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SKILL CHANGES NOW COMING IN

By Lawrence Johnston

CHANGES to the skilled migrant category (SMC), which were originally due to be introduced in November, are now scheduled to come into force on February 4.
The postponement was done to give the government more time to implement the required technical changes to its systems.
The changes have widened the range of occupations that the government deems skilled when assessing who may be eligible for entry under the skilled migrant category (SMC).
This will be welcomed by people such as flower growers, pet groomers, golfers and goat farmers. They are among those who are now deemed skilled under the category, provided they have the relevant qualifications and or work experience.
The aim is to both clarify and simplify the selection process, by primarily basing whether an occupation is skilled, on the Australia New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO).
For example, previously neither ambulance officer, funeral director, fire fighter, police officer, detective, prison officer, the armed forces, nor hairdresser were categorised as skilled, yet could qualify because they were on a list of exceptions to unskilled status.
Although hairdresser has a history of oscillating between being on and off that list, all of these occupations are now on the main skilled list, leaving prison officers - known as correction officers in New Zealand - as the only occupation whose route to being deemed skilled is as an exception to unskilled status.
Also, previously, a range of options was used to assess whether an offer of employment or current employment in New Zealand could be considered 'skilled employment'. Those options were, at times, proving too complicated.
An applicant could use either level three trade qualification or level four from the Register of Quality Assured Qualifications (the Register), providing the trade was listed as an 'acceptable trade'.
In future, level four qualifications that are not a New Zealand National Certificate - or compared to a National Certificate by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) - will be excluded from the SMC.
Also, level four National Certificates must be relevant to certain skill level three occupations as recognised by the ANZSCO. And level three qualifications will no longer be accepted, unless they are listed as a specific qualification recognised as being an exception.
The ANZSCO is a list of occupations, which provides a 'skill level' for occupations, a description of the core tasks, and the qualifications and/or work experience needed for a person to do the job.
The list gives occupations a skill level between one and five - with one being the highest. In general, occupations that have skill levels 1, 2, or 3, will be considered 'skilled employment'.
Applicants will have to show that their job/offer is consistent with the ANZSCO's description of the occupation, also that they have the qualifications and/or work experience to do the job, and in some cases meet a minimum salary requirement.
Qualifications at level 4 of the NZQA's New Zealand Register of Quality Assured Qualifications (the Register) will now only be recognised for the award of points under the SMC if they are also:

National Qualifications Framework qualifications (trade certificates), or
Assessed as comparable to a New Zealand National Certificate by the NZQA.

Only certain level 3 qualifications listed on the register as exceptions will be recognised for the award of points.
An applicant's qualification or qualifications will be assessed as relevant to their offer of employment or current employment, if:

The major aspect of their recognised qualification is directly applicable to the employment, and/or
A visa or immigration officer is satisfied that the qualification was a key factor in the employer's decision to employ the applicant in that position.