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SKILLED MIGRANTS NEEDED

By Lawrence Johnston

NEW Zealand still desperately needs skilled migrants, in spite of beating its target for the last 12 months, according to the new immigration official at New Zealand House, London.

Andrew Lockhart, New Zealand Immigration Services (NZIS) Manager for Europe, Africa and the Americas said it was heartening not only to have met the target, but that so many of the applicants had jobs to go to when they got to New Zealand.

Another plus was that so many migrants had taken jobs outside the normal honey pot of Auckland. Also meeting the target was a major step towards meting New Zealand's skills needs.

But he stressed that New Zealand was still looking for skilled migrants. And he advised potential skilled migrants not only to do good research on New Zealand but on what jobs are available.

Some 2,600 skilled migrant applications were processed through London over the past year. Since most applications also included members of the applicant's family, that means that some 6,800 people were permitted to migrate via the Skilled Migrant Category (SMC).

These figures show that New Zealand Immigration officials not only met but slightly exceeded their target of 2,538 for that year which ended on June 30. Also, only about 30 applications submitted through London failed.

Also exceeded was the target for family applications (1,395 including 3,348 people) processed through London against a target of 1,367. All but five per cent of these family applications were approved.

These figures contributed to the Government meeting its global immigration target for the year of 45,000 new residents, with an allowance to approve an additional 5,000 if necessary. Globally, some 30 per cent of skilled migrants come from the UK either through the London office or because they are already in New Zealand, for example on working holidays.

New Zealand Immigration Minister Paul Swain said 48,815 people were granted residency under the New Zealand Immigration Programme (NZIP). Of these, 29,826 were approved under Skilled/Business immigration categories, including the Skilled Migrant Category (23,854).

"While the government is investing heavily to give New Zealanders skills training, low unemployment and skill shortages mean that immigration is one of the ways employers find the skilled people they need," Mr Swain said.

"Through the SMC, we are attracting the quality migrants including teachers, nurses, tradespeople and IT professionals. What's more, 87 per cent of people under this category had a skilled job or job offer at the time they were granted residence.

"Some 60 per cent of those jobs were also in areas other than Auckland, meaning all of New Zealand is seeing the benefits of immigration."

Mr Swain said Cabinet had decided to leave the 2005/2006 immigration programme objective at the same level as last year - 45,000, with an allowance to approve an additional 5,000 if necessary.

"The objective for this financial year takes into account our need to continue to attract skilled migrants, economic conditions, and our country's ability to absorb the new residents," Mr Swain said.

The remainder of the immigration programme includes the Family Sponsored and an International/Humanitarian residence stream. Last year, 18,989 new residents were approved under these streams.