Recently, Immigration have announced a Special Purpose Work Visa.
This is essentially a Seasonal Visa and has certain advantages over the Accredited Work Visas. It is specifically designed for businesses that are affected by the weather seasons.
For example:
In meat processing the winter is usually significantly quieter than the rest of the year and this suits the 9 month term of the visa perfectly.
Perhaps the biggest advantage of this visa is that the conditions are considerably eased from those of the AEWV – namely there is no requirement for a job check approval – businesses simply need to advertise the role for two weeks, the experience requirement is reduced from 3 years to 4 months and there is no English test requirement.
Finally, the visa approval time is just 3 weeks as opposed to the current estimate of 3 months for AEWVs.
We are already seeing a large take up of these visas. Should you wish to discuss whether the AEWV or SPWV might be suitable for your company then please get in touch by either calling us on 09 2423905 or emailing me at giles@pakoint.co.nz.
In April our work was somewhat turned upside down!
This was due to the Government changes in the requirements for an Accredited EmployerWork Visa. Essentially this came down to 3 major changes:
- Minimum English requirement of IELTsLevel 4 (or equivalent)
- Minimum 3 years of relevant industry experience or a Bachelors Degree
- Obligation for employers to work with Work and Income when advertising roles
Whilst we completely accept that the some of these changes were necessary and, in the long run will benefit NZ employers, what really hurt was that they were made with immediate effect. The outcome was that a rapid resetting of expectations with our candidates was required and, for many, the dream of coming to NewZealand was either significantly delayed or even cancelled.
However, since then significant progress has been made and we now, again, have a good supply of candidates – all with acceptable English abilities and more relevant work experience.
Working with Immigration NZ remains ‘interesting’ as interpretations of the new rules tend to differ depending on whom you talk to but that is why we have our own in-house Migration Lawyer. Fiona guides our clients – and us – through the system meaning that there are no surprises and everyone is aware of potential issues that will need to be resolved and the timescales involved. AEWVs remain an excellent avenue for sorting your staffing issues for the LONG TERM.
| Until next time. Regards, Giles Hine |
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