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By Lawrence Johnston

MORE changes to New Zealand's immigration policies will be put into place next year. These will cover the business migration categories and also the growing numbers of international students studying in the country.
There will also be a new guardian's visa introduced and extended working visa for students.
These changes were foreshadowed by Immigrant Minister, Lianne Dalziel, when she addressed the major NZAMI immigration conference in Auckland, last month.
The minister said a review of business migration categories would be completed by the end of this year.
It would include an evaluation of how to improve opportunities for making investor funds available to local economic development initiatives.
The review of immigration policy relating to students would ensure that international students were able to continue to access quality education and appropriate pastoral care. The latter would include the introduction of guardians' visas and extended working visas for students.
A review of the effectiveness of limited purpose permits and bonds in managing risks of non-compliance with temporary entry policies would be conducted later.
The pledge to further develop New Zealand's capacity to actively recruit talented and skilled migrants had already largely been delivered, she said by the introduction of the skilled migrant category and plans for a so-called customised service which will ensure that advice matches what is actually deliverable.
Mrs Dalziel said she had met too many people who had ended up outside their professional field or well below their skills and experience.
This did not make for successful settlement for the migrant nor was it good for New Zealand when talent and skills were wasted in this way.
"The new approach says lodge an expression of interest, and we will rank you on an objective, transparent points-based system, and we will invite you to apply for residence. Under this system, when you apply for residence you know that you not only have excellent prospects of gaining residence, but also, you have been assessed as having excellent prospects of doing well here.
"With additional points being allocated for qualifications or experience meeting endemic skill shortages and skilled, relevant job offers, as well as further points for such job offers outside Auckland, you can see that the intention is to reshape the skilled migrant category to meet New Zealand's priority needs first," she said.
The new system would let applicants know straight away whether there was a realistic prospect of success in their chosen field. And if there was no objective measure of settlement prospects, because there was no job offer or prior period of study or work in New Zealand, the New Zealand government could manage that risk through a two-year work-to-residence option.
Another election pledge, a review of the Immigration Act 1991 would be done next year. This would ensure that the Act was modernised in the light of policy changes, and the criteria applied by the New Zealand immigration appeal authorities.
An approach had also been made towards broadening consideration of ways in which the proposed register of immigration consultants could be managed.
An appointments database in the country's Office of Ethnic Affairs had already been established as had a pilot for the development of New Zealand-wide telephone interpreter services.
The maintaining of close relationships with the Pacific Region on immigration and settlement policy, was an ongoing commitment of the Government, she said.