News
Migrant quota increases
New Zealand’s Immigration department has announced they will increase their immigrant intake numbers to help ease the country’s long-term skills shortages, writes Patricia Curmi
The 2006/7 financial year will see the Government attempt to welcome up to a maximum of 52,000 new migrants into the country, the highest intake since 2002.
In 2005–2006, it was 50,000, but was raised to 51,500 in December last year following complaints from employers about skill shortages. The minimum number of migrants set for the quota will be 47,000 for the financial year.
The drive for qualified workers to fill the looming shortages means they are top of the immigration priority list. Skilled and business immigrants are being allocated 60 per cent of the new target, with the family category and sponsored migrants accounting for 30 per cent. Immigration Minister David Cunliffe believes an increased intake can solve acute shortages that have prevented many New Zealand businesses from developing further. He said last month, "More vacancies will be filled. This will help employers who continue to say skill shortages are a constraint to the growth of their businesses, and will contribute to economic growth. "More fundamental changes to the residence programme are being looked at by the government for the 2007–8 financial year."
The measure of how serious the government is about attracting skilled migrants is the degree to which they are willing to adapt current laws to facilitate the residency process for new migrants. Cunliffe asserts, "More fundamental changes to the residence programme are being looked at by the government for the 2007–8 financial year. "One option being considered is setting the residence programme in place for several years at a time."
Information technology, plumbing and engineering are just a few of the areas of absolute skill shortage the Kiwi government is keen to attract immigrant workers into. In the fortnightly selection from the Expression of Interest (EOI) pool, 750 EOIs (representing 1,871 people) were selected, 382 of which had job offers.
British migrants made up around only 22.3 per cent of the total migrant intake, down from previous months, while China and the Philippines were the second and third biggest sources of migrants with 22 and 16.3 per cent respectively. According to the 2001 census, one in five New Zealand residents were born overseas, and immigration officials suggest the country's long history of migration will better prepare it for a big migrant in-flow.
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21 December 2006