Essential Skills Work Visa – Importance of Advertising

November 1, 2017

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.