What is Essential Skills Demand List (ESID), and what it means to have your occupation on the Shortage Lists in New Zealand?

As per the Immigration New Zealand (INZ) website, New Zealand competes internationally for skilled workers. Workers with skills on the Essential Skills Demand List (ESID) usually find it easier to apply for temporary work and some resident visas.

Skill shortages happen when employers find it hard to get staff with the right skills for the job. Hence knowing which jobs are in skill shortage can help you choose the best job option or decide what subjects to study.

The ESID lists include the:

• Long Term Skill Shortage List (LTSSL), also referred to as Area of absolute skill shortage
• Regional Skill Shortage List (RSSL), which has replaced the Immediate Skill Shortage List (ISSL), and the
• Construction and Infrastructure Skill Shortage List (CISSL), which has replaced the Canterbury Skill Shortage List (CSSL).

If an occupation is on a skill shortage list, the options which are available for employers and prospective migrants include:

• Skilled Migrant Category – under which migrants can apply for residence in New Zealand. It is a points system based on factors such as age, work experience, your qualifications, and an offer of skilled employment. You must also be aged 55 or under, and meet English language, health, and character requirements. Migrants applying for residence under this Category may gain bonus points towards their application if they have an offer of employment or work experience in an area of absolute skill shortage identified on the LTSSL.
• Essential Skills Work Visa – this requires an employer to demonstrate that they have tried to recruit New Zealanders for the position and been unsuccessful. However, if an occupation is on a shortage list, the employer need not provide evidence of their attempts to recruit a New Zealand citizen or resident. This category of visa lets you come to New Zealand to work for up to five years. It can also lead to permanent residence in some circumstances. You can apply for it if you have been offered a job which you are qualified to do, and which you have experience in.
• Essential Skills – Approval in Principle – where a number of migrants are being sought. An AIP under the Essential Skills Work Visa category allows a New Zealand employer to recruit overseas workers to work in New Zealand temporarily. Upon securing AIP status, an employer will be able to assist an overseas migrant with obtaining an Essential Skills work visa that is compliant with the conditions for which the employer’s AIP is granted for. The main benefit of AIP is that employees of employers who have AIP status is assessed to have satisfied the labour market test.
• Talent (Accredited Employer) Work Visa – facilitating recruitment of skilled workers from overseas where the salary is at least NZ$55,000 per annum. This visa is for people who are looking for a pathway to live in New Zealand and who have a skill that’s needed by a New Zealand accredited employer. If an accredited employer offers you full-time work, you’ll be able to get a visa to work here. If you continue to work for that employer for two years, you’ll be able to apply to live in New Zealand permanently.
• Construction and Infrastructure Skill Shortage List (CISSL): Employers recruiting migrant workers to positions on the list will no longer need to show they have advertised the role locally in order for a work visa to be issued if the duties of the job substantially match the INZ description of the role, applicant has the qualifications and/or experience as stated on the list for that occupation, and job is located in the region specified on the list.

Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment (MBIE) reviews the ESID lists every six months to ensure they meet the changing needs of the labour market and to preserve employment opportunities for New Zealanders. It has been reviewed recently and the changes have already come into effect.

The latest outcomes of the LTSSL review are to:

• Add Aged Care Registered Nurse.
• Amend the listing ‘Construction Project Manager Roading and Infrastructure’ by extending the listing to include ‘Construction Project Manager’.
• Decline submissions to add Carpenter to the LTSSL, however, it remains on the CISSL.

The outcomes of the Immediate Skill Shortage List (now the RSSL) review is to:

• Add Early Childhood Teacher (all regions), Primary School Teacher (all regions) and Secondary School Teacher (all regions).
• Remove Construction Project Manager Roading and Infrastructure as this is now listed on the LTSSL.
• Decline submissions to add Café/Restaurant Manager, Fitter (General), Wood Machinist.
• Decline submissions to amend Quantity Surveyor.

The outcomes of the CISSL review are to:

• Add Building Associate.
• Amend Plumber (General) to extend the listing to all regions.
• Remove Stonemason for the Canterbury region – it will remain for Auckland and Northland.

We know that when it comes to hiring an employee, a genuine employer getssleepless nights due to the complications of the process involved.This sometimes discourages an employer to go through the process and hirea suitable candidate who could take the business to next level.Immigration Advisers New Zealand understands the process involved down tothe last detail Continue reading Employers Guide for Hiring Worker →

Importance of advertising as part of labour market check?

Most work visa applications in New Zealand are essential skills work visa applications.When assessing an application Immigration New Zealand (INZ) must be satisfied that there are no suitably qualified New Zealand citizens (or residence class visa holders) available to do the work through a Labour Market Check, of which advertising is an important criteria, if the job vacancy is not for ANZSCO Skill Level 4 or 5.

Hence, it is critically important for the employer to give evidence of his efforts by advertising to recruit any suitable New Zealanders for that job, and then explain why New Zealand applicants or residents were not suitable or readily trainable.

Labour Market Check – How to advertise & assess the candidates

How to advertise?

Advertising is the most effective way to show that genuine attempts have been made to recruit a New Zealander by any employer.There are some guidelines for advertising below:

• Type of advertisements – large websites like Seek, Trademe etc. are acceptable for all occupations, so they must be made use of.
• Duration of advertisement– for ANZSCO skill level 1 – 3 roles, an advertisement for at least 2 – 3 weeks must be run.
• Validity of advertisement– evidence of advertising can be used to support a work visa application, and is valid for up to three months from when the advertisement was first posted.Good news is that the same evidence can be used to support more than one visa application for the same position within that three month period.
• Content of advertisement– the advertisement must accurately describe the job and skills required for the role, and the advertisement must align with the job description.

How to assess the candidates?

All of the candidates who apply for the job must be considered, including any referred by Work and Income.It’s important to remember the that suitable candidates are those who have the skills and ability to take up the job and/or can be trained. So,if one of the New Zealand candidates is suitable, he or she should have been offered the job. If no New Zealanders are suitable, the job could then be offered to a non-New Zealand worker, however submission of the following supporting documentary evidence with the Essential Skills Work Visa application must always be considered:

• Copies of advertisements published in newspapers, magazines, employer’s website and recruitment sites
• Receipts for paid advertising
• Written confirmation from recruitment agencies (if used)
• The duration of advertising campaigns and when/where it ran along with dates and frequency
• Dossier of the applications received and the interviews conducted (i.e. How many New Zealanders and Non-New Zealanders applied?)
• Catalogue of full details of the outcome of recruitment efforts, which must include the number of applicants, shortlisting outcome, and details of why any New Zealand applicants were unsuitable, or unable to be trained (i.e. What required skills, qualifications or experience did they lack?), a link should me made to skills, qualifications, experience or attributes included in the job advertisement or description)
• Efforts that have been made to train New Zealanders to do the work, including details of the outcome, along with the details of any future plans for training and up skilling New Zealanders to do the work
• Any industry statistics on the numbers of vacancies in the market or any other industry based evidence

Role of Immigration Advisers

A common reason for Essential Skills Work Visa applications being declined is that the employer has failed to follow proper procedure while doing the Labour Market Check or has not specified the position correctly in the job advertisement.

Many employers are resistant to employing migrants because of this requirement, because it involves time and expense.

A License Immigration Adviser can help overcome this obstacle by helping the employer by drafting the advertisement and preparing the Immigration New Zealand form. The recruitment/advertising on employer’s behalf can also be handled by Immigration Adviser at appropriate places/mediums/platforms, and with the relevant agencies.

Caution

The Job advertisement and offer can not discourage New Zealand workers from applying.Immigration will not approve an Essential Skills Work Visa application application if the job advertisement discourages New Zealand citizens or residence class visa holders, from applying.

We are thrilled to announce that Vandana Rai, Director of Immigration Advisers New Zealand has been selected as one of the finalist in the Immigration Adviser/Lawyer of the Year and Hall of Fame category of awards of NZAMI that are announce once in two years.The significance of the awards that she has been nominated for is as under:

• Immigration Adviser/Lawyer of the Year Category – This award recognises outstanding professional individuals who are a Licensed Immigration Adviser or Immigration Lawyer who enhance the migration profession, and have contributed to the industry by their notable work in assisting migrants during the last 3 years.
• Hall of Fame Category – This is a rare acknowledgement of a worthy recipient within the Immigration industry.This award is presented to an individual who has provided continuing service and participation in a field which contributes to New Zealand immigration, made a significant and noteworthy contribution to New Zealand immigration which should be recognised by their peers and the wider community.

Vandana Rai has been part of 2016 Immigration Advisers Authority (IAA) referral group in addition to being one of the Directors on the Board of the New Zealand Association of Migration and Investment (NZAMI) for 2017. She is well known within the industry for her contribution to the well being and support of International students, by way of giving not only a range of immigration advisory services but also pastoral care support. In last 2 years Vandana Rai has lodged more than 1400 visas with an approval rate close to 93%.

She is highly educated, having done Masters in Human Development as well as Masters in Business Administration apart from a PG Diploma in Guidance and Counselling and Graduate Certificate in New Zealand Immigration Advice.

Vandana, in her role as a member of 2016 Referral Group of Immigration Advisers Authority (IAA) championed the cause of making offshore licensing mandatory. Vandana Rai, as a director of NZAMI has also made her contribution concerning the assessment of Partnership-Based Visa applications in the Indian market. She has also done lot of spade work over the past 2 years on the partnership based applications who were character declined due to having received unlicensed Immigration Advice and has got character waiver approved for a number of clients, thereby assisting in their family reunification.

Vandana is humbled by this achievement and says that her strength lies in her team , which works unbelievably hard and is the main reason behind this success.

For the full list and more information about these awards, visit the NZAMI website.

As per Education New Zealand ( link provided below) Providers, agents and international students need to be aware that all banks in New Zealand are now required to collect additional information from international students before they can open an account in New Zealand.

As a result of the Global Tax Information Reporting and Anti Money Laundering campaign, all banks in New Zealand, as well as other financial institutions, are required by law to collect additional information from a foreign tax resident before they can open an account in New Zealand. As part of these changes, banks also require a certified copy of (or, in some cases, the original) the student’s passport (bio-page) and proof of current residential address. Those who apply to open a bank account while outside New Zealand will be required to provide proof of their current overseas residential address, and to present themselves at the bank to activate the account when they arrive in New Zealand.

The same changes are being implemented in other countries that are part of this global initiative.

These changes also apply to international students who intend to use INZ’s Funds Transfer Scheme (FTS) to transfer their funds to New Zealand. Note the FTS is only available to international students from certain countries.

FTS information

If applying for an account under the FTS in the near future, ANZ, the New Zealand bank that operates the FTS, may contact the student to complete additional forms to ensure they capture the additional information they require. These forms include questions around the student’s tax information, and the student themselves will need to complete and sign these forms (not their agent).

For FTS accounts only, acceptable proof of residential address includes:

• utility bill (e.g. landline telephone and power only)
• rates bill (e.g. property tax document)
• tax certificate
• insurance policy document

The document(s) listed above must be less than three months old and must state the student’s name and their residential address. Where the student is living with their parents and the document states their parents’ name(s), a parent whose name appears on the document must provide a letter stating that the student lives with them.

Note: there may be some delays visa application processing while Immigration New Zealand and ANZ work through these changes.

Link – https://enz.govt.nz/news-and-research/ed-news/international-students-affected-by-bank-changes/

Why are so many Post Study Work Visa (Employer Assisted) applications of International students being declined in Auckland, New Zealand?

Concerns Identified resulting into declined applications

As per the media reports there has been a sudden spike in the number of applications declined, which had been lodged under Post Study Employer Assisted Work Visa category. Going by the feed back and experience the major reason (s) for the declines have been as under:

• The applicant was unable to satisfy immigration officer that the offer of employment provided practical experience, which was relevant to the qualification.
• The applicant did not hold an offer of full-time employment relevant to that qualification.
• The major subject area and level of the applicant’s qualification was not directly applicable to the employment.
• The qualification was not a key factor in the employer’s decision to employ the applicant in that position.
• There was no clear link visible between the qualification studied by the applicant and the job description provided.

Way forward and precautions to be taken

The way forward and precautions required to be taken to minimise the risks of getting a negative outcome for such applications lodged could be as under:

• Ensure that the major subject area and level of qualification is directly applicable to the employment.
• Ensure that the qualification is a key factor in employer’s decision to employ the applicant in that position.
• Ensure that there is a clear link existing between the qualification and the job description.
• Ensure that the tasks being performed in the job are relevant to papers studied as part of the qualification.
• Ensure that the learning outcomes of the subjects studied are relevant to the day to day work being performed in the job.
• Job description should mention tasks that are directly applicable to the learning outcome of the qualification.

Should you still get a Potentially Prejudicial Information (PPI) from Immigration case officer, please be rest assured that Immigration is now posturing itself to decline your application, hence give it the attention it deserves and book an appointment by mailing at contact@nzimmigration.info

DO NOT TRY AND ANSWER THE PPI RESPONSE YOURSELF SEEK AN IMMIGRATION ADVISER ASAP