Relaxed rules spell extra drift overseas

By MONIQUE DEVEREUX

New Zealand's newly graduated nurses, doctors and IT professionals - already in high demand overseas - will find it easier to work long term in England after radical changes to the British work permit scheme.

The scheme shows just how much countries are competing to attract skilled migrants.

But one group affected by the pull on graduates, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, says the relaxed eligibility rules could increase this country's already severe nursing shortage.

The issue surfaced this week at a South Pacific Nurses Conference in Australia, where delegates said that European countries were creating critical healthcare problems by attracting Pacific nurses.

British Employment Minister Margaret Hodge said this week that 30,000 more work permits would be issued next year in an effort to lure more skilled workers to Britain.

The applicants have to be from outside the European Economic Area.

The increase follows changes to the work permit scheme, which now allows successful applicants into Britain to find work and lets them stay for five years.

Until now, work permits were issued only if a British employer had hired the applicant, and were valid for only four years.

And applicants now need only one year's experience in their profession instead of the two previously.

They will still need to meet immigration criteria, which excludes people with a criminal record and those whose residency application has previously been denied.

Although nurses, doctors and IT specialists top Britain's recruitment drive, there is also a shortage of teachers, aircraft engineers, clinical psychologists, pharmacists, chefs with ethnic cuisine expertise, physiotherapists and veterinary surgeons.

Nurses Organisation northern area manager James Ritchie said there was a global shortage of nurses, and the new opportunities were obviously appealing to nurses worldwide.

He said that to retain nurses in this country, employers and the Government had to find a way to make working here more attractive, "and make people really want to work in New Zealand."

The work permit scheme is different to the two-year working holiday that 10,000 young New Zealanders apply for every year.

Under that visa, New Zealanders are allowed to live in Britain for two years, but can be employed for only one of those years and are not entitled to work in their chosen profession. They must also be under the age of 28.

The work permit scheme has no age restrictions and is based on the applicant's occupation and experience in the job.

British High Commission spokesman Bryan Nicolson said he imagined the changes to the permit eligibility would make it "very popular for those seeking longer term overseas work experience."

He did not have figures on the number of New Zealanders who had applied for work permits in previous years because, before the changes, applications were made by the employer through the English labour office.

Britain issued 90,000 work permits last year.

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