6/03/2025 - Primary School Teachers move to Straight to Residence Pathway

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From 26 March 2025, the Government is moving primary school teachers to the Green List Straight to Residence pathway which will allow eligible primary school teachers to apply for residence from offshore. 

27/01/2025 - Visitor Visa Rules updated

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From 27 January 2025 new visa conditions will allow visitors to work remotely for an overseas employer or client. These new conditions let tourists stay in touch with work back home, without breaching their visa conditions.

19/03/25 - Minimum and Median wages NZ

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As of April 1, 2025, the New Zealand minimum wage is $23.50 per hour for adult employees, while the starting-out and training minimum wage is $18.80 per hour. The median wage, used for some visa applications, is $31.61 per hour. 

Here's a more detailed breakdown: 

Minimum Wage:

• Adult Minimum Wage: $23.50 per hour
• Starting-out and Training Minimum Wage: $18.80 per hour
  8-hour day: $185.20 for adult minimum wage, $148.16 for starting-out and training 

• Median Wage:

Current Median

• Wage: $31.61 per hour 

• Used for: Certain visa applications, including the Skilled Migrant Category and Parent Category 

• AEWV: Employers recruiting workers under the AEWV and seasonal SPWV policies will no longer be required to pay the median wage, instead, they will be expected to pay migrant workers on par with their New Zealand counterparts (the New Zealand market rate) 


Other Relevant Points:

Minimum Wage Increase: 


The minimum wage increased from $23.15 to $23.50 per hour on April 1, 2025. 






Starting-out and Training Minimum Wage Increase: 


The starting-out and training minimum wage increased from $18.52 to $18.80 per hour on April 1, 2025. 







Sector Agreements:


Sector Agreements which provided an exemption to the median wage will be removed. 





Migrant Workers: 
Migrant workers will need to be paid at least market rate for a role and at least minimum wage ($23.50 per hour from 1 April 2025). 






Living Wage: 


The 2024/25 New Zealand Living Wage rate is $27.80 per hour. 

(Source Business Govt NZ)

19/03/25 - Changes in March 2025

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Changes have been made to how much you pay migrants, their work experience requirements and how long they can stay in New Zealand. These came into effect from 10 March 2025.

• The wage thresholds for all AEWV and Specific Purpose Work Visa have been removed.
• You can hire migrants with two years’ relevant work experience, instead of three years.
• New migrants employed under the AEWV in lower-skilled roles can stay for three years, instead of two years.
• Some lower-skilled roles will be treated at a higher skill level and are able to have a total stay in New Zealand of five years, instead of three years.
• As an employer, you will need to declare you have advertised lower-skilled roles with Work and Income, and interviewed suitable candidates. You should keep evidence of this in case it is requested later. However, you will no longer need to provide evidence of your engagement in your Job Check.   

Read more: 19/03/25 - Changes in March 2025

22/05/2024 - Record numbers are leaving NZ – but is the grass greener overseas?

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New Zealand lost more than 1000 citizens a week in the year to March 31, amid a contracting economy and rising unemployment. What can they expect in the countries they’re moving to?

For every citizen who migrated back to New Zealand in the year ended March 2024, another three New Zealanders decided to leave the country, according to Stats NZ.

The record net migration loss of 52,000 New Zealand citizens came at the same time the country experienced a net migration gain of 163,000 non-citizens.

Read more: 22/05/2024 - Record numbers are leaving NZ – but is the grass greener overseas?

05/05/2024 - Citizenship time frames

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Many clients are asking me; "What is the current time frame for citizenshipapplication?"

Application assessment

The oldest applications we are starting to assess were received in March 2023.

If your application was received after March 2023, the Department of Internal Affairs cannot provide any further information on the status of your application.

These timeframes were updated in May 2024.

The time taken to process an application in the past is no guarantee of how long it may take in future.

Application outcome

96% of applicants receive an outcome within 18 months of submitting their application.

Application process

90% of applicants are granted citizenship within 19 months of submitting their application.

We collect data on the status of New Zealand citizenship applications by the date they were received

Source DIA

03/05/2024 - New tools strengthen immigration law enforcement

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From 11 April 2024 Immigration New Zealand (INZ) will be able to issue infringement notices to employers with the aim of addressing lower-level immigration non-compliance and deter those who take advantage of migrant workers.

Infringement penalties can include: a minimum fine of $1,000, loss of accredited employer or Recognised Seasonal Employer status, and being banned (stood-down) from supporting further visas for migrant workers for a period of time depending on the number of infringement notices the employer receives. More serious breaches may result in criminal charges.

Read more: 03/05/2024 - New tools strengthen immigration law enforcement

01/05/2024 - Update to secondary school teachers moving to the Straight to Residence pathway

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From 1 May 2024 secondary school teachers are now on the Straight to Residence pathway on the Green List of in-demand roles.

In April, the Government announced that secondary school teachers will move to the Straight to Residence pathway on the Green List of in-demand roles.

Eligible overseas secondary school teachers can now apply for residence from outside New Zealand:

• when they have an offer of employment with an accredited employer, and
• without needing to work for 2 years in New Zealand first.

Other teachers remain on the Work to Residence pathway.

(Sourve INZ Website)

19/04/2024 - 'Character' and its impact on immigration status

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The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is sounding a warning to migrants, that running afoul of the law may see them leaving the country prematurely.

Immigration officers are concerned by the number of temporary migrants committing crime seemingly not aware of the implications for their immigration status in New Zealand.

Deportation may be the outcome for migrants who commit crime in New Zealand. For serious criminal offenders, it is often the only option, once their custodial sentence is served.

What may be perceived as a minor offence or misdemeanour back home, can have serious consequences here.

MBIE’s General Manager Immigration Compliance and Investigations, Steve Watson, says in some areas across the country, increasing numbers of migrant workers in construction, tourism and hospitality are facing alcohol related charges and court appearances. He has a message for them.

“If you commit an offence, it may affect your ability to remain in the country.”

He says offenders are often unaware of the consequences of what they may see as minor matters.

“And they are shocked when we tell them that committing a crime may mean an early plane ride home,” adds Mr Watson.

However, he says that immigration officers work with migrants to achieve the best outcome for them and New Zealand.

The decision to deport is made by looking at a total picture of an individual’s circumstances.

This may include:

• what the criminal offence is
• how long they have been in New Zealand
• whether they have got family in New Zealand
• what their job is
• the skill set of the individual, and
• whether there are any humanitarian factors present which relate to New Zealand’s international obligations.

“We compare the risks of their offending with the value they bring to New Zealand, and balance that against a careful assessment of their character,” says Mr Watson.

“Deportation may affect their ability to return to New Zealand and potentially their ability to visit other countries as well.”
Check our criminal conviction page to learn more about the impact of crime on peoples’ ability to come to New Zealand.
Criminal convictions

(Source INZ website)

07/12/2023 - Prime Minister Luxon reveals his '49 actions' for first 100 days

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The 49 prioritised actions announced this afternoon include:

1. Repeal the Clean Car Discount scheme by December 31, 2023.
2. Ban the use of cell phones in schools.
3. Introduce legislation to remove the Auckland Fuel Tax.
4. Repeal Fair Pay Agreement legislation.
5. Stop "blanket speed limit reductions" and start work on replacing the Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits 2022.
6. Stop central government work on the Auckland Light Rail project.
7. Start work to improve the quality of regulation.
8. Introduce legislation to repeal the Water Services Entities Act 2022, also known as the Three Waters reforms
9. Introduce legislation to ban gang patches, stop gang members gathering in public, and stop known gang offenders from communicating with one another.
10. Give police greater powers to search gang members for firearms and make gang membership an aggravating factor at sentencing.
11. Introduce legislation to disestablish the Māori Health Authority.
12. Begin work to repeal the Therapeutics Products Act 2023
13. Allow the sale of cold medication containing pseudoephedrine
14. Require primary and intermediate schools to teach an hour of reading, writing and maths per day starting in 2024.
15. Begin disestablishing Te Pukenga.
16. Stop all work on He Puapua.
17. Stop work on the Income Insurance Scheme.
18. Stop work on Industry Transformation Plans.
19. Stop work on the Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme.
20. Begin efforts to double renewable energy production, including a National Policy Statement on Renewable Electricity Generation.
21. Withdraw central government from Let’s Get Wellington Moving (LGWM).
22. Meet with councils and communities to establish regional requirements for recovery from Cyclone Gabrielle and other recent major flooding events.
23. Make any additional Orders in Council needed to speed up cyclone and flood recovery efforts.
24. Start reducing public sector expenditure, including consultant and contractor expenditure.
25. Introduce legislation to narrow the Reserve Bank’s mandate to price stability.
26. Cancel fuel tax hikes.
27. Begin work on a new Government Policy Statement reflecting the new Roads of National Significance and new public transport priorities.
28. Introduce legislation to restore 90-day trial periods for all businesses.
29. Begin work on a National Infrastructure Agency.
30. Repeal the Spatial Planning and Natural and Built Environment Act and introduce a fast-track consenting regime.
31. Begin to cease implementation of new Significant Natural Areas and seek advice on the operation of the areas.
32. Take policy decisions to amend the Overseas Investment Act 2005 to make it easier for build-to-rent housing to be developed in New Zealand.
33. Begin work to enable more houses to be built, by implementing the National Party's Going for Housing Growth policy and making the Medium Density Residential Standards optional for councils.
34. Abolish the previous Labour government’s prisoner reduction target.
35. Stop taxpayer funding for section 27 cultural reports.
36. Introduce legislation to extend eligibility to offence-based rehabilitation programmes to remand prisoners.
37. Begin work to crack down on serious youth offending.
38. Enable more virtual participation in court proceedings.
39. Begin to repeal and replace Part 6 of the Arms Act 1983 relating to clubs and ranges.
40. Improve security for the health workforce in hospital emergency departments.
41. Sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Waikato University to progress a third medical school.
42. By December 1, lodge a reservation against adopting amendments to World Health Organisation health regulations to allow the Government to consider these against a “national interest test”.
43. Appoint an Expert Group to redesign the English and maths curricula for primary school students.
44. Begin work on delivering better public services and strengthening democracy.
45. Set five major targets for health system, including for wait times and cancer treatment.
46. Take first steps to extend free breast cancer screening to those aged up to 74.
47. Repeal amendments to the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990 and regulations.
48. Establish a priority one category on the social housing waitlist to move families out of emergency housing into permanent homes more quickly.
49. Commission an independent review into Kāinga Ora’s financial situation, procurement, and asset management.