Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi gives details on new one-off residence pathway visas that will be offered to the roughly 165,000 migrant workers and their families. Video / Pool
A young migrant GP who left New Zealand because of the Government's stalled residency queue will be contacted immediately, to see if he will return under a newly announced one-off pathway.
In June Ōtaki GP Dr Harding Richards left the country - and his more than 1300 patients - after a year languishing in the queue for permanent residency, which had backlogged because of Covid-19.
This morning Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi announced a one-off residency pathway for migrant workers and families stranded in New Zealand throughout the pandemic, creating a residence pathway for about 165,000 people - including 5000 in health and aged care.
Ōtaki Medical Centre chief executive Kiwa Raureti, who had fought for residency for Richards before his departure, said he would be emailing the doctor this morning with the good news.
"He did say to me, if the residency situation changes and there was still a vacancy and that if it was possible for him to do so, given his other family commitments, that he would reapply for the job.
"It is kind of fantastic and the thought's always been in the back of our mind but we're unsure – we know there were some other family issues that needed to be resolved."
Ōtaki Medical Centre chief executive Kiwa Raureti is hoping his former GP will return under the new pathway. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Faafoi has been under pressure for months after the Government stopped processing residency applications in March last year, and then put a freeze on expressions of interest this year.
Under the new 2021 residence visa, the main applicant must have been in New Zealand on September 29, 2021, and must hold or have applied for (and subsequently be granted) one of the eligible work visas.
But the visa will also be available for those entering New Zealand as critical workers, and their families, for roles six months or longer until July 31 next year.
Coming three months after Richards' departure, the announcement was "bittersweet", Raureti said.
Kiwa Raureti, Otaki Medical Centre chief executive, had pleaded with Immigration NZ for his GP to be granted residency. Photo / Mark Mitchell
"He left in June and we had done all we could to try and prevent his departure," Raureti said.
"In fact he had intended to leave in January but we started to do some work to try and resolve his issues.
"We weren't able to do so and in the end he had no choice in his mind but to leave."
The new one-off resident visa would also create a pathway for two other GPs at Ōtaki Medical Centre, and hopefully make it easier to entice overseas talent in the future.
"It was bittersweet really because I've lost a GP to residency issues, but on the other hand I have another two who have just started the residency process," Raureti said.
"There's also a glimmer of hope in that we have located another GP who we want to bring into the country, and this will also stabilise things for him if he should come."
More than 30,000 applications are in the residency queue, and another 11,400 expressions of interest ahead of that, including about 26,000 workers and their families.
