assistance."

Licensed immigration adviser Jasmine Bath of Immigration Guru is handling Clive-Griffin's prospect's case and questioned why the immigration service needed such detailed paperwork when a quick search could show the employer's history.

"I really knew this was going to annoy the employer. It's happened in the past."

She said the outcome of these applications can have a profound effect of people's lives and the immigration service should have very good reasons to make businesses jump through such hoops.

"I kind of had a feeling that Immigration want to turn off the employer by asking for so much information. That they want to pretty much scare the employer off so they can withdraw the job offer and that candidate for the visa will be the one that suffers."

Employer asked to supply:

• The company's organisational flow chart showing the employees' positions;
• A list of the full names and birth dates of all current employees
• Copy of sale and purchase agreement
• Business forecasts;
• The company's latest Interim Financial Statement;
• GST returns from when the business started operating to date;
• Company's PAYE statements from when the business started operating to date;
• Company's bank statements from 21 August 2017 to date;
• Any other documents which could support the sustainability of the employment. 

(Source: Stuff, Piers Fuller)