INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND TO THIS REPORT

Purpose of this report

This report is the eighth in a series produced annually to provide background information about trends in temporary and permanent migration. The report is prepared for:

• policy-makers concerned with migration flows and their impact
• the wider public with an interest in immigration policy and outcomes.

The information in these reports now constitutes a time series that enables recent immigration patterns to be compared with those identified in previous years.

This report contains an update of trends for the fiscal year of 2007/08. The affects of the global economic downturn on migration trends are not present in this time period. The global outlook chapter contains an overview of effects of the downturn that were observed by October 2008.

Structure of this report

The report is structured as follows.

• Chapter 1 introduces New Zealand's immigration policies. (A timeline of policy changes is in Appendix A.)
• Chapter 2 contains a special feature summarising the findings from the Economic Impacts of Immigration research programme.
• Chapter 3 reports on the global outlook.
• Chapter 4 describes migration flows into and out of New Zealand.
• Chapter 5 describes the characteristics of people granted student and work permits.
• Chapter 6 summarises the trends in permanent residence approvals.
• Chapters 7-9 detail residence approvals through the four residence streams: Skilled/Business Stream; Uncapped Family Sponsored Stream and Parent Sibling Adult Child Stream; and International/Humanitarian Stream.
• Chapter 10 concludes the report.
• The appendices contain a glossary, information on immigration policies, and supplementary tables and analyses.
• All publications referred to in this report are in the References.

For information about the methodology underlying this report, including definitions of key terms, see Appendix B.

Role of immigration

Immigration provides significant benefit to New Zealand's economic development. The temporary and permanent entry of citizens from other countries helps to attract global talent to address skill shortages, and brings capital, expertise, and international connections to build New Zealand's workforce.

Internationally, the nature of migration is changing. Migrants are increasingly mobile, and New Zealand has seen substantial growth in the numbers of temporary entrants coming to visit, study, and work. New Zealand faces strong competition for skilled people in a global labour market and is one of many countries with active immigration policies. New Zealand citizens also play a crucial role in our migration patterns, with increasing numbers taking part in the opportunities offered by other economies.

In 2007/08, focus remained on meeting New Zealand's labour shortages, predominantly New Zealand's acute high-skill needs. However, increasing demand for migrants helps to alleviate New Zealand's labour shortages across a broad skill spectrum. For example, the high demand for seasonal labour in the horticulture and viticulture sectors saw the introduction of the Recognised Seasonal Employer Policy in April 2007.^[9]

Immigration Change Programme

In 2006, the Department of Labour began a programme of work, the Immigration Change Programme, to significantly change New Zealand's immigration system. The programme is being implemented to ensure immigration continues to maximise the benefits of immigration for New Zealand while maintaining security and minimising risk.

The three elements underpinning the Immigration Change Programme are legislative reform, a review of immigration policy, and a new model for the delivery of immigration services. Over 2007/08, critical developments have occurred in all three elements.

Legislative reform: Immigration Bill

The Immigration Bill was introduced into Parliament in August 2007. It rewrites the Immigration Act 1987 from first principles and aims to establish a legislative framework to ensure:

• New Zealand can attract the skills, talent, and labour needed for its economy
• New Zealanders can have confidence in the country's border security
• migrants and refugees can settle well and integrate into New Zealand communities.

Review of immigration policy

The major policy development concerning foreign workers in 2007/08 was the establishment of a new temporary work policy framework, the Essential Skills Policy.

A variety of work is being done to ensure immigration policy continues to support New Zealand's needs. The Immigration Policy Framework is based on research into New Zealand's future migration requirements, who will want to come to New Zealand and how this can be influenced, and how the impacts of migration can be managed. Since its completion in late 2006, the framework has provided the conceptual foundation for ongoing policy development.

Business changes: Immigration Business Transformation

A new model for the delivery of immigration services is needed to maximise the potential arising from the new immigration legislation and policy development. In 2006, the Department of Labour was directed to develop the business case for a new business model for immigration services. This model includes:

• a single, global immigration information and communications technology system providing a single view of all interactions with any client
• the capacity to store and use biometric data to confirm about non-New Zealand citizens' identity
• greater investment in preventing the entry of people into New Zealand who the country does not want and managing identity
• more resources to improve fraud detection, prosecution, and removal, and document verification
• a better business configuration that can maximise the use of information to improve the consistency of, and confidence in, immigration decision-making.

In March 2008, Cabinet approved the scope of a second business case to analyse 10 specific projects to achieve the required business transformation. The Immigration Business Transformation Stage 2 Business Case was completed in December 2008.

Temporary Entry Policy

The objectives of New Zealand's Temporary Entry Policy are to facilitate the entry of genuine visitors, students, and temporary workers, while managing the associated risks, and to contribute to building strong international links, attracting foreign exchange earnings, and addressing skills shortages. Work to Residence Policies are temporary policies that provide a pathway to permanent residence in New Zealand for temporary migrants.

Each of the five Work to Residence Policies has a corresponding permanent residence category. Table C1 in Appendix C describes the temporary entry policies.

Permanent Residence Policy

People who want to migrate permanently to New Zealand must apply through one of the four residence streams of the New Zealand Residence Programme (NZRP): the Skilled/Business, Parent Sibling Adult Child, Uncapped Family Sponsored, and International/Humanitarian Streams.

Each stream has several categories and a separate approval limit, which is detailed in Table 1.1 for 2007/08.

Table 1.1 Approval limits for New Zealand Residence Programme (NZRP) streams, 2007/08

NZRP stream	Minimum	Maximum	Percentage of NZRP (%)
Skilled/Business	27,000	29,500	60
Uncapped Family Sponsored[10]	9,500	11,000	21
Parent Sibling Adult Child	4,450	5,000	10
International/Humanitarian	4,050	4,500	9
Total	45,000	50,000	100

Skilled/Business Stream

The Skilled/Business Stream comprises three categories: the Skilled Migrant Category (SMC), Residence from Work Category, and Business Immigration Policy.

The SMC is the main category in the Skilled/Business Stream. The SMC is a points-based policy that allows people to gain permanent residence in New Zealand if they have the skills, qualifications, and experience to contribute to New Zealand economically and socially. For information about the points process, see section 7.2.

The Business Immigration Policy includes the Active Investor Migrant Policy (which replaced the 2005 Investor Category in 2007), Entrepreneur Category, and Employees of Relocating Businesses Category. Under the Active Investor Migrant Policy, investor migrants must actively contribute to New Zealand businesses, directly or indirectly. The Active Investor Migrant Policy is segmented into three subcategories based on the migrant's potential contribution and the assessed level of risk. The Entrepreneur Category is for business migrants who can demonstrate they have successfully set up and operated a business in New Zealand. Chapter 7 discusses the separate policies within the Skilled/Business Stream.

The quotas and categories in this stream are summarised in Table C2 in Appendix C.

Family-sponsored migrants

Before July 2007, all applications for family sponsorship were processed under the Family Sponsored Stream. Since July 2007, partners and dependent children have been approved through the Uncapped Family Sponsored Stream. Parents, siblings, and adult children continue to be approved through the Parent Sibling Adult Child Stream. These streams allow New Zealand citizens and residents to sponsor family members to live in New Zealand under some circumstances.

Under the Partnership Policy (a category of the Uncapped Family Sponsored Stream), a couple must provide evidence that their relationship is genuine and stable. Applicants must have been living in a genuine and stable partnership for 12 months or more at the time they lodge their application.

Sponsors of less-dependent relatives (parents, siblings, and adult children) must have held New Zealand residence for at least three years. Sponsors must sign a declaration that they will provide the sponsored migrant with accommodation and financial support for the first two years of the sponsored migrant's residence in New Zealand.

Applications from partners and dependent children are prioritised ahead of other applications in these two streams. Applicants under these streams are also encouraged to submit an expression of interest for the SMC, if they appear to meet SMC policy.

In November 2007, new provisions came into effect for family-sponsored migrants. The changes included a new visitor's visa for parents and grandparents visiting family in New Zealand that allows the holder to make multiple visits over a three-year period, strengthened character requirements for sponsoring a partner, and a minimum income requirement for people sponsoring their parents.

The quotas and categories in these streams are summarised in Table C3 in Appendix C.

International/Humanitarian Stream

The International/Humanitarian Stream enables New Zealand to fulfil its international obligations and commitments regarding refugees and its special relationship with some Pacific nations, as expressed by the Samoan Quota and Pacific Access Category.

The quotas and categories in this stream are summarised in Table C4 in Appendix C.

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