04/05/09 - Migrants suffer big losses as law changes

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Monday May 04, 2009

Hundreds of would-be immigrants are today in limbo as a law comes into effect that could stall their bid to live legally in New Zealand.

The Immigration Advisers Licensing Act requires mandatory licensing of all immigration consultants, but so far just 171 of an estimated 1200 have bothered to get the proper documentation. Many are part-timers who have been put off by the $1995 cost of a licence.

The Immigration Advisers Authority had hoped up to 400 would have become licensed in time for today's law change.

Immigration New Zealand has said it will no longer process applications filed by non-licensed agents, meaning migrants part-way through the process could be left thousands of dollars out of pocket.

Some applicants have paid unlicensed agents up to $15,000 to work on their submissions, but authority registrar Barry Smedts says it cannot help to get the money back because it was not illegal to provide non-licensed immigration advice before today.

Licensed immigration consultant Tika Ram said clients of the 1000-odd advisers still unlicensed had been left confused about where they stood under the new law.

"Some clients have paid the full fees upfront, so they can't just switch to a licensed adviser now without losing all their money.

"Advisers should have advised their clients that they will not be able to act on their behalf after a particular time-frame, but many did not."

David Cooper, operations manager at immigration consultancy firm Malcolm Pacific, said the issue of licensed advisers had been "off the radar" for would-be migrants.

However, many were "waking up to the reality only in the last couple of weeks" after Immigration New Zealand printed forms warning that all applications submitted by unlicensed advisers would be returned.

Indian national Raman Balakrishnan paid $9000 to his unlicensed immigration agent, but is now "stuck" after a police certificate from India failed to arrive in time to beat the law change.

"I am in a no-win situation. If I let my agent lodge my application, it will be returned. But if I do it myself, I will still have to state that I received advice from an unlicensed adviser, and that will also mean that my application will be rejected," he said.

"Does it mean I have to lie and say that I did not receive any immigration advice in order to get around it?"

Mr Smedts said the law still allowed would-be immigrants to represent themselves.

The relatively small number of licensed advisers was not necessarily a bad thing for the immigration industry, he said.

"The industry is now smaller, more professional and has a higher standard of overall expertise. I like to think of licensing as a sort of brand protection that supports good operators and punishes bad ones."

But a local Chinese immigration agent - who did not apply to be licensed because of the cost - said the new law would drive many advisers underground.

Many would-be migrants would continue to seek advice from advisers within their own ethnic communities regardless of whether they were licensed.

"The law is just turning honest and respected community leaders into criminals, some of whom genuinely want to help the people in their communities."

Overseas-based immigration advisers will have until May 4 next year to get a licence.

The authority defines immigration advice as "using, or purporting to use, knowledge of or experience in immigration to advise, direct, assist or represent another person in regard to an immigration matter relating to New Zealand, whether directly or indirectly and whether or not for gain or reward".

Some people, such as lawyers and MPs, are exempt from needing licences, but the authority says the exemption "probably doesn't cover many people in the not-for-profit, NGO [non-government] and government services who provide support and assistance".

IMMIGRATION ADVISERS LICENSING ACT 2007

* All NZ-based immigration advisers must be licensed from today.
* Just 171 of the estimated 1200 advisers have so far got licences.
* A licence costs $1995.
* Unlicensed agents face fines up to $100,000, seven years' jail and reparations.
* Overseas-based immigration advisers have until May 2010 to get licensed.

(Source NZ Herald, Lincoln Tan)

30/04/09 - Increase in fees for applications lodged at Suva branch

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Thursday, 30 April 2009

From 11 May 2009 INZ will increase the fees that they charge for applications lodged at their Suva branch.
They are changing the fees because of variations in the exchange rate. The information inthe INZ office and fees finder will be updated on 11 May.

If you lodge an application at Suva branch on or after 11 May (whether in person or by post), the new fee will apply.

04/05/09 - Immigration agency faces 'impossible' job

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Tuesday May 06, 2008

A government agency aimed at protecting migrants against fraudulent, corrupt and unethical immigration advisers opened its doors to the public yesterday.

But some industry practitioners are questioning the effectiveness and public perceptions of the Immigration Advisers Authority's independence and credibility.

"It looks good on paper, but I think trying to license offshore immigration agents in countries like China and India will be mission impossible," said an immigration consultant, who did not want to be named.

Allan Hughes, founder of Immigration Watch, a Kiwi Party-backed organisation, said migrants would also question the independence of the authority, as it comes under the umbrella of the Department of Labour, which also oversees Immigration New Zealand.

"Migrants are often afraid of making complaints because they feel it could jeopardise their visa applications," Mr Hughes, a former enforcement officer at Immigration New Zealand, said. "I'm sure many will question the independence of the IAA and how much of what they tell the authorities will eventually end up with Immigration NZ."

IAA registrar Barry Smedts acknowledged that the task of licensing immigration advisers around the globe would be "enormous", but said it was something that needed to be done.

"Previously, we have had something of a wild-west environment where anyone could call themselves an immigration adviser and offer advice whether or not they knew anything about immigration requirements," Mr Smedts said.

"Now we have a licensing regime in place that will not only protect vulnerable migrants, but also enhance the reputation of the industry."

He said the IAA was here to protect migrants and advisers alike, and "confidentiality was a top priority". Clients who came to the authority can do so with full confidence that it was "an independent body" which was set up to protect their interest.

The IAA will oversee the licensing of immigration advisers here and overseas and administer complaints against these advisers. The Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007, which came into effect on May 4 last year, requires all immigration advisers to be licensed.

Advisers here have until May 4 next year to get a licence, while off-shore advisers will have until May 4, 2010. After that, unlicensed agents face fines of up to $100,000 and/or imprisonment for up to seven years.

Chairman of the NZ Association for Migration and Investment Richard Howard says the establishment of the IAA is a positive and will help raise industry standards. "It will provide advisers with the professional competence, self belief and professional backing to demand that INZ similarly raise their standards," he said.

(Source Lincoln Tan Herald Marketplace)

28/04/09 - Swine flu: Latest updates

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Tuesday April 28, 2009

* Travel warnings to be upgraded says Ryall
* Ministry of Health on swine flu situation
* Health Minister: 56 cases in NZ suspected

Swine Flu

* Mexican student in NZ refused Tamiflu
* Only 7 deaths definitely swine flu - WHO

10.13pm: Confirmation that 11 Rangitoto College students have swine flu is no reason for the public to panic, health officials say.

Health Minister Tony Ryall tonight announced the World Health Organisation had returned positive swine flu results from three of the 11 Rangitoto College students who had tested positive for influenza A.

That was enough to assume all 11 were positive.

However, Director of Public Health Mark Jacobs said the general public was at no greater risk of contracting swine flu than any other type of flu.

"There is no indication it is any more or less contagious than any other form of influenza," he said.

It was most contagious a day before symptoms appeared and up to seven days after. The greatest risk was in the early days.

No age group was any more or less at risk, Dr Jacobs said.

"So far there doesn't seem to be any particular age group that is showing up although, again, as numbers increase around the world we'll get more and more good information on that.

"The reports from Mexico are that it is affecting all age groups."

Dr Jacobs urged people to keep the illness in perspective and said anyone not directly exposed to it was unlikely to contract it.

9.12pm: Tests have "unfortunately" confirmed at least three New Zealanders have tested positive to swine flu, Health Minister Tony Ryall announced tonight.

Melbourne tests on 10 Rangitoto College students who tested positive for influenza A came back from the World Health Organisation (WHO) laboratory tonight confirming three have swine flu.

Tests on a fourth sample were continuing.

The swine flu virus has killed close to 150 people in Mexico and infected dozens in the United States, Canada and Europe.

The Rangitoto students returned on Saturday from a trip to Mexico.

6.30pm: The result of tests on 10 Rangitoto College students who tested positive for influenza A are expected from the WHO laboratory in Melbourne tonight and an 11th member of the group has also tested positive for influenza A.

Mr Ryall made a ministerial statement when Parliament sat at 2pm, and told MPs all 10 of the students who tested positive for influenza A after visiting Mexico were on the road to recovery.

But this evening Auckland Regional Public Health Service (ARPHS) clinical director Julia Peters said that one more member of the quarantined Rangitoto College group had been confirmed with influenza A.

2.01pm: Seasonal flu jabs available each year will not work against the new swine flu virus emerging from Mexico, the National Influenza Strategy Group (NISG) says.

There is currently no vaccine available against the strain of swine flu. The group advised that Tamiflu was an anti-viral treatment for influenza - not a vaccine.

"Immunisation can help protect an individual against seasonal influenza strains that are already circulating in the world, but if a new strain of influenza virus emerges, the seasonal vaccine is unlikely to protect against it," said NISG spokeswoman Nikki Turner.

However, seasonal influenza immunisation was still worthwhile, she said.

Influenza immunisation is free for New Zealanders at high risk of complications - people aged 65 and over and people of any age including children, with long-term health conditions.

It is available free from a doctor or nurse to these groups until June 30.

1.08pm: A portrait is emerging of a slow and confused response by Mexico to the gathering swine flu epidemic. And that could mean the world is flying blind into a global health storm.

Two weeks after the first known swine flu death, Mexico still hasn't given medicine to the families of the dead. It hasn't determined where the outbreak began or how it spread. And while the government urges anyone who feels sick to go to hospitals, feverish people complain ambulance workers are scared to pick them up.

Meanwhile, the number of confirmed swine flu cases in the US has risen to 48 after further testing was carried out at a New York City school.

12.51pm: Health authorities say a South Korean citizen is being tested for possible swine flu.

The government's disease control centre said in a statement today that the person is one of three people reported to have swine flu symptoms after trips to Mexico.

The office said the two others have tested negative. It did not give any more details.

News cable channel YTN said it is expected to take about three days to determine whether the person has swine flu.

12.41pm: Scientists in Hong Kong are trying to develop a test that will cut the time it takes to diagnose the new swine flu strain from a few days to a few hours.

Researchers in Hong Kong played a big role in discovering and determining how to treat SARS - a separate deadly virus that spread rapidly in 2003, killing more than 900 people. The island was the second hardest hit after mainland China.

12.07pm: Health Minister Tony Ryall said today that passengers on flight NZ5 (the flight which carried Northcote College students earlier suspected of being at risk) were now in the same category as anyone who had returned from Mexico or the United States in the last fortnight.

They should be vigilant about contacting their GP if flu-like symptoms occurred and would be offered Tamiflu.

Other New Zealanders needed to respond to flu-like symptoms as they always had.

"It's a time for caution and concern, but not alarm," Mr Ryall said.

Public Health director Mark Jacobs said it was likely there was an increased rush of people getting checked for flu symptoms.

He said it was the time of the year when common cold and flu viruses struck and urged the public not to panic if there was no reason to suspect anything worse.

11.36am: Stephen McKernan, New Zealand's Director General of Health says the samples of influenza A taken from the group from Rangitoto College were sent to Melbourne for testing yesterday.

"These samples take a level of preparation and packaging. That was undertaken and they left for Melbourne yesterday afternoon," he said.

10.59am: New Zealand health officials are now investigating 56 more possible cases of swine flu. Ten people from Rangitoto College have already tested positive for influenza A and a further 56 people who have recently returned from America or Mexico and have flu-like symptoms are being tested.

All but 18 of the 356 passengers on NZ1 - the flight the Rangitoto College students were on - have been contacted.

The Ministry of Health is no longer trying to contact passengers who were aboard flight NZ5 as the Northcote College pupils on that flight who were earlier believed to be at risk of influenza A have tested negative.

10.35am: Ten Queenslanders are being tested for deadly swine flu and one passenger has been detained after returning to Australia from Los Angeles displaying symptoms.

Two other people in Queensland were cleared of the virus yesterday after exhibiting symptoms and another two were cleared during the weekend.

Queensland chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young told ABC Radio that the person detained on today's flight would be tested.

"(We'll) then work through whether it's likely they meet the case definition, take swabs, if we do think they've potentially got this new swine flu, then we'll give them a face mask and ask them to go home and minimise contact with other people," she said.

Premier Anna Bligh is holding a press conference to discuss the suspected cases.

10.22am: Health Minister Tony Ryall says it will take between six and eight months to make a vaccine for the new swine flu virus.

Mr Ryall made the announcement at a press conference in Wellington this morning.

10.18am: Canada is tightening the screening process for incoming Mexican agriculture workers in an effort to limit the spread of swine flu.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says all Mexican seasonal workers will need to have a fever-check by two doctors, fill out a questionnaire and undergo a physical before entering Canada.

The steps are being taken with thousands of Mexican migrant workers set to arrive on Canadian farms, which rely on foreign help to meet labour shortages during the growing season.

Kenney said the measure was devised in consultation with the Mexican government.

The medical exams must occur before they leave Mexico, Kenney told Parliament.

Canada has four confirmed swine flu cases in Nova Scotia and two confirmed cases in British Columbia. All have links to Mexico.

9.56am: Mexico City's football clubs are expected to keep playing behind closed doors, a measure designed to help stem the outbreak of the swine flu epidemic in the Mexican capital.

Three games were played in fanless stadiums over the weekend, with other sports taking similar preventive measures. A top baseball team is moving its games this week to northern Mexico, and a weekend diving tournament - headed by leading Chinese divers - was held without any fans at all.

With the death toll rising from the epidemic, playing games in empty stadiums is part of a wider effort to contain the outbreak.

"We are going to wait to see how the outbreak develops," said a spokeswoman at the Mexican Football Federation, who said she was not authorised to give her name.

"There is no general policy yet, it all depends on the decision of the individual clubs."

9.31am: Tourism New Zealand consultants overseas are telling potential travellers to New Zealand about the situation regarding influenza, amid the global outbreak of suspected swine flu cases.

Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive George Hickton says tourism officers are working in major overseas tourist markets such as America, Britain, Australia and Japan.

"We make sure that they're in touch with the local travel trade so that if there are inquiries coming in from potential travellers about whether or not it is safe to come to New Zealand, we can answer that accurately.

"The key thing for us at the moment is to ensure that if travellers have questions about New Zealand they get the right information because it is very easy for people to jump to assumptions."

Mr Hickton says one thing in New Zealand's favour is that it does not get a lot of visitors from Mexico.

He says it is too early to speculate on the damage the flu situation is having on New Zealand's international reputation.

Tourism New Zealand is also monitoring international media organisations to make sure they are reporting accurate information on New Zealand.

8.48am: Mexico says the World Health Organisation has raised its pandemic alert for swine flu by one level, two steps short of declaring a full-blown pandemic

Mexico health department spokesman Carlos Olmos confirmed the move.

The WHO says the phase 4 alert means sustained human to human transmission causing outbreaks in at least one country. It signals a significant increase in the risk of a global epidemic, but doesn't mean a pandemic is inevitable.

Many experts think it may be impossible to contain a flu virus already spreading in several countries.

The WHO has confirmed human cases of swine flu in Mexico, the United States, Canada and Spain. Only Mexico has reported deaths from the new strain.

8.30am: The test results on three Auckland students have come back negative for influenza type A, a strain of swine flu.

The students from Northcote College on the North Shore were tested after returning on Saturday from a school trip to Mexico, where more than 100 people have died from suspected swine flu.

They were treated with the anti-viral medicine tamiflu and asked to stay at home.

Test results from students from Rangitoto College are still being analysed in Melbourne after a group also arrived back from a class trip to Mexico over the weekend. The results are expected by the end of the week.

Auckland public health staff are continuing to meet and screen passengers arriving in Auckland travelling from Mexico and the Americas.

Public health staff are also continuing to contact individuals on Air New Zealand flights NZ1 and NZ5 that arrived in New Zealand from Los Angeles on Saturday.

5.50am: Health authorities are trying to track down all cases of illness that may relate to possible swine flu.

In the Auckland region, ten cases of influenza A, a subset of swine flu have been confirmed after groups from Rangitoto College and Northcote College returned from school trips to Mexico. Further test results from three Northcote College students are expected to be made public this morning. It is not yet known if any of the cases are the H1N1 swine flu.

There are also two suspected cases in the Nelson/Marlborough region and two in Waikato. In Canterbury, seven people with flu symptoms have been tested. Officials in Otago and Southland are keeping an eye on nine people who have recently returned from Mexico.

The virus is suspected to have caused more than 100 deaths. There are also suspected cases in Brazil, America, Canada, Australia, Israel and France. Two people are in isolation in a hospital near Glasgow in Scotland as Britain's first cases are confirmed.

Auckland Regional Public Health Service clinical director Julia Peters says authorities are dealing with an evolving situation which involves tracing people who have come into contact with suspected cases and investigating any new cases. Dr Peters says health authorities will also continue their presence at the border and work to support primary care practitioners.

GPs are being inundated with queries about swine flu.

Alistair Sullivan, White Cross Accident and Emergency Centres CEO, says there is not a lot of clear information in the public domain but anyone with concerns, especially people who have recently been in Mexico and the United States, should see their doctor.

A number of his staff are taking the anti-viral drug Tamiflu after dealing with possible flu carriers.

Key developments so far:

* The new virus is called a swine flu, though it contains genetic segments from humans and birds viruses as well as from pigs from North America, Europe and Asia.

Health officials had seen combinations of bird, pig and human virus before - but never such an intercontinental mix, including more than one pig virus.

People appear to have no immunity to the new virus and it seems to spread easily from person to person.

Deaths: 149, all in Mexico, 20 confirmed as swine flu and the rest suspected.

Sick people: 1,995 people have been hospitalised with pneumonia in Mexico but the government does not yet know how many were swine flu, 40 confirmed in the US, 28 at one New York City school. Elsewhere: 6 confirmed in Canada, 10 suspected in New Zealand, 1 confirmed and 17 suspected in Spain, 1 suspected in France, 1 suspected in Israel.

Locations in Mexico: 17 states, including Mexico City, Mexico State, Veracruz, Oaxaca, Baja California and San Luis Potosi. Some, including Oaxaca, Mexico City and Baja California, have tourist areas, but authorities have not said where in these states the outbreaks occurred.

Locations in the US: 8 in New York, 7 in California, 2 in Kansas, 2 in Texas and 1 in Ohio.

Safety measures in Mexico: In Mexico City, surgical masks are being given away on the subway system, public events have been cancelled, schools and public venues have been closed and church services postponed. President Felipe Calderon has assumed new powers to isolate infected people.

Safety measures in the US: Roughly 12 million doses of Tamiflu are being moved from the federal stockpile to be delivered to states. Travellers at the border are being asked about travel to flu-stricken areas. St Francis Preparatory School in New York, where eight cases are confirmed, was closed yesterday and today. St Mel's Catholic School in Fair Oaks, California, is closed until at least Thursday as officials investigate possible infection of seventh grader.

Safety measures worldwide: Airports screening travellers from Mexico for flu symptoms. China, Russia and Taiwan plan to put anyone with symptoms under quarantine. Hong Kong and South Korea warn against travel to Mexican City and three provinces. Italy, Poland and Venezuela advised citizens to postpone travel to affected areas of Mexico and the United States.

(Source; NEWSTALK ZB, AP, AAP, NZPA, NZ HERALD STAFF)

21/04/09 - Sculptor sets Scottish migration in stone

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When Waitakere sculptor John Edgar wants to tell a story, neither time nor distance can stand in the way.

Gripped by an idea to tell the story of Scottish settlers, he found eight tonnes of stone in the quarries and countryside of their homeland and had it shipped to his workshop.

Hundreds of hours' work later, five sculptures each weighing between 150kg and 300kg are nearly ready to be packed and sent back to Scotland.

They will be on show at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh from August 5 to November 30, as part of the Edinburgh Arts Festival.

The last New Zealand visual artist to have a solo exhibition at the festival was painter Colin McCahon.

"It's been an exciting process since it was proposed in 2005 and as you come down to the wire, the last pieces are the most difficult," said Edgar, whose equipment ranges from intricate detailing tools to a forklift truck.

Some pieces use New Zealand as well as Scottish stone.

"I'm using these to comment on the influence of Scottish culture in New Zealand and vice versa.

"But it relates back to immigration, with people coming to a different country and making changes to fit in to make a different culture."

For example, he used green serpentine stone from the Griffin Range in the South Island, which was mined by Germans between the wars.

"The stone came to me after 40 years and I'll combine it in here with Scottish pink and grey granites.

"By the time this piece is finished it will have a huge story to tell."

Another piece titled Compass is a mixture of the pale pink Peterhead granite from a quarry near Aberdeen and Southland black basalt.

This sculpture is like a hilltop trig station, which helps find a direction.

Other works bear symbols based on the cross of St Andrew, the crossing of pathways, a gorge cut by a river into the land and the passage across a wild sea to find a resting place.

Edgar, who has Scottish and English ancestry, has named the exhibition Ballast, after the big stones that were collected at Scottish ports and used to keep the immigrant ships upright on the journey half a world away.

Scotland is celebrating the 250th anniversary of the birth of poet Robert Burns and its tourism industry is holding a "Homecoming Year" to attract visitors of Scottish ancestry.

(Source NZ Herald, by Wayne Thompson)

21/04/09 - Runaway pilgrims believed lying low and 'well settled'

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A third of a group of Indian pilgrims who vanished in New Zealand on their way to see the Pope in Sydney last year are still at large, and believed to have become "well-settled overstayers".

New Zealand Sikh Society spokesman Daljit Singh, who was in contact with some of the missing men last year, says they have gone to ground in the Nelson and Bay of Plenty areas, have probably found work and have no intention of coming out from hiding.

"When they came here it was with the intention to stay in New Zealand forever, and that is what they will try to do," said Mr Singh.

The men were with a group of 40 pilgrims who said they had paid up to $17,000 each for visas that would allow them to stay in New Zealand forever.

They were issued one-month visitor visas. When these expired in August, some tried to apply for students' permits but were rejected by Immigration New Zealand.

"At the start, we worked closely with the immigration department to help track the men down, but we are volunteers and there is only so much we can do," Mr Singh said.

The Labour Department, which oversees Immigration NZ, says it does not know the whereabouts of 14 of the 33 Indians. A spokeswoman said it was working with the Indian High Commission to find them.

The other 19 have been expelled.

She said about two people a month travelled to New Zealand by air and arrived without travel documents.

"These people will have checked in for the flight using a passport which allows visa-free travel for New Zealand, but they do not have the passport when they arrive."

(Source NZ Herald, by Lincoln Tan)

12/04/09 - Action on the home front

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Sunday Apr 12, 2009

Home buyers - including expats with an eye for a bargain - have returned to the market in strength, hunting both high end and investment property.

International traffic to Trade Me Property surged 21 per cent last month. Brendon Skipper, head of Trade Me Property, says expats are "looking for a job, looking for a car and looking for a property" on the site.

Megan Jaffe, owner of the Ray White franchise in Auckland's swanky Remuera, says with expats buying, sales have picked up on top-end houses.

Ray White's March sales figures rebounded strongly, soaring 44.1 per cent. Chief executive Carey Smith says the hottest spots are Northland, Auckland, and the upper South Island; especially Christchurch, where investor activity is humming in the under $300,000 segment.

Babette Newman, Bayleys' Wellington residential manager, says there's a "huge increase" in attendees at open homes and multiple offers being made on properties in the capital too - particularly those over $800,000.

Typical responses in BNZ's latest confidence survey, which compiles feedback from around the country, included: "Property investment is going crazy ... Have had more than 100 people through most properties in the first weekend of open homes ... Everything is booming under $400,000 with homes being snapped up in just a few days from listing and multi-offers across many properties."

For the past four weeks, Barfoot & Thompson has averaged a 65-70 per cent auction clearance rate. Six months ago, this had reached an all-time low of 30-35 per cent.

Director Peter Thompson says: "The auction room in the city on Wednesdays has witnessed activity never seen before in these premises - standing room only spilling out into the foyer," and only a small portion of these are mortgagee auctions.

Ray White's Smith reports a 68 per cent auction clearance rate - again a doubling from last year.

Residential real estate is once more "so alive," Jaffe says. "The investors are back; open homes are full, listings are short - and there's buyer competition." Alistair Helm, chief executive of realestate.co.nz, confirms new listings in March fell 19 per cent compared to a year earlier.

The local housing market is benefiting from tough economic conditions abroad, says John Wills of Custom Residential.

Broker Charlotte Lockhart of Mike Pero Mortgages, who's arranging finance for expat buyers weekly - mostly those living in the UK - doesn't think expats feel their money is safe there.

Looking for a place to put it, they're settling for a bolthole back home while the exchange rate is favourable. Realestate.co.nz's Helm reports an 11 per cent increase in website visitors from the UK viewing rental properties.

Wills says Custom Residential's website has seen a "massive increase" in offshore inquiry about properties in the hotspot of greater Ponsonby. Total traffic volume more than doubled during February and March.

"Kiwi professionals are returning home and having to compete with existing local buyers for the best property," he says, with the "executive" home buyer demographic being "incredibly active" on the greater Ponsonby house-hunting circuit.

Wills says of the surge in active buyers: "It feels a bit like going 'back to the future', with open home numbers and a buyer pool similar to what we saw in 2005 and 2006."

Competition for good property is "one step away from being described as fierce," he says - but heading in that direction. In the meantime, he says most properties listed with his agency become the subject of multi-offer negotiations. For one recently listed property, the first open homes were held on Saturday and Sunday of the same weekend, and four offers were made on the Monday.

An agreement was reached about 9.30pm that evening. "This is quite typical of what we are experiencing out there at the moment," says Wills, reminiscent of the activity peak during the last boom.

The question is whether what he calls the market's "serious momentum" will continue through winter.

Smith says it can't be underestimated that "sales create sales". The favoured two-year mortgage interest rate remains 2 per cent below its long-term average and the one-year rate almost 3 per cent below average.

The rate of new houses being built has hit a 65-year low, and market watchers agree if immigration remains solid and interest rates stay low the market will continue trading at more normal levels.


Offshore Kiwis quids in

Expat Kiwis Michelle Bradley, an accountant, and her builder fiance Greg Wdowikowski, both in their early 30s, were living and working in London when they decided to buy their first investment property in 2007.

"We saved our deposit and bought a rental property in Hamilton, and it has great rental return of $300 a week."

Despite the fact they "bought off the internet" without viewing the property, they got a LIM and other property reports beforehand.

They enlisted help from Auckland-based broker Jodi Cottle of Sable Mortgages, who runs regular seminars in the UK for expat buyers looking for property in New Zealand. Seminar numbers are limited to 200 - and they're always full. Interest in the seminars is so strong, Cottle doesn't need to advertise them.

With the pound's favourable exchange rate, Bradley says it was "so much easier for us to do this from Britain than if we were living at home". A year ago, Bradley won a green card in the US ballot and the couple relocated to New York.

Searching New Zealand websites for new listings daily, they're about to buy a more expensive "four-bedroom, executive-style home" on Auckland's North Shore.

"What makes it so enticing is the quality of home that we can buy there on the US dollar, and the lifestyle we may eventually come home to."

(source Herald Marketplace,  Andrea Milner)

09/04/09 - Migrant workers turn to unions

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Thursday Apr 09, 2009

More migrant workers, afraid of losing their jobs to Kiwis and not being able to renew work permits, are turning to unions for help.

"We have been receiving emails and phone calls from migrant workers who are truly worried because they think they can no longer renew their work permit," said Dennis Maga, head of Migrante Aotearoa, an organisation for migrant workers.

More than 100 migrant workers, unionists and migrant advocates met on Tuesday night amid fears the Government was poised not to renew temporary work permits to help save jobs during the recession.

Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman yesterday moved to allay fears, saying there were no plans to change existing policy.

"There has been no change of policy under this Government regarding renewal of temporary work permits," said a spokeswoman for Dr Coleman.

"They are issued when there are no New Zealanders available, and that has always been the case. As unemployment rises, more Kiwis are available to fill jobs, therefore fewer temporary permits are issued or renewed - there is nothing new about that. What is new is that there are now more unemployed Kiwis available.

"Any foreign worker who is here on a temporary work permit has the right to work while that permit remains valid. There has been no suggestion by this Government that foreign workers should be sacked ahead of New Zealanders in situations where the foreign workers have valid, current permits."

At Tuesday's meeting, Laila Harre, of the National Distribution Union, said the policy had been "wrong for a very long time".

She said New Zealand saw migrant workers as an expendable workforce and "that has got to change".

(source Herald Marketplace)

06/04/09 - Plan to slash permits worries migrants

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Monday Apr 06, 2009

Worried migrant workers, migrant advocates and union representatives will meet tomorrow night to discuss a response to the Government's plan to slash migrant work permits.

"Migrant advocates have raised concerns that racist sentiments are being fostered and ask why migrant workers shouldn't have their rights protected. New Zealanders ask why they should be sacked when temporary visa holders keep their jobs," wrote orgainser Mike Treen, in an email invitation to the public meeting. "This raises questions on how unions should be approaching migrant workers when there may be conflicting claims for support from different groups of workers who are their members."

Meeting organiser Dennis Maga said migrant workers on temporary permits were "worried sick" about their futures, and wanted to know if the unions would protect their rights during the recession.

"The politicians are calling for migrant workers to be laid off first, and the immigration service has revoked visas from some workers who kept their jobs," said Mr Maga, who heads Migrante Aotearoa, a union for migrant workers.

"This not only goes against the Employment Relations Act, but also the Human Rights Act which says there must be no racial discrimination in the workplace."

Speakers at the meeting will include Laila Harre, former Alliance MP and national secretary of the National Distribution Union, John Minto from Unite Union, Mr Treen and Mr Maga.

The immigration department is investigating a case of 28 workers in New Plymouth who were made redundant last October, while Filipino welders kept their jobs and had their temporary permits renewed; and Hamilton Jets, a Christchurch company which laid off 28 Kiwis while retaining 24 migrant workers.

A Filipino migrant worker in the information technology industry, who gave up a job offer in Singapore to work here, said the Government was "hypocritical" in announcing plans not to renew temporary work permits.

"Government immigration websites continue to hardsell this country to skilled migrants, with no warnings of pitfalls, traps or risks of permits getting revoked," said the worker, who did not want to be named for fear that it could result in his work permit being revoked.

"It is on the promise of the work-to-residence visa - that we would be getting residency if we retained our jobs - that many of us sold everything with plans to start a new life here."

Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman had said last month that he expected the Labour Department, which oversees immigration, to ensure that fewer migrants entered New Zealand on temporary permits during the recession. Mr Coleman said there would not be new temporary migrants coming in as no new permits would be issued, and temporary permit holders would not have their permits renewed.

New Zealand takes 45,000 permanent migrants each year, most of them in the skilled migrant category. Thousands more arrive on temporary permits to work in industries in which their skills are deemed by the Department of Labour to be in short supply.

A record 188,000 temporary work applications were approved in 2007-2008, an increase of 13 per cent from the year before.

(source Herald Marketplace, Lincoln Tan)

19/03/09 - Migrants still the lifeblood of economies

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Thursday March 19, 2009

During fraught economic times, competition for jobs can have malign consequences. One of these is hostility to migrants, who are accused of stealing employment opportunities. Already, there has been evidence of this in Britain, with demonstrations outside oil refineries, and a reaction in Australia, where the migrant intake is to be slashed. Stirrings of a similar resentment have also begun in this country. It is to the Government's credit, therefore, that it has stated that not only will it not follow Australia's lead but it will make it easier for business and investor migrants to come here.

Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman will be building on a repair exercise begun two years ago. This saw the previous Government removing obstacles placed in front of investor migrants in 2005 when it was spooked by an outbreak of Winston Peters-inspired anti-immigration sentiment.

The calamitous outcome was the almost total evaporation of investor migrants and their investment dollars. Now, Mr Coleman says that, within months, he intends to offer even greater encouragement by lowering English language requirements and bringing minimum investment levels to "more realistic levels".

There will be few qualms about continued improvements to the investment prescription, but the language requirement will always be controversial. Proficiency in English is often an important factor in determining the ease of settlement. But it must also be recognised that the market for rich investors lies in North Asia, where most people do not speak English. They can go elsewhere if the rules of entry here are too restrictive. On balance, this country has created a rod for its back by imposing too tough a language test.

Most importantly, the Government's intention signifies a consistent approach to immigration, and a departure from the stop-go approach that has blighted policy for many years.

Indeed, it is now Australia, the long-term beneficiary of steady immigration streams, that is guilty of this. Less than a year ago, the Rudd Government announced plans for the biggest annual lift in permanent and temporary migration since the 1940s as an antidote to labour shortages and an ageing population. Now, it will cut Australia's skilled migrant intake by nearly 20,000 to 115,000 this financial year.

This is being portrayed as a response to lay-offs in the mining industry and a downturn in the building industry. It is not, says Immigration Minister Chris Evans, xenophobic or an anti-migration response. Maybe not, but, even if that is so, it is astoundingly short-sighted. This is a recipe for skill shortages when demand returns. It also denies Australia the positive contribution delivered by migrants, such as their need for housing, their strong retail spending and the jobs created by their entrepreneurship.

The policy may be popular with those looking for a scapegoat for Australia's unemployment. But all governments should resist it, not only for the benefits derived from immigration but for the fact that the approach imprints the idea that migrants take jobs. Things are never that simple. And, at their core, such controls on migrant flows amount to nothing more than another form of protectionism.

This approach will inevitably rebound on Australia, and New Zealand could be one of the beneficiaries. Despite a rising unemployment rate, this country still faces a skills shortage.

Skilled workers who might previously have had Australia as their favoured destination could now come here. If so, New Zealand will not only profit now but be better placed when the global economy improves. Such are the advantages of a stable and welcoming immigration policy.

(Source Editorial NZ Herald)