New Government may increse PR requirement....

[David12345]

Hi all,

This question is on behalf of my partner and any others on a residence visa waiting the necessary 2 years to be eligible for permanent residence.
On the New Zealand first political party's website it says they want to reduce immigration to around 10,000 per year down from the current 72,000-ish per year, and one of the ways it wants to do this is by increasing the time frame for people on residence visa to be able to get permanent residency visas from the current two years. It does not say what they would like to increase it to though, my question is, does anyone know what they are considering increasing to, and how it would possibly reduce the amount of people getting PR? as the way I see it anyone who has gone threw the hassle, stress and money of obtaining a residence visa will stay more than two years to get PR if they have to?

Also it does not seem smart that they would increase it to anything above 4 years as residence visa holders are usually eligible to apply for New Zealand citizenship after 5 years meaning they can get the NZ passport and stay as long as they like.

I just don't see how this particular policy will reduce immigration, does anyone else?

Also my partner has been on her residence visa for one year now which was obtained threw her partnership with me, this time next year she will apply for her PR (if the 2 year requirement has not been increased) and 3 years after that which will be 5 years here as a resident she will apply for her NZ citizenship and NZ passport, does anyone think we will have any difficulties doing this with the new government? I know nobody will know exactly what the new government will do but any info which may be relevant would be great.

[Oregonkiwi]

On the New Zealand first political party's website it says they want to reduce immigration to around 10,000 per year .

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/politi...t-to-hold-sway
"The new government will follow Labour's election policy on immigration numbers not New Zealand First's, Jacinda Ardern has reiterated. ...."


http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/politi...n-store-for-nz
"Sixth Labour govt: What's in store for NZ....
Immigration

The Greens are an outlier when it comes to how New Zealand should approach immigration and is the only party in this governing arrangement that does not support a significant reduction.

However, indications are Labour and New Zealand First have agreed on a programme to cut the number of unskilled migrants and student visas.

Ms Ardern has said she will stick with Labour's policy to reduce net immigration by 20,000 to 30,000 a year."

[ChrisMwn]

Hi all,

This question is on behalf of my partner and any others on a residence visa waiting the necessary 2 years to be eligible for permanent residence.
On the New Zealand first political party's website it says they want to reduce immigration to around 10,000 per year down from the current 72,000-ish per year, and one of the ways it wants to do this is by increasing the time frame for people on residence visa to be able to get permanent residency visas from the current two years. It does not say what they would like to increase it to though, my question is, does anyone know what they are considering increasing to, and how it would possibly reduce the amount of people getting PR? as the way I see it anyone who has gone threw the hassle, stress and money of obtaining a residence visa will stay more than two years to get PR if they have to?

Also it does not seem smart that they would increase it to anything above 4 years as residence visa holders are usually eligible to apply for New Zealand citizenship after 5 years meaning they can get the NZ passport and stay as long as they like.

I just don't see how this particular policy will reduce immigration, does anyone else?

Also my partner has been on her residence visa for one year now which was obtained threw her partnership with me, this time next year she will apply for her PR (if the 2 year requirement has not been increased) and 3 years after that which will be 5 years here as a resident she will apply for her NZ citizenship and NZ passport, does anyone think we will have any difficulties doing this with the new government? I know nobody will know exactly what the new government will do but any info which may be relevant would be great.

In an interview with The Nation on Saturday morning, when asked where the "sweet spot" was in the contentious issue, the Prime Minister-elect said: "You'll see Labour's policy remains absolutely unchanged as a result of these negotiations."

Under that policy, Labour estimates net migration will fall by 20,000 to 30,000 a year, mostly by limiting the number of people granted student and work visas. (In the year to June 2017, net migration was 72,305.)

[farfaraway]

Can you please post the link which says " increasing the time frame for people on residence visa to be able to get permanent residency visas from the current two years " ?
I am curious

[Dawntide]

Can you please post the link which says " increasing the time frame for people on residence visa to be able to get permanent residency visas from the current two years " ?
I am curious

I think David is concerned about the NZ First policy which wanted PR requirements increased. It is worth mentioning that NZ First only secured 7.2% of the votes and none of its candidates got directly elected to any of their constituencies. Its just the stroke of luck and the magic of MMP that they actually have a voice in NZ Politics.

In any case, Labours policy doesn't have any such requirements, and it will be extraordinarily stupid of Labour NZ to act like a pet for a minority party in the coalition. Moreover, some of the residents actually qualify to vote and have voted. These are actual voters out there ... no reason to turn them away.

Plus, those who already have received their Residencies have received a letter where the criteria for getting a PR is mentioned, if that letter has any respect associated with it (which should be the case as it is from a government body) then for us only that rule should apply.

[ysc5]

I think David is concerned about the NZ First policy which wanted PR requirements increased. It is worth mentioning that NZ First only secured 7.2% of the votes and none of its candidates got directly elected to any of their constituencies. Its just the stroke of luck and the magic of MMP that they actually have a voice in NZ Politics.

In any case, Labours policy doesn't have any such requirements, and it will be extraordinarily stupid of Labour NZ to act like a pet for a minority party in the coalition. Moreover, some of the residents actually qualify to vote and have voted. These are actual voters out there ... no reason to turn them away.

Plus, those who already have received their Residencies have received a letter where the criteria for getting a PR is mentioned, if that letter has any respect associated with it (which should be the case as it is from a government body) then for us only that rule should apply.

I think they need to review this MMP thing.
For Members of parliament without constituencies to have equal power with MP with an constituencies that with actual political component, is just meh........

[param912003]

Nothing about increasing the requirement for PR yet:

https://www.scribd.com/document/3624...oad&from_embed

[ChrisMwn]

Nothing about increasing the requirement for PR yet:

https://www.scribd.com/document/3624...oad&from_embed

The only points mentioned being:

"Ensure work visas issued reflect genuine skills shortages and cut down on low quality international education courses.•

take serious action on migrant exploitation, particularly of international students"

No mention of any change to residence programmes.

[param912003]

Yes, I honestly think any change to residence programs won't be on the cards anytime very soon (atleast for the next 1 year or so).

National just made huge policy changes to SMC and as we all have seen, the whole process had to be literally halted for 2.5 months for that, staff had to be trained for the new rules, materials (Software/records/manuals etc) updated and all this then had to be conveyed to public by regular updates.

All of this costs so much time and money that govts really would be foolish to do it every now and then. What they can do, if they plan to be really choosy with who they allow in the country, is increase the EOI selection mark. But that's SMC, no where close to PR.

Another point is that the bark of most pol leaders is much sharper than their bite. Peters is a shining example of that, if you would see his past record. That's simply because the kind of extremism that sounds good in campaigns is often impractical when it comes to implementation.

[Dawntide]

As per the coalition agreement between NZ First and NZ Labour Party, no changes to PR requirements have been announced. It has been announced that the coalition will follow NZ Labour Party's immigration policy with which it went forward with the election and if that policy is studied we can see that there is no clause about PR requirements.

Increasing the PR requirements is actually a very sensitive topic and not tampered with usually (specially with a minority government like this). What is certain though that the immigration policies surrounding Work Visa and SMC category towards NZ Residency is going to get very tough very soon.

Cheers!

Copy of the NZ Labour Party and NZ First Party Coalition Agreement:

http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/17...nAgreement.pdf

Link for NZ Labour Party Immigration Policy: http://www.labour.org.nz/immigration