23/04/10 - More Kiwis crossing the ditch

• Email a Friend

Long term migration from New Zealand to Australia is on the rise again as the West Island's stronger economy becomes increasingly attractive to the weak local recovery.

Seasonally adjusted figures prepared by ASB chief economist Jane Turner suggest that while the total number of Kiwis crossing the Ditch is still lower than it was in early 2009, it has jumped 36 per cent from a low-point last October.

"The number of (long term) departures halved during the recession," said Turner. Having averaged around 4200 long term departures to Australia before the global financial crisis, and falling to an average 2100 during last year's recession, the monthly seasonally adjusted average was now around 3000 a month - the highest for 12 months.

The analysis follows release of the March International Travel and Migration statistics by Statistics New Zealand, which also showed continued strong growth in short and tourism visitors from Australia, and an encouraging pick-up in arrivals from Korea and China.

Total visitor arrivals were up 7 per cent to 226,500, seasonally unadjusted, in the month of March, while the number of New Zealanders leaving on overseas trips last month was up 13 per cent to 142,700, compared with March 2009.

However, total long term migration for the year to March showed a net gain of 21,000 people for New Zealand, driven largely by 18,000 fewer departures during the March 2010 year than a year earlier, while the 84,300 permanent and long term arrivals in the year to March represented a 5 per cent decline on the year to March 2009.

"The net PLT migrationi gain of 21,000 in the March 2010 year was higher than the annual average of 11,900 for the December years 1990-2009," Statistics New Zealand said.

Goldman Sachs JBWere economist Philip Borkin said net migration continued to support the recovery in the New Zealand economy, but that it would moderate to around a net gain of 10,000 a year by early 2011 "based on a larger number of departures to Australia".

Year on year growth of 20 per cent in short term visitors from Australia was strong, as was a 43 per cent jump in Korean arrivals.

"As the impact of swine flu (in 2009) drops out, the annual growth comparisons for some asian countries are expected to look quite healthy," said Borkin. The weakness of the New Zealand dollar against its Australian counterpart would continue to encourage Australians to holiday here, although the strength of the Kiwi against British pounds, U.S. dollars and the euro could damp arrivals from those important tourism markets.

Trips to Samoa were up 9 per cent, or 3700, over the year to March, possibly reflecting heavy promotion of Samoa as a holiday destination. Visits from New Zealand to India and South Africa were up 10 per cent and 19 per cent respectively, reflecting family visits rather than increased tourism.

New Zealanders travelling to Australia recovered only slightly, up 1 per cent over the year, representing an increase of 5,700, and only partially making up for a drop of 33,400 in the March 2009 year, compared with a year earlier.

(Source Dominion Post)

19/04/10 - Forum studies migrants' suffering

• Email a Friend

An international conference hosted by the University of Otago has highlighted links between migration, ethnicity and mental health problems, including the role of "isolation and culture shock".

Several leading New Zealand and overseas scholars participated in the three-day symposium.

It was organised by Prof Angela McCarthy, a specialist in Scottish and Irish migration at the university's department of history and art history.

Among the subjects discussed was the high rate of mental health problems experienced by 19th-century Irish immigrants to Australia, New Zealand, England and the United States.

"Among some of the universal factors are isolation and culture shock, the experience of being away from home, and the influence of the absence of family ties," Prof McCarthy said in an interview.

The symposium, which ended on Saturday, was a "great success", all the talks having generated extensive discussion, she said.

Organisers said the discussion of Irish mental health issues also shed new light on potential mental health problems facing today's immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers.

Prof McCarthy said 35 people had taken part in the event, which had provided "path-breaking and significant insight" into an under-researched aspect of mental health: that of migration and ethnicity.

(Source J Gibb, Otago Daily Times)

19/04/10 - Govt may put 2-year block on student loans for new migrants

• Email a Friend

New residents and Australians may soon have to live here for two years before they can get student loans.

Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce said the Government was considering implementing a two-year stand-down period before new permanent residents can borrow from the Government to fund tertiary studies here.

On TVNZ's Q+A programme yesterday, Mr Joyce said new permanent residents, including Australians, currently wait two years for a student allowance or a social welfare benefit.

"But you're allowed to borrow for a student loan the moment you arrive, and that creates some interesting incentives for people to sign up to tertiary institutions where perhaps they're not as committed to the country, or not committed to tertiary education as perhaps others would be."

The proposed two-year delay would not affect fee-paying international students, "but new residents to the country".

Refugee Services chief executive Heather Hayden yesterday told the Herald her organisation wanted to see more detail around the proposal but would be "very concerned if there was any barrier at all to refugees as new citizens in New Zealand being able to access tertiary education".

"The key goal for us in Refugee Services and for the Government is that refugees move to economic independence as quickly as possible and so any barrier that would hinder that we would see as a major concern."

Ms Hayden said her organisation would take the matter up with Mr Joyce and his officials to make sure refugees were not affected should the proposal be implemented.

New Zealand Union of Students' Associations co-president Pene Delaney said the proposal needed to take into consideration people from countries including small Pacific Island states who come to New Zealand to study, "because there's not necessarily the tertiary infrastructure in those islands to support those types of studies".

Labour Party tertiary education spokeswoman Maryan Street told the Herald the proposal simply had the advantage of looking consistent with other two-year stand-downs for new migrants, "but if we want to make the right skills match for our future then that may need to be reconsidered".

She said the proposal may put barriers in the way of new migrants who want to become citizens and who choose to enroll in courses that complement the skill set necessary for New Zealand's long-term future.

Ms Street was also "deeply concerned" by another proposal outlined by Mr Joyce yesterday to remove the current fee cap on expensive university courses such as medicine.

"That is a disincentive for people to enroll in those more expensive courses and they are typically medicine, dentistry, and other science programmes. Those are exactly the sort of skills we are going to require as we go forward in New Zealand."

Mr Joyce also told Q+A the Government was considering limiting the period undergraduate students could access interest-free student loans, possibly to six or seven years.

That could save about $10 million to $20 million a year on the interest-free loans scheme, which costs about $1.5 billion per annum.

(Source Adam Bennett, NZ Herald)

13/04/10 - Survey shows migrants are good workers - minister

• Email a Friend

Eighty-seven per cent of employers who responded to a Department of Labour survey rated their migrant employees as good or very good workers.

The survey, completed late last year, questioned 424 employers who had had contact with Immigration New Zealand. It assessed the benefits and issues associated with employing migrants.

Over a third of the employers reported the migrant workers had skills and experience not available in New Zealand, Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman said.

The survey also found one in five employers felt there were no particular challenges to hiring a migrant. The positive impact of migrant workers on the economy was "immense", Dr Coleman said.

"Migrant workers play a major role in the economy and this survey reinforces the value they provide to employers," he said.

(Source NZPA)

13/04/10 - Survey recognises migrant worker contribution

• Email a Friend

Migrant workers are making a valuable contribution to New Zealand's economy with a new survey  showing employers rate them highly says Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman.

The Department of Labour's 2009 Employers of Migrants survey released today found 87 percent of respondents rated their migrant employees good or very good. Employers say the positive attitude displayed by migrants and their skills and experience were driving factors behind the high ratings.

Over a third of employers also reported that migrant workers had skills and experience that were not available in New Zealand. Nine out of 10 of the employers had at least one migrant on staff and four-fifths had taken on a migrant in the last year.

``Migrant workers play a major role in the economy and this survey reinforces the value they provide to employers,'' Dr Coleman says.

``Historically New Zealand has always needed migrants to plug some gaps in our labour market. They provide employers with the staff necessary to fill certain positions which helps businesses to maintain or increase growth.

``Their positive impact on the economy is immense. In 2005/06 migrants contributed 68 percent more in taxes than they received in services or benefits which equates to a net $3.3 billion boost to the economy.''

Between 2001 and 2006, 60 percent of New Zealand's workforce growth came from permanent and temporary migrants.  The survey, completed late last year by 424 employers who have had contact  with Immigration New Zealand, assessed the benefits and issues associated with employing migrants.

The report also showed one in five employers felt there were no particular challenges to hiring a migrant.

(Source J Coleman, Beehive)

07/04/10 - Millionaire's citizenship case goes to High Court

• Email a Friend

05/04/10 - Migrants use photo tricks to gain residency

• Email a Friend

Migrants are tricking examiners overseeing English language tests required to gain residency in New Zealand by using Photoshop to create "morphed" photo IDs that combine their own images with those of professional stand-ins.

Labour Department service delivery manager Arron Baker says the same technique is probably being used by migrants to avoid medical examinations and could be used to falsely obtain visas, adding pressure on the department to invest in biometric identity checks. Migrants need to speak English to varying levels to secure residency as skilled migrants or to settle in New Zealand under some other immigration criteria. Immigration New Zealand often requires non-native English speakers obtain an International English Language Testing Systems (IELTS) certificate, a qualification administered by the British Council.

Mr Baker says Chinese fraudsters are offering migrants a one-stop-shop service. Migrants upload their photo to a website, where it is combined with a photo of a similar-looking proficient English-language speaker and used to create a fake ID card for the stand-in, who then sits the exam for a fee and returns the certificate. "The test centre has a photograph associated with each applicant on their records. The morphed image is to try to enable the stand-in to successfully pass the document check at the door. "There are a number of cases that we are aware of,"

Mr Baker says. Immigration has also seen a morphed image used in a doctored foreign passport. "That was detected by one of our overseas liaison officers at an overseas airport before the person got on the plane."

The Labour Department has begun to shop for a biometric system that will let it capture and check fingerprints and face scans of visa applicants, and potentially other biometric identification, so it can conduct identity checks on foreign nationals before they are allowed to travel to New Zealand. The system will be trialled until June next year.

It will need to be able to scale up to record the details of 5000 applicants and conduct 7500 identity checks a day. Alex Bazin, head of biometrics at Fujitsu, says the fingerprinting of visa applicants has uncovered a "worrying underlying level of fraud" in the British immigration system, where biometric checks have resulted in more than 5000 arrests.

Fingerprinting has helped thwart a common scam, whereby people who settle in Britain post their passports to friends or family overseas who look vaguely like them, so they can enter the country on the same documentation.

Mr Baker says the Labour Department has had cases of "double-dipping" by asylum seekers, who have left and then re-entered New Zealand under new identities to claim multiple welfare benefits.

The Labour Department scanned 26,000 old passport photos last year to test their suitability for biometric matching, uncovering five frauds. The test found about 95 per cent of passport photos were worth scanning and software might be of some help detecting "morphed" photos.

(Source Christchurch Press)

27/03/10 - Migrants up against dual work woes in recession

• Email a Friend

26/03/10 - Former immigration boss fined $10,000

• Email a Friend

Former Immigration Service boss Mary Anne Thompson has been fined $10,000 and ordered to do community service for falsifying her CV by claiming she had a doctorate.

The sentence was expected after a sentencing indication hearing in February when Wellington District Court judge Bruce Davidson indicated the outcome. He also gave her 100 hours of community work.

Thompson, 54, of Karori, had pleaded guilty to one charge of using a document fraudulently after hearing the likely sentence and today came to court for it to be imposed.

She had originally faced three charges but it was reduced to one. Thompson's CV showed she had a doctorate from the London School of Economics.

She had enrolled at LSE to do a masters course. She had submitted a draft thesis in 1989 which was considered inadequate for doctoral level but above the level needed for a Masters. However she never did the required oral examination or received a doctorate.

Over 15 years she got two positions, first with the Maori Affairs Ministry and with the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet in 1998 after claiming the doctorate.

Judge Davidson said at the sentencing indication hearing that there was nothing to suggest she would not have got those jobs or that she could not do the work. "In fact the contrary seems to be the case, she worked and served the New Zealand public extremely well." He said her career prospects in public service now looked bleak and there was a significant loss to her reputation.

Her plea prevented a trial that would have seen a who's who of Wellington bureaucrats coming to give evidence against her, like Reserve Bank governor Alan Bollard and chairman Arthur Grimes, former State Services commissioners Michael Wintringham and Mark Prebble, and New Zealand's high commissioner to Malaysia, David Kersey.

(Source Christchurch Press)

11/03/10 - Rich, retired foreigners able to buy entry to NZ

• Email a Friend

Thursday 11/03/2010

Wealthy elderly foreigners will be able to buy entry to New Zealand under plans originally rejected by immigration officials a decade ago.

Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman has announced two new "retirement visas" aimed at increasing investment and stimulating the economy. Coleman said the new package delivered on an election promise to enable high-income foreigners of retirement age to live in New Zealand.

Under the plan they can apply for entry to New Zealand under a temporary retirement category if they have good health and character, can invest a minimum of $750,000 in New Zealand over two years, can demonstrate an annual income of at least $60,000 at the time they apply and have assets of at least $500,000. They must be over the age of 65 and must hold comprehensive health insurance for the duration of their permit.

Temporary retirees will be able to renew their permits as long as they continue to meet criteria, including investment funds, income and health insurance.

The Government is also making it easier for retirees who have family in New Zealand to settle here. Those who meet the criteria for the family parent category and can invest a minimum of $1 million over four years will be able to apply for residency.

Labour immigration spokesman Pete Hodgson said National was recycling an idea rejected by officials more than a decade ago. Hodgson released an August 1999 briefing presented to the then associate immigration minister, Lockwood Smith, that noted "significant risks" that at least some of the visa-holders' healthcare would be provided by the public health system even if they had health insurance.

The report said "there would be significant risks associated with retirement visas, with the two major areas of risk being the potential impact on publicly funded health services and the potential to create immigration problems".

Some measures could mitigate the risks, such as attaching financial and health conditions. However, hospitals could not turn away sick people even if they refused to pay for their treatment, the report said.

It was also doubtful whether elderly people on temporary permits would be able to gain health insurance, it said.

(Source Colin Epiner - Political editor - The Press)