Vicious circles for migrants to end

By MONIQUE DEVEREUX

Foreign doctors, nurses and IT specialists may find it easier to immigrate here under a proposed revamp of immigration rules - especially if they want to live outside the main cities.

The Government indicated its plans to try to close the skills gap in the job market during yesterday's Business to Government Forum.

Minister of Immigration Lianne Dalziel said the system had spent the past decade working without much relevance to the needs of New Zealand's workforce.

It contained "many vicious circles" that meant people could attain work permits but not residency, and vice versa.

Changes to the immigration system could make it easier for doctors, nurses, IT workers and various tradespeople - the main areas in which New Zealand lacks staff - to qualify for residency, she said.

A recent survey found between 1000 and 2000 vacancies in IT alone around the country, she said.

But the minister said the Government was well aware those occupations were short-staffed globally, and New Zealand would still have to find a way to compete for migrants.

Just last week, Britain approved an extra 90,000 work permits for 2001 and relaxed entry criteria, in an effort to attract more nurses, doctors and IT staff.

Lianne Dalziel also said that the immigration points system was "nonsensical" and needed a major overhaul.

"It is in effect a blunt instrument and it has no linkage whatsoever to the gaps in this country's workforce."

Under the present general skills immigration category, applicants must score at least 24 on the points system. Points are awarded for a number of factors, including qualifications, work experience and age.

The minister said immigration criteria might still be judged on a points system in the future, but it would give weight to other factors, including different occupational groups and regional settlement.

The changes may be good news for English woman Jacqui Watson, a staff training manager who has visited New Zealand twice this year to try to find employment.

After meeting an immigration lawyer she discovered she did not qualify for either the general skills or family circumstances immigration criteria.

That meant she would need to secure a firm offer of employment in order to apply for a work visa. That employer would then have to prove that her skills could not be matched by a NZ resident.

"I am very aware, however, that the NZ Government is not currently fulfilling its annual immigration quota, and that there is much concern that many New Zealanders are seeking employment overseas," she said.

"Therefore, I feel very disappointed that I am being denied the opportunity of living and working in New Zealand, even on a temporary basis, as I feel that I have a lot to offer your country."

Lianne Dalziel said she would soon form a ministerial advisory group to provide advice on immigration, settlement and refugee issues.