22/09/11 - Immigration changes support screen and entertainment industries

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Changes announced today to visa processes for screen, entertainment and music industry workers will support the sector’s growth, says Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman.

The changes provide a simpler, more streamlined system for the entry of temporary entertainment industry workers into New Zealand.

‘’The existing policy is out-dated. It’s been in place for 20 years and the entertainment industry has grown hugely over that time,’’ says Dr Coleman.

Today’s changes mean workers here for 14 days or less, or workers on an international co-production, face a greatly simplified process. For longer periods of employment, such as during the making of feature films, the policy places more trust in employers who have proven their bona fides and have a track record of bringing in workers for legitimate purposes.

‘’The screen industry employs around 6,700 people and is worth over $2.8 billion dollars a year, with great potential for further growth. To realise that growth, we need immigration policies that ensure key workers can get here with minimal fuss so that New Zealand remains an attractive destination for productions,’’ says Dr Coleman.

Under current rules for screen, entertainment and music workers, all work visa applications are referred to the industry guilds and unions under a ‘silent approval’ process. This means that the guilds or unions have the right to object to an application.

‘’In some cases, issues with existing processes were putting offshore investment in the New Zealand screen industry at risk,’’ says Dr Coleman.

‘’Another feature of the changes is that performers here for significant music, arts or cultural festivals can come into the country on a visitor visa.

‘’In the past two and a half years there have been 14 applications disputed by unions or guilds out of 4800 applications for screen industry work, and the Government has ultimately granted visas in all those cases.

‘’In short, we are removing a redundant, bureaucratic process which only served to make New Zealand a less attractive place for the screen and entertainment industry to do business.’’

The new policy will be operational from March 2012.

Notes:

The policy changes mean that guild or union referrals will not be required for entertainment workers who are entering New Zealand for 14 days or less or for those entering as part of an official co-production.

There are two options for workers who wish to enter New Zealand for more than 14 days. Employers can now apply in advance for accreditation enabling them to bring in workers without further referral. Alternatively the current process remains available in such cases.

The policy will be reviewed 18 months after its introduction.

Information is also available at www.immigration.govt.nz

(Source Beehive, Dr J Coleman)

13/09/11 - The NZ economy, BNZ comments

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Writing about the environment likely to face small and medium-sized NZ businesses over the next two years may seem like quite a difficult exercise when one considers the recent renewed volatility and weakness in financial markets around the world. However, while we are of the firm opinion that the problems of high Western government debt levels and weak US and European growth will dog the markets with periodic bursts of pessimism for at least the next two years, it is still possible to paint a broad picture of where things are likely to go here taking into account some factors specific to the New Zealand economy.

First, there is a clear stimulus to many sectors coming from the rebuilding of Christchurch. So far over 6,000 houses have been officially designated as Red Zone permanent casualties, 9,000 more are in the Orange Zone and awaiting determination, and in total over 100,000 houses have been damaged. Replacing the bulk of those properties, developing new subdivisions, demolishing some 1,000 buildings in the CBD and then replacing (some) of them will give a construction sector boost which will extend for the next decade, though likely be concentrated over calendar years 2012 and 2013.

This activity will provide business for many companies stretching from architectural services to earthworks, building materials fabrication, furnishings sales and so on. Interestingly, the surge in construction – which is expected to lead rapidly to severe labour shortages and higher labour costs – will occur at the same time as an expected period of catch-up construction in Auckland where housing shortages are getting worse and worse.

Second, the regions will receive good support for the next two years as farmers slowly become comfortable with their debt levels and loosen the purse strings for more than just extra fertilizer applications and some upgraded fencing. There is already evidence of dairy conversions picking up again, farm sales are lifting (assisted by buyer interest from offshore) and in the sheep and beef sectors there is substantial maintenance and capital spending to catch up on after many years of poor returns.

Third, the NZ economy entered recession officially in 2008, though some sectors such as retailing hit a brick wall in the middle of 2007 when mortgage rates exceeded 10%. Even though the recession ended in 2009 people and businesses have continued to exercise considerable spending constraint. But as debt levels fall and confidence about the sustainability of growth improves we expect economic growth to receive a substantial boost from traditional cyclical activities.

These include businesses increasing orders for raw materials in order to boost inventories back to more normal levels, businesses catching up on capital spending, and consumers catching up on spending on durable items such as cars, couches, and household appliances.

Fourth, assisting the third factor, we expect a fairly rapid tightening up of the labour market in the coming year as an aging population slows workforce growth to near one-third of what it was in the previous 15 years, young people find themselves with low training, and businesses simply rebuild workforces back toward more normal levels. The effect will be accelerating wages growth, pressure for increased spending on workplace training, and a good jump in job confidence that will encourage householders to increase their spending.

Fifth, there are some sectors enjoying good long term underlying growth such as film and game production, information technology, fashion and energy.

There are of course also some sectors which we expect will struggle over the next two years. These include tourism and wine, Kiwifruit due to the PSA vine disease, and many exporters affected by the high NZ dollar. Plus the government will be actively slowing growth as they tighten fiscal policy to remove budget deficits.

Overall we see good potential for the economy to grow around 4% over 2012 and 3% over 2013 with reasonable prospects for most parts of the country for one reason or another.

As growth picks up we expect to see the Reserve Bank removing the currently strong level of monetary stimulus with the official cash rate likely to rise from 2.5% currently to 5% come 2013. That means borrowers should budget for floating rate costs rising 2.5% with far smaller rises in fixed interest rates. But as we have already seen, the period of rising interest rates will not be smooth and just recently the promise by the United States Federal Reserve to not raise their cash rate for at least two years has caused falls in US long term interest rates to levels not seen in almost half a century and this will tend to cap how high our long term rates go.

As NZ interest rates rise at a time when they sit unchanged in the likes of the UK, US and Japan while rising only minimally in Europe, the attractiveness of the NZ dollar will increase. Throwing in our expectation of firm commodity prices and long-term structural investment in the food industry, we think it highly likely that the Kiwi dollar will rise against almost all currencies except the Chinese Yuan over the coming year to a year and a half.

As growth accelerates the labour market will tighten up and businesses should budget for increasing difficulties in getting staff and rising wage and non-wage labour costs. Some allowance should also be made for rising input costs generally in a world where resource availability is becoming more and more constrained and legislative changes push many costs upward. Candidates for this latter effect include increasing earthquake standards for NZ buildings, rising emissions standards for vehicles imported from overseas, plus obviously higher insurance premiums for everyone.

We think for most businesses it is valid to run on the expectation that next year will be better than this one. The problem however is that although we see strong NZ-specific factors, the downside risks facing the world economy should not be ignored. Perhaps the way in which this can be best handled by most businesses is to act as if generally tough times will continue and only switch into generalised expansion mode once good results have been seen over an extended period of time. Many times we have in fact specifically suggested that retailers would be best advised to plan to miss the first three months of the upturn in household spending through running low inventories, rather than stocking up for a forecast recovery which could easily yet again be delayed.

It pays to remember that not all businesses are or have been feeling pain, and many are cashed up and in a position to make some well-priced asset purchases. Getting into that position and keeping an eye out for canny asset acquisitions may be a better long-term strategy than simply trying to pick exactly when to gear up to the ride the next cyclical upturn in the economy – whenever it arrives.

(Written by Tony Alexander)

(Any views expressed in this publication are the views of Tony Alexander and do not necessarily represent those of Bank of New Zealand, or its related entities)

13/09/11 - Many US schools adding iPads, trimming textbooks

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HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- For incoming freshmen at western Connecticut's suburban Brookfield High School, hefting a backpack weighed down with textbooks is about to give way to tapping out notes and flipping electronic pages on a glossy iPad tablet computer.

A few hours away, every student at Burlington High School near Boston will also start the year with new school-issued iPads, each loaded with electronic textbooks and other online resources in place of traditional bulky texts.

While iPads have rocketed to popularity on many college campuses since Apple Inc. introduced the device in spring 2010, many public secondary schools this fall will move away from textbooks in favor of the lightweight tablet computers.

Apple officials say they know of more than 600 districts that have launched what are called "one-to-one" programs, in which at least one classroom of students is getting iPads for each student to use throughout the school day.

Nearly two-thirds of them have begun since July, according to Apple.

New programs are being announced on a regular basis, too. As recently as Wednesday, Kentucky's education commissioner and the superintendent of schools in Woodford County, Ky., said that Woodford County High will become the state's first public high school to give each of its 1,250 students an iPad.

At Burlington High in suburban Boston, principal Patrick Larkin calls the $500 iPads a better long-term investment than textbooks, though he said the school will still use traditional texts in some courses if suitable electronic programs aren't yet available.

"I don't want to generalize because I don't want to insult people who are working hard to make those resources," Larkin said of textbooks, "but they're pretty much outdated the minute they're printed and certainly by the time they're delivered. The bottom line is that the iPads will give our kids a chance to use much more relevant materials."

The trend has not been limited to wealthy suburban districts. New York City, Chicago and many other urban districts also are buying large numbers of iPads.

The iPads generally cost districts between $500 and $600, depending on what accessories and service plans are purchased.

By comparison, Brookfield High in Connecticut estimates it spends at least that much yearly on every student's textbooks, not including graphing calculators, dictionaries and other accessories they can get on the iPads.

Educators say the sleek, flat tablet computers offer a variety of benefits.

They include interactive programs to demonstrate problem-solving in math, scratchpad features for note-taking and bookmarking, the ability to immediately send quizzes and homework to teachers, and the chance to view videos or tutorials on everything from important historical events to learning foreign languages.

They're especially popular in special education services, for children with autism spectrum disorders and learning disabilities, and for those who learn best when something is explained with visual images, not just through talking.

Some advocates also say the interactive nature of learning on an iPad comes naturally to many of today's students, who've grown up with electronic devices as part of their everyday world.

But for all of the excitement surrounding the growth of iPads in public secondary schools, some experts watching the trend warn that the districts need to ensure they can support the wireless infrastructure, repairs and other costs that accompany a switch to such a tech-heavy approach.

And even with the most modern device in hand, students still need the basics of a solid curriculum and skilled teachers.

"There's a saying that the music is not in the piano and, in the same way, the learning is not in the device," said Mark Warschauer, an education and informatics professor at the University of California-Irvine whose specialties include research on the intersection of technology and education.

"I don't want to oversell these things or present the idea that these devices are miraculous, but they have some benefits and that's why so many people outside of schools are using them so much," he said.

One such iPad devotee is 15-year-old Christian Woods, who starts his sophomore year at Burlington, Mass., High School on a special student support team to help about 1,000 other teens adjust to their new tablets.

"I think people will like it. I really don't know anybody in high school that wouldn't want to get an iPad," he said. "We're always using technology at home, then when you're at school it's textbooks, so it's a good way to put all of that together."

Districts are varied in their policies on how they police students' use.

Many have filtering programs to keep students off websites that have not been pre-approved, and some require the students to turn in the iPads during vacation breaks and at the end of the school year. Others hold the reins a little more loosely.

"If we truly consider this a learning device, we don't want to take it away and say, `Leaning stops in the summertime.' " said Larkin, the Burlington principal.

And the nation's domestic textbook publishing industry, accounting for $5.5 billion in yearly sales to secondary schools, is taking notice of the trend with its own shift in a competitive race toward developing curriculum specifically for iPads.

At Boston-based Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for instance, programmers scrambled to create an iPad-specific secondary school program starting almost as soon as Apple unveiled the tablet in spring 2010.

The publisher's HMH Fuse algebra program, which became available at the start of the 2010 school year, was among the first and is a top seller to districts. Another algebra program and a geometry offering are coming out now.

The HMH Fuse online app is free and gives users an idea of how it works, and the content can be downloaded for $60. By comparison, the publisher's 950-page algebra text on which it was based is almost $73 per copy, and doesn't include the graphing calculators, interactive videos and other features.

For a school that would buy 300 of the textbooks for its freshman class, for instance, the savings from using the online version would be almost $4,000.

Jay Diskey, executive director of the Association of American Publishers' schools division, said all of the major textbook publishers are moving toward electronic offerings, but at least in the short term, traditional bound textbooks are here to stay.

"I think one of the real key questions that will be answered over the next several years is what sort of things work best in print for students and what sort of things work best digitally," Diskey said. "I think we're on the cusp of a whole new area of research and comprehension about what digital learning means."

(Source Associated Press AP)

08/09/11 - Bad Advice Wrecks Lives

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Pacific Islanders are being urged to use licensed immigration advisers as part of a campaign cracking down on visa scams.

The Bad Advice Wrecks Lives campaign aims to warn Samoans, Tongans and Fijians with flyers ahead of Rugby World Cup 2011’s New Zealand v Tonga game on Friday.

Flyers will also be distributed before the Fiji play Samoa on 25 September.

“Overstayers are the most vulnerable,” says Immigration Advisers Authority Registrar Barry Smedts.

“Con artists cash in on their desperation to stay in the country. Once they’ve parted with their money they don’t know where to turn. In fact, they can turn to us.”

The Authority takes complaints about licensed advisers and investigates people giving immigration advice without a licence.

Recent reports to Immigration New Zealand involved Tongans being offered fake visas for $290 in South Auckland.

Mr Smedts assured all Pacific Islanders that the Authority can help victims whether they are overstayers or not.

“We’re only interested in bringing unlawful immigration advisers to justice.”

“I’d encourage anyone thinking of using an adviser to make sure they are licensed by checking our register. By using a licensed immigration adviser you are more likely to get your money back if you’re given bad advice.

“In the last month alone $45,000 has been clawed back for consumers.”

Licensed immigration advisers can be found in an online register or by contacting the Authority at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or on freephone 0508 422 422.

Those exempt from requiring a license include advisers at Citizen’s Advice Bureaus and lawyers.

(Source IAA)

11/08/11 - Lexis Nexis Immigration Law Conference - Speech notes

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Mr Chairman, Roger Haines QC

Ladies and Gentlemen, good morning.

When this Government came to office it put in place an economic agenda that had one single minded purpose — to lift the nation’s economic performance and deliver the standard of living New Zealanders expect and deserve.

We recognised very clearly the important part immigration had to play in this process. So I’m pleased to share with you some specific actions the Government has taken to increase Immigration’s contribution to the economy and improve Immigration New Zealand’s performance and service standards.

Lifting immigration’s economic contribution

Considering the economic challenges the country faces, lifting immigration’s economic contribution takes on even more importance. New Zealandwent into deficit in 2009 after several years of surpluses and the economic situation has been compounded by the September and February earthquakes.

Currently, we’re borrowing $300 million dollars a week to keep public services ticking over – and this cannot continue.

This year’s Budget set out a credible path which will return New Zealand to surplus within three years while continuing to maintain public services and support the most vulnerable. The Government has pitched its focus squarely on the economy and that is likely to continue.

Benefits of immigration - growing our economy

The Government has a comprehensive economic plan to grow the economy and immigration can play an important role in helping to drive that plan. The following numbers highlight how important immigration’s economic contribution is.

If we were to close off immigration entirely by 2021:

• Population would drop by 9.6 per cent
• GDP would drop by 11.3 per cent
• The available labour force would drop 10.9 per cent
• The export sector would drop by 12.9 per cent.

It’s important to highlight the economic value of Immigration here.

• New migrants add around $1.9 billion to our economy every year.
• International students contribute $2.3 billion a year in foreign exchange to the economy.
• Inbound tourists contribute $9 billion a year.

Immigration recognises the strategic importance of the tourism and export education sectors and the direct links they provide to employers.

Given these figures, my number one priority has been to ensure Immigration is contributing to the Government’s economic growth agenda.

Ultimately this is about attracting the people New Zealand needs and making quality decisions quickly. We are doing that by:

• Helping employers find the skilled staff required to improve productivity if there are no suitably qualified New Zealanders available.
• Helping to grow the export education industry by streamlining processes, facilitating genuine students and improving the speed of decision making.
• Supporting the tourism industry by facilitating tourists’ travel and helping tourism tap into new markets.
• Attracting more high-worth individuals and raising investment levels through our Business Migration Package.

Increasing Business Migration

With business migration the Government has made significant changes to increase investment through our new business migration package.

Business migration is an important economic driver that can be used to stimulate economic growth and create jobs in new and ancillary industries by creating new businesses and export markets. Upon becoming the Government, we identified significant gaps in the existing business migration policies.

Now we have a package that makes New Zealand very attractive to business migrants, and in less than two years we have attracted $640 million in potential investment capital.

To date $173 million has been transferred and invested in New Zealand and an additional $245.5 million has been approved for funds transfer. Applications from investors worth an additional $221.5 million are being processed.

Since the policy has been operating, it’s attracted several times the amount of potential investment capital compared to the previous Government’s policy.

To ensure we’re getting the best return from this package we reviewed the Investor Migrant policy settings and introduced further modifications on 25 July.

Some of the key changes include:

• Reducing the residence requirements for Investor Plus migrants during the three year investment period from 73 days to 44 days per annum.
• Investment opportunities will be expanded by allowing migrants to invest in entities established by parent organisations to raise funds. Migrants will also be allowed to invest in bank bonds and equities.
• We’re providing more flexibility around the requirement for business experience. Instead of previously having to meet both conditions, business migrants only need to meet one of the following criteria - to have owned or managed a business with five full time employees or to have owned or managed a business with a minimum one million in annual turnover.
• We’re allowing migrants to transfer funds through approved foreign exchange companies— this recognises the emerging international trend in funds transfer.
• Approval of investment in some types of residential property to increase the availability of new housing.

I am confident the various changes will attract even more very high-worth investor migrants to New Zealand.

The new business migration package also provides incentives for wealthy migrants to upgrade their investment. These investors also have more capital and a greater ability to support New Zealand businesses. This new package is about attracting investment, but it is also about attracting people with commercial nous and experience needed to develop new business through their own global networks.

Immigration New Zealand is working closely with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise to link high-worth migrants in the Investor Plus category with New Zealand businesses.

The marketing of our Business Migration Package will also be smarter and will target key OECD markets including the United Kingdom and the United States. We’re also looking at the major developing markets in India and South East Asia.

Improving Immigration New Zealand’s performance

Improving the quality of immigration services has remained an important focus and I’m pleased to say that under Nigel Bickle’s watch considerable progress has been made.

The Immigration New Zealand Change Programme is now nearing completion and it has resulted in significant service improvements in a number of areas.

Decision-making is Immigration New Zealand’s core business and it’s critical that it’s done well.  Latest figures show good and adequate decisions have increased from around 71 percent in mid-2009 to its current mark of 87 percent.  Poor and questionable decisions are down from over 29 percent in mid-2009 to 13 percent in early 2011.

This improved performance is being noticed by Immigration New Zealand’s customers. Over the past two years employer satisfaction has increased from 70 percent to 90 percent and overall client satisfaction has risen from 68 to 80 percent.

In the critical area of processing student applications, improvements in timeliness have been made.

In April 2010, Immigration’s Palmerston North branch - which processes 96 percent of all fee-paying onshore applications (approx 45,000) – had 6600 applications on-hand. At the end of April 2011 the on-hand figure was almost halved to 3420.

• INZ’s overall performance in processing student applications has improved over the past year. As at March 2011, 89 percent of student applications were being processed on average in 30 days.

Currently 86.5 percent of all temporary visas – work, student and visitor – are being processed within 30 days. For business visas it’s 99.5 percent within 30 days and 95.3 percent for general visitor visas.

There will be continuous downward pressure on targets - 90 percent of all applications to be processed within 25 days by June 2012.

For the key China market, visitor visas lodged at our Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou or Hong Kong branches are processed on average in nine days with 96 percent of applications decided within 30 days.

Performance is improving but there’s still more work ahead. However, what’s good is that the mechanisms are in place to ensure that progress continues to be made.

Immigration supporting tourism

With tourism, Immigration New Zealand is helping the industry tap into new markets. The entry of China Southern Airlines into the New Zealand market with a thrice-weekly Guangzhou – Auckland route was a major coup for tourism.

Chinais one of New Zealand's fastest growing visitor markets. 131,000 people visited last year adding $365 million to the economy. In April China Southern announced it would fly daily from later this year increasing the expected number of visitors on China Southern Airlines to 50,000 per annum, worth an estimated $150 million to the economy.

This decision was made easier after Immigration New Zealand committed to providing a faster and more efficient service to meet the increased demand by increasing staffing, streamlining application processes and havinga Visa Acceptance Centre in Guangzhou. Visa Acceptance Centres will also be established simultaneously in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong and they will be operating this month.

Last week I visited China to promote New Zealand tourism, meet with Chinese government ministers and to open a new Immigration New Zealand and Tourism New Zealand office in Shanghai.

I also visited VACs being run for the British and Canadian governments, the same model that will be used by Immigration New Zealand. By streamlining application processes, VACs will save time and allow Immigration staff to concentrate more on decision-making instead of administration. Ultimately this will result in faster processing times in the key China market.

To support the growing markets in India and South East Asia, a new office has been opened in the New Zealand Consulate General in Mumbai and Ho Chi Minh City has been upgraded to a full Branch. A new South African Branch has also been opened in Pretoria.

Immigration working smarter in New Zealand

To support the domestic market, Immigration New Zealand is working smarter. A dedicated branch has been set up to better service the needs of licensed immigration advisers. The Henderson Branch is Immigration New Zealand’s largest branch — including its overseas branches. Its 70 staff are now primarily focussed on processing applications from licensed immigration advisers representing clients in the Auckland region.

The branch has been receiving residence applications since March this year and began receiving temporary visa applications in July. When it started receiving temporary applications, its service goal was to decide 90 percent of these within 25 days.

The branch has already achieved this and expects to maintain or exceed this standard in the year ahead.

A dedicated 0800 number for licensed advisers was established last October. At the end of June 2011 it had received 24,496 calls. Over 82 percent of these calls are answered within 30 seconds.

Last November, a dedicated email address was also set up for licensed advisers. The target turn around for email inquiries was originally 48 hours. This target is being exceeded by a significant margin— currently turn around time is between one and two hours.

Immigration New Zealand is looking carefully at the operations of the Henderson Branch and where systems prove effective it will consider extending these to other regions in consultation with industry.

These are all very positive developments and you can expect to see more improvements in the future. Immigration New Zealand is already in the process of implementing a new operating model that will better meet the needs of stakeholders and Government. This may ultimately mean a new way of working but it will be focussed on better aligning Government’s goals and stakeholders’ requirements — and, of course, lifting immigration’s economic contribution.

Over the next year to eighteen months you should expect to see changes in the areas of health screening, streamlining labour market processes and working with accredited employers and licensed advisors as trusted agents for Immigration New Zealand.

With health screening do we need medical certificates for international students? Are there other areas where Immigration could change its criteria while not putting our health system at risk?

A new IT system will also allow Immigration New Zealand to provide more online functions and adopt a more risk-based approach.

Enhanced online capacity means we can streamline applications and reduce processing times by triaging low-risk people and high-value migrants while maintaining the system’s integrity.

Further Immigration Act changes

The implementation of the new Immigration Act has formed an important part of this process of reform and renewal. The Act has provided Immigration New Zealand with a modern legislative framework which positions it better to meet the needs of industry and build stronger links with partner agencies overseas.

In particular, international cooperation on border security issues has been greatly advanced by the introduction of biometric facilities and improved data sharing and technology partnerships.

The Act’s implementation is now almost complete and I understand that industry feedback indicates that this progressed smoothly. Industry feedback has played a very positive part in this process and I encourage you to continue to contribute in this way. There are, however, a few provisions that are still to be implemented.

The new provisions still to come into force relate to an Immigration Officer’s power of:

• Four hour detention
• Entry and inspection of education providers
• Entry and search relating to deportation

The new Act provides an Immigration Officer with the limited power of detention for up to four hours. The intention of this provision is to enable Immigration Officers to detain a person until they can be detained by the Police or en route to or at the airport, for example. An Immigration Officer does not have the power of arrest.

However, the new provision does place similar responsibilities to those of an arresting officer. This includes such things as the need to produce an officer’s warrant and inform the detained person that they may contact a lawyer. An Immigration Officer is also not liable in criminal or civil proceedings if he detains someone on reasonable and probable grounds.

These powers will be supported by specific training and operating instructions which will ensure that such decisions are only made on proper grounds and the legal rights of the person detained are fully respected. These provisions are in line with the strong emphasis the new Act places on protecting border security and the integrity of the immigration system.

Although Immigration Officers have the power to enter premises and inspect an employer’s records they do not have the power to enter and inspect the records of education providers.

This provision will correct this anomaly and strengthen Immigration New Zealand’s ability to weed out shonky providers and protect the interests and reputation of this increasingly important two billion dollar industry.

Currently, only police and customs officers have the power to enter and search places and craft at the border or enter buildings and search for a person liable for deportation. These powers will also be made available to Immigration Officers so that they can carry out their full range of functions under the new Act.

The contribution of immigration advisers

A successful Immigration system needs the active support of the private sector and that is why the role of professional immigration advisers will become increasingly important.

The introduction of mandatory immigration adviser licensing has heightened the immigration adviser industry’s sense of professionalism and created a new sense of common purpose. These developments have been good for the industry and good for New Zealand. They have also made it easier for Immigration New Zealand to work with immigration advisers. Mandatory licensing has lifted everyone’s game.

On 4 May last year mandatory licensing was extended to immigration advisers servicing the New Zealand market offshore. The adoption of offshore licensing was a world first for New Zealand — a bold move into previously uncharted territory. Looking back now we all know that it has been not only a bold but also a successful move.

I understand that the Immigration Advisers Authority’s Register currently lists 500 licensed advisers with 162 of those domiciled offshore.

Occupational equivalency between New Zealand and Australia has been established through the Trans Tasman Mutual Recognition Agreement.

A total of 101 immigration advisers registered with Australia’s Migration Agents Registration Authority are now registered as licensed advisers with the Immigration Advisers Authority and can conduct business on the same basis as New Zealand licensed immigration advisers.

In another major move the Authority’s Code of Conduct has been translated into Simplified and Traditional Chinese. A new Graduate Certificate for Immigration Advisers will shortly be offered by The Bay of Plenty Polytechnic in partnership with the University of Waikato and Melbourne’s University of Victoria.

These developments show a keen awareness of the international potential of the immigration adviser industry and the need to support this with professional standards that reflect international best practice.

The immigration adviser industry is now well positioned both on and offshore to help maximise the contribution migration can make to the New Zealand economy. And this is recognised in the market place. In a recent survey, 92percent of respondents agreed that mandatory licensing had added value to the New Zealand Immigration industry.

These are very considerable achievements and we all owe a considerable debt to the pioneering work of the Immigration Advisers Authority.

Barry Smedts and his dedicated team have done a remarkable job both in terms of setting professional industry standards and extending the scope and reach of your industry.

Meeting the challenges of the future

As a nation we now face enormous challenges. The Canterbury earthquakes will continue to place huge additional demands on the economy well into the future. As we’ve seen this past week, the debt crisis in the United States and Europe has global knock-on effects and it’s combined to create intense volatility and uncertainty in the markets.

Fortunately we are better positioned to meet these challenges. This Government’s policies are starting to show solid economic results and its public service reforms are delivering better and more cost-effective services. This is evident in the changes within Immigration New Zealand.

With the advantages of a modern legislative framework, a clearer strategic focus and improved business systems Immigration New Zealand is now well positioned to meet these challenges. It cannot, however, achieve this alone and will need to continue to build on the productive partnerships it is now developing with industry and the immigration adviser community in particular.

I am committed to ensuring that this new spirit of partnership continues to be translated into concrete results that will ensure the economic and social benefits of immigration are fully realised.

Thank you.

(Source Beehive, J Coleman)

04/08/11 - Visa changes to assist Chinese travel

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Recent changes to travel visa application processes for visitors from China are set to make travel between China and New Zealand easier.

Speaking in Shanghai to mark the launch of a shared Tourism New Zealand and Immigration New Zealand office, Tourism Chief Executive Kevin Bowler said travelling to New Zealand was at an all time high.  Between 1999 and June 2011, the Chinese visitor market to New Zealand grew from just over 20,000 to more than 130,000.

"China is one of New Zealand's fastest growing visitor markets, up 25 per cent on last year and we predict China to overtake the United States as our third largest visitor market in the next few years.

"The additional effort by Immigration New Zealand in China will support this increasing demand, and is likely to encourage greater numbers of single destination travellers who will want to see more and do more in New Zealand."

Changes implemented by Immigration New Zealand include greater use of multiple-journey visas and relaxation of the documentation required to support a visa application, most notably around translation requirements.

Mr Bowler added that New Zealand tourism businesses were committed to ensuring visitors from China enjoy a relaxing stay in New Zealand, accessing beautiful landscapes and experiencing warm hospitality.

"We know Chinese tourists are highly sophisticated, well educated, well travelled, enjoy high levels in hospitality and see New Zealand as a great place to rejuvenate and refresh.

"Recent research shared with the tourism sector tells us that in general visitors from China are happy with their experiences in New Zealand but that more can be done.

"Customer service is important to our Chinese visitors and providing a good variety of Asian food on menus and ensuring translation on signage, could make a big difference to the Chinese visitor experience in New Zealand."

Staff numbers are also being increased at Immigration New Zealand's three China branches in Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong, in response to the increase in demand from the recent introduction of China Southern Airline's Guangzhou-Auckland air link.

Immigration Minister and Associate Tourism Minister Dr Jonathan Coleman said Immigration New Zealand's Visa Acceptance Centre (VAC) in Guangzhou, as well as VACs in Beijing and Shanghai would meet the increased demand for immigration services.

"Currently Immigration New Zealand processes non-ADS visas in China on average in less than 10 days, but with the new resources and streamlined procedures, they are aiming to reduce this further - making it even more convenient for visitors from China to choose to visit New Zealand."

(Source Tourism NZ)

02/08/11 - New Immigration and Tourism New Zealand office opens in Shanghai

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A new joint Immigration New Zealand (INZ) and Tourism New Zealand office in Shanghai is an important development in facilitating Chinese visitors to New Zealand, says Immigration Minister and Associate Tourism Minister Jonathan Coleman.

Dr Coleman says it signals the Government's response to meeting demand from one of New Zealand's fastest growing tourist markets which is worth around $365 million a year.

"We are seeing more tourists and business visitors from China," says Dr Coleman.

"Chinese tourism in New Zealand is booming with 131,000 visitors in the year to June 2011 - an increase of 25 percent. Business visitors have also increased by 10 percent over the past year.

"Chinese students account for a quarter of the 90,000 international students who study in New Zealand each year.

"It's important that INZ is able to keep up with demand for visa services. INZ has also taken steps to remove as much bureaucracy as it can from visa processing in China.

"The Shanghai office reflects our increasing commitment to meet growth in the China market," Dr Coleman says.

INZ is now issuing multiple entry visas for Chinese citizens as standard practice. Previously such visas were the exception rather than the rule. This allows holders to enter New Zealand as many times as they like for a maximum stay of six months in total.

"This will remove a real source of frustration for Chinese who wish to visit New Zealand regularly at short notice," Dr Coleman says.

The visa application form itself has been reduced in length and is user-friendly with both Chinese and English language used.

INZ is also establishing visa application centres in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. This will make the application process easier and quicker.

"What this also highlights is the important link between immigration and tourism and how better collaboration between both sectors can help boost New Zealand's tourism industry," Dr Coleman says.

(Source Beehive, J Coleman)

28/07/11 - Offical Cash Rate Update

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• The Official Cash Rate (OCR) remained unchanged at 2.5%.
• If the economy continues to recover our economists expect the Reserve Bank to raise the OCR by 0.5%, to 3% at the next review in September.
• The New Zealand economy has grown more strongly than expected, though uncertainty in global financial markets continues to be a risk.

19/07/11 - Residence path for religious workers confirmed

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12/07/11 - NZ more expensive for expats, but much cheaper than Oz

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The strength of the dollar has made New Zealand a more expensive place for expatriates to move to, but it remains far cheaper than Australia.

In Mercer's annual cost of living survey, published today, Auckland has moved up to 118th place from 149 the year before, while Wellington rose to 136 from 163.

Sydney moved up 10 places to 14, Melbourne lifted from 33 to 21, Perth surged 30 places to rank 30, Canberra rose 40 places to 34, and Adelaide was up 44 places to 46.

The survey covers 214 cities and measures the comparative cost of more than 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. It is designed to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowances for their expatriate employees.

Luanda in Angola is the world's most expensive city for expatriates for the second year running.

Tokyo remains in second position and N'Djamena in Chad is in third place.

Moscow is fourth, with Geneva fifth and Osaka sixth. Zurich jumps one position to seventh, Singapore rises three places to eighth and Hong Kong slips one place to ninth.

London is 18th, Milan 25th, and Paris 27th, while New York is the most expensive North American city at 27th.

Least expensive is Karachi in Pakistan.

Sarah Barnaby of Mercer said that rising costs, due to currency fluctuations and natural disasters had presented challenges for multinational organisations managing workforces in New Zealand, but that did not diminish its appeal to expatriates or their employers.

Organisations managing an international workforce should not view costs associated with currency fluctuations in isolation but factor them into longer term growth plans for the business.

(Source NZ Herald, NZPA)

May be a good tool to use when you are considering moving to New Zealand!