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By Lawrence Johnston

NEW ZEALAND'S quest for migrants with the skills that the country most badly needs, has made its migration policy much more proactive.
At a London conference last month, General Manager of the New Zealand Immigration Service (NZIS), Andrew Lockhart said the Skilled Migrant category which comes into force around the end of this year, takes a much more proactive approach to New Zealand's immigration needs, than its predecessor the General Skills category.
The latter, which was scrapped last month has been replaced by an interim General Skills category requiring a relevant job offer with all applications. Still to be announced and eagerly awaited is what the Skilled Migrant points system and passmark will be.
Mr Lockhart's presence in London was specifically timed to coincide with the announcement of the new policy. It was his first European trip since taking up his post six months earlier.
He later told New Zealand Outlook: "The new policy, which is driven off a different model to the past, involves selling needs in New Zealand and identifying opportunities.
"We will then be going out and actively looking for those people, and recruiting them rather than waiting for them to apply to us. Employers are looking for skilled workers and this is a way of matching their needs with people from overseas.
"We intend to ensure that these migrants are starting to contribute to New Zealand very soon after their arrival," he said.
Asked what effect he thought the new policy would have on areas like Taranaki and Southland, where employers are crying out for certain skilled workers, he said: "I think it helps, because representatives of those regions have already been in the UK actively recruiting people."
The immigration service was currently recruiting relationship managers in New Zealand, who would work with regional councils to identify job opportunities. Also, economic development agencies and industries in other parts of New Zealand would be encouraged to develop strategies to seek skilled migrants to satisfy their areas' needs.
One casualty of the new policy is the job search visa, but Mr Lockhart said there were alternatives. "There is nothing in the UK, to stop people going down to New Zealand on a visitor's permit to look for employment," he said.
Mr Bruce Burrows, New Zealand Immigration Regional Manager for Europe, Africa and the Americas, said that under the new policy he thought that for example a nurse or a teacher - both categories of worker much sought after in New Zealand - would need to obtain professional registration prior to lodging their expression of interest in migrating, but that whether that was the case would be confirmed later.
He was answering a question from Grant King, Director of the Migration Bureau, one of many migration consultants at the conference. Though he appreciated that this was logical, since the new policy was all about employability - ensuring that they were work ready by the time their expression of interest had been initially verified.
Mr King felt that when such workers had to take up professional registration was important, because it is a big undertaking for them.
Generally he gave the Skilled Migrant category the thumbs up, subject to the full extent of the accompanying regulations being known. It did make some potential applicants nervous not yet knowing full details, such as the make up of the points system and passmark. "We do see that some applicants are holding back now," he told New Zealand Outlook.
But generally he felt the new category would benefit rather than hinder UK applicants, and not just because it favours English speaking applicants. "Overall the policy is a solid one in terms of what we know now," he said.
He likes the fact that applicants will receive a letter from the New Zealand Government initially verifying their expression of interest, which they can give employers to show that they've made a concrete commitment to New Zealand.
"It will mean they've passed the first hurdle and will help them in their job search.
It will give them confidence to go on to the second stage, take a trip to New Zealand and get a job. Currently, applicants who are not on the occupation list, invariably don't have the confidence to make a visit and really put their effort into getting a job. Sometimes they go cold and drop out.
"Overall we think the policy will deliver the applicants that New Zealand needs which are work ready, English speaking people with the same work ethic of New Zealanders," he said.
But Todd McKenzie of Montfort International said he thought that in the short term the new policy would dissuade potential migrants.
"It's going to make people reluctant to undo their commitments in the UK, thereby undermining part of the migration process which is to attract skilled migrants with wealth. They're not going to want to get on the housing market, if they're not sure about getting a job in New Zealand. This is going to leave the wealth in the UK.
"It may not affect recent graduates, who have few UK commitments, but I think more experienced individuals are going to be reluctant to untie," he said.
New Zealand employers were "extremely reluctant" to physically offer people jobs unless they were sitting in front of them. "Reading CVs and doing telephone interviews from afar just isn't going to fill the gap either," Mr McKenzie said.