Lower staff numbers at Immigration NZ blamed for visa 'bottleneck'

RNZ - 24 April 2022

for restricting how many migrant workers, students and visitors can come into the country.

Travellers from a country needing visas to enter New Zealand, such as China, India and South Africa, have to wait till October under the government's current border timeline, unless they have an existing visa or border exemption.

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has 20 percent fewer staff than before the pandemic and has been juggling the surge in one-off residence visas and an overhaul of work visas.

But it denied its ability to process visas was the sole factor in the delay to re-opening to the rest of the world.

Mounir Ziati has been waiting for his skilled migrant (SMC) residence application to be decided since October 2019.

"So basically from October 2019 to now it's been almost 30 months," he said. "We put everything aside because our decision was to move to New Zealand with this idea that everything will be done within six months.

"We have information that there are only 10 case officers processing all the SMC applications, both general and priority, and the other resources were transferred to the Residence Visa 2021."

About 1200 of the 2600 people in the same situation are, like him, still overseas and some have been waiting for a decision since Christmas 2018, despite reaching the immigration points threshold.

"We know that the vast majority of applicants like me don't have a job offer. To earn 160 points without a job offer in New Zealand you have to be very, very skilled, have a high degree diploma, a master's degree and so on. So basically we are a lot of skilled people who are waiting and putting on hold your life."

Ziati, however, counts himself luckier than many as his French citizenship means he does not need a visa to visit - so he and his partner and five-year-old son are coming next month.

Ministers cited INZ capacity issues as a factor in delaying non-visa-waiver arrivals for another six months, but said they would see if they could bring that date forward.

Officials said they were ready to process the 5000 border exceptions the government had announced for students.

Capacity was only part of the reason for the October date for other visas, INZ's acting deputy secretary of labour, science, and enterprise Ruth Isaac told parliament's Education and Workforce Committee.

"So how many students we could do in the middle of the year for semester two, was alongside decisions about opening other visa categories, the resident visa 2021 processing, and what could be managed without significant trade-offs," Isaac said.

"Ministers had a range of options to choose between, and that's where they landed. Larger numbers would have made perhaps slower processing of critical worker border exceptions or other things. So it's about the balance across students, workers, family and other categories that ministers wish to open."

Impact on economy - National

The constraint the economy was suffering through labour shortages, tourism and international education losses was incredibly damaging, said National MP Penny Simmonds.

"So we've got this incredible bottleneck because Immigration New Zealand is not able to process quickly enough across all these areas to get our industries going at full speed again, whether it's in the critical worker or the international student visas. We have got a bottleneck because of Immigration New Zealand capacity."

Immigration was not the only factor, Isaac said.

"Ministers took into account the volumes of arrivals they wanted to have in light of the potential Omicron peak and remember those decisions were taken before we were in the middle of it. They were waiting for the travel declaration system to be in place so that we had automatic ways to ensure that people were meeting the health criteria for entry to New Zealand, which has just come into place.

"And they were trying to balance a number of things. And they've also been quite aware that doing everything at once is a way to create large queues, and having a staged process is the best way for us to do a good job at every step of the process."

But Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, announcing the border re-opening timeframe last month, said visa capacity was key to its decision.

"The major issue here is not a question of safety, but a question of the ability to process those new visas in a timely way - keeping in mind we're already dealing with a large number of people who are now being made residents through recent decisions and gearing back up a lot of visa processing."

Staff numbers

INZ figures show it has 179 fewer workers than before the pandemic.

Since December, it has received 91,000 applications for 181,000 people to get residence under the government's fast-track scheme. And next month, the twice-delayed Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) will begin to replace six work permit categories, with the first visas due in July.

Immigration's general manager of border and visa operations, Nicola Hogg, said it was recruiting for more New Zealand staff and has opened a second office in Christchurch after closing three overseas offices last year.

"INZ is constantly reviewing our capacity and capability to ensure we have the right level of resources to process anticipated incoming visa volumes.

"The new staff we hire are trained across a number of different visa categories as we are always training and moving staff between different visa categories, depending on incoming visa volumes. We will continue to do this as we process 2021 Resident Visas, while also opening offshore applications in line with the government's Reconnecting New Zealand plan.

"INZ currently has 658 Immigration officers processing and making decisions on visa applications. In February 2020 when the borders closed due to Covid-19, INZ had 837 Immigration Officers processing visa applications in Auckland, Christchurch, Porirua, Hamilton, Palmerston North and in overseas offices."

Some migrants worry about how quickly they may get visas approved once they are able to apply in October, especially split families wanting to reunite before Christmas.

For others with expiring visas, October will be too late.

Figures released to the Green party immigration spokesperson Ricardo Menendez March show an average of 20,000 visas expire each month from now till October.

Migrant Jagdeep Singh, who had a post-study work visa but was in India when the border closed, said more than 80 percent of visas had already expired.

"It's discrimination with us," he said. "We want to extend our visa or get a replacement visa same as in Australia. Our future and life has been totally destroyed, it's against humanity. Nobody has listened to us."

www.samigration.com

Here’s how many skilled South Africans are getting residency in New Zealand

Businesstech - 24 April 2022

 

New data from Statistics New Zealand shows the number of South African nationals who have gained residency in the country has risen sharply in recent months as global lockdown restrictions ease.

The statistics body’s data shows that the number of South Africans who were accepted on business or skilled residency visas increased to 4,395 in December 2021, up from as few as 30 visas in September 2020 at the height of the Covid pandemic.

Similar jumps were seen in other visa categories and for other countries – indicating that New Zealand cleared a backlog in applications as travel restrictions were eased.

Around 1,580 South Africans gained residence in March 2022, indicating that some normalisation has begun to take place – although this is still well above the average 500 monthly residencies recorded pre-pandemic.

New Zealand is historically a popular destination for emigrating South Africans – typically only behind the United Kingdom and Australia. A 2021 United Nations migration report recorded approximately 73,850 South Africans living in New Zealand as of 2020 (5.3% of New Zealand’s migrant stock).

South Africans choose to move to New Zealand for numerous reasons, most notably because it is deemed safe, child-friendly, and has job opportunities.

Historically these South Africans have entered the country on residence and work visas, however, the data shows that there has also been an increase in student visa arrivals in recent years.

The New Zealand government forecasts that it will need approximately 47,000 additional workers a year well into the coming decade.

“The majority of the new jobs will be in highly skilled occupations, and it’s expected most will have to be filled by people from overseas countries – including South Africa,” it said.

“Job openings will grow for virtually every kind of work. But the largest increases will be in business services, construction/utilities, health care/social assistance and education.”

However, the country is also in the process of reviewing its general immigration policies as the country sees more workers than its infrastructure can currently accommodate.

“Immigrants make a positive contribution to New Zealand, bringing diversity and much-needed skills. As taxpayers, immigrants also have a positive impact on the Government’s finances,” the country’s productivity commission said.

“Yet, New Zealand has struggled for a long time to absorb and accommodate more people well. Infrastructure and housing supply has not kept up with rapid population growth, creating pressures that affect the wellbeing of both migrants and New Zealanders.”

www.samigration.com

South Africa plans to start tracking emigration – here’s where people are moving

Businesstech - 24 April 2022

 

The South African government plans to change its data collection systems to get a better idea of how many skilled South Africans are leaving the country.

The proposal, which is included in the Department of Employment and Labour’s latest National Labour Migration Policy (NLMP), notes the country has seen an outflow of valuable skills in several sectors.

It added that the emigration of skilled South Africans has not been addressed efficiently through any specific policy, and constitutes a growing problem in certain sectors.

The updated data-tracking will also allow the government and public to have reliable, up-to-date data on flows and stocks of highly skilled South Africans employed abroad and on sectors and occupations particularly affected by attrition to emigration or remigration, it said.

Historically, the Department of Home Affairs and Statistics South Africa has not published information on the number of people emigrating. However, the United Nations does keep data on migrant stock and where South Africans have emigrated.

According to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs’ 2020 International Migrant Stock report, by the end of 2020, 914,901 South Africans were living in other countries and territories, up from 786,554 in 2015.

Three times as many people emigrated from South Africa between 2015 and 2020 – over 128,000 people – than between 2010 and 2015 (43,000 people), the data showed.

Country of destination	Number of emigrants
United Kingdom	247 300
Australia	199 700
United States	117 300
New Zealand	73 800
Canada	48 100
Germany	20 400
Mozambique	20 200
Zimbabwe	19 700
Netherlands	17 500
Eswatini	12 700

Wealthy more likely to leave 

FNB’s latest property barometer for South Africa shows that around 8% of people are selling their homes with plans to leave the country. Notably, the data shows that wealthier South Africans – even those in upper-middle-income brackets – are more likely to sell up to emigrate.

As many as 14% of home sellers in the R2.6 million – R3.6 million house price bracket are selling to emigrate, with this figure dropping to 11% in the R3.6 million+ house band.  Emigration-related sales increased steadily between 2015 and 2019, rising from 5% of total sales in 2015 to a record-high of 13.4% in Q2 2019.

This number subsequently dropped to around the 8% mark in 2021 due to a confluence of factors, including international restrictions and a strong property market. However, this is up a percentage point compared to the Q2 2020 report.

www.samigration.com

Bushiri ‘declared tithes as own riches’ in bid for residency

Sunday World - 24th Apr 2022

 

The Department of Home Affairs has shed light on how self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri illegally used tithes from his church and an aircraft to obtain documents for permanent residency in South Africa.

In final submissions filed in a disciplinary case against the senior official who granted approval for Bushiri’s permanent residency, the department goes to length to show that Bushiri and his family did not qualify for permanent residency after they used bank accounts of their church and an aircraft purchased for $1,25-million as proof of an investment they were going make.

The department contended that Bushiri did not have a net worth of R12-million and instead used the bank account of the church for his application in 2016.

“Accepting for the moment that one could consider an aircraft as an investment, it must be purchased for commercial/freight business use. However, purchasing it for personal use, as Bushiri did, does not constitute an investment.

“It is like a person purchasing an expensive Rolls Royce in South Africa and calling it an investment because of what it costs and the fact that it needs a chauffeur. This is utter nonsense. This, without even considering the fact that a cash purchase of an aircraft for $1,25-million should immediately raise eyebrows about possible money laundering or contravention of exchange control regulations,” the department said.

“Secondly, the chartered accountant relied on the bank statements of the church. Church funds cannot be relied upon as a source of investment, and it is not clear why they were even attached. A cursory glance at the bank statements in any event reveal that large amounts of cash were deposited and then withdrawn each month,” the department added.

The Bushiri’s permanent residency was also unlawfully authorised along with applications for refugee status.

In terms of the Immigration Act, an applicant must invest or intend to invest R2,5-million in the country to be granted permanent residency, among other qualifying criteria.

The act also states that the minimum net worth of an applicant should be R12-million, of which R120 000 should be paid to the director-general of home affairs upon approval of the application.

The submission is based on the report of an internal investigation that the department conducted into the saga.

The department wants Ronney Marhule, the suspended chief director of permits, to be found guilty of misconduct related to gross dishonesty, gross negligence and non-compliance with the Immigration Act. The outcome of the case will be out in a few weeks.

In January, the Labour Court dismissed Marhule’s application opposing the fact that the department used a lawyer to preside over his disciplinary hearing.

The department alleges Marhule approved Bushiri’s application while the application file and all relevant documents were still at the Lilongwe mission in Malawi and were only couriered to the department’s head office in Pretoria during December 2019.

“There was documentary evidence available in the files of the department establishing that Bushiri was in South Africa on a visitor’s visa but had, contrary to the Immigration Act, been conducting a business, which ought to have resulted in the rejection of the application, or alternatively, its referral for further investigation.

“There was documentary evidence available in the files of the department, establishing that Bushiri’s spouse, Mary Bushiri, had submitted a fraudulent exemption certificate issue in terms of the repealed Aliens Control Act prior to the application and recommendation for the approval of Bushiri’s permanent residence permit, which ought to have resulted in rejection of the application, alternatively, its referral for further investigation,” the department said.

In October 2020, the Bushiris  were arrested and charged with fraud and money laundering by the Hawks.

The status of Bushiri’s citizenship was brought into question during the arrest.

The department, through its counter corruption unit, initiated an investigation into allegations of irregular approval of permanent residence permit of Bushiri and his family.

That November, Bushiri and his wife fled to Malawi.

www.samigration.com

South African Spousal Visa

This type of South Africa Spouse or life partner permit is available to people in either heterosexual or same-sex relationships and can be applied for as either a spouse temporary residence permit or a permanent residence permit depending on the length of the marriage or relationship in question.

Foreigners who are spouses of South African citizensor permanent resident holders may apply for permanent residence. To obtain permanent residence, you would have to have been with your partner for more than 5 years.

Being one of the most progressive countries in the world in recognizing same-sex couples and affording them equal rights to that of heterosexual unions South Africa grants spousal permits to life partners in both same-sex and heterosexual relationships.

• The spousal permit is classified under the relative’s visa category and is renewable.
• The spousal visa is issued for a period of 36 months at a time. An added factor is the expiry date of the passport , ie the visa cannot be longer than expiry date of passport.
• It is a temporary residency visa and is only issued to foreign nationals who can prove a committed relationship with a South African citizen or person holding permanent residency.
• The couple must be able to prove a relationship longer than two years

If you would like to study or work while in the Republic you may do so but you would have to apply for working rights to be added to your visa. Persons on a spousal permit may also only apply to have either study, or business or working rights added to their visa, but not all three. This means that if you added a working rights endorsement to your visa you may only work for an employer.