Immigration Advice and Lawyers

Practising lawyers

A lawyer is a person who holds a current practising certificate as a barrister or as a barrister and solicitor, issued by the New Zealand Law Society.

Usually anyone giving immigration advice must hold a licence. However, lawyers fall into an exempt category of people who do not need to hold a licence. The exempt category includes, among others, lawyers and the employees of lawyers or law firms providing immigration advice as part of their job. Employees of lawyers do not need to hold a licence on the basis that they cannot give advice on their own and it is the lawyer employer who is responsible for giving immigration advice.

New Zealand Residence Programme: Investor (Investor 2 Category) selection

New Zealand Residence Programme: Investor (Investor 2 Category) selection

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Source : Immigration New Zealand

A selection of Expressions of Interest (EOI) under the Migrant Investment Policy, Investor (Investor 2 Category), took place on Wednesday, 17 February 2010. Eleven EOIs were selected. All EOIs with a claim of between 20 and 171 points were selected.

For more information relating to your immigration needs contact Ian Mellett.

Residency ‘carrot’ lures rich investors

By Lincoln Tan : Source – New Zealand Herald

Thousands of wealthy foreigners are lining up to move here, just weeks out from the introduction of business migration laws that will grant them residency almost immediately.

Under a new Entrepreneur Plus immigration category – effective on November 30 – entrepreneurial migrants who create at least three fulltime jobs and invest $500,000 in their business will be offered a fast track to residency.

Currently, entrepreneur migrants are issued with a long-term business permit and can apply for residency only after two years.

Although there is no minimum investment capital required, neither is there a guarantee their residency application will be approved.

The new scheme will grant conditional residence virtually as soon as an application is made.

“There is no time requirement that you must have operated your business for to be successful under this category,” the Immigration New Zealand website says.

“The Entrepreneur Plus category provides a faster track to residence for migrants who can demonstrate they have been actively participating in business and contributing to New Zealand’s economic development.”

About 12,000 people have registered their interest in the scheme through the service’s website, with 189 looking to invest $1.5 million or more – a total potential investment of at least $283 million.

The service said it has also received formal expressions of interest from 63 potential investors, and 47 had been invited to apply.

The most interest had come from would-be business migrants in the United States, Britain, India, the Philippines and Ireland.

Property development, education, training and tourism were among the most popular areas for potential investment, an Immigration NZ spokesman said.

The Association for Migration and Investment said the Entrepreneur Plus category would provide an incentive to invest more money – and create more employment – as it removed migrants’ concerns about the need for future residency applications.

“Previously, the only option available for business applicants was the long-term business visa, which is not a residence visa, and many applicants under this policy sought to minimise their business investment,” it said.

But chairwoman Coral Wong believed only a small percentage of the 12,000 would apply. “It’s easy to get excited at the numbers, but $500,000 is still a lot of money for migrants to be investing in NZ and there won’t be masses who have that amount to spare.”

Marco Chan of Hong Kong, who plans to open a restaurant in Auckland, said the offer of “immediate residency” was key to his decision to apply under the new category.

CHANGE OF FORTUNES

PREVIOUS POLICY
Investment capital: None.
Job-creation requirement: None.
Length of time to residency: Available after two years.

NEW POLICY
Investment capital: $500,000.
Job-creation requirement: Minimum three fulltimers.
Length of time to residency: Conditional as soon as requirements met.

EARLY INTEREST
* 12,000 looking to invest at least $500,000.
* 189 want to invest $1.5 million or more.

Net migration at five-year high

 

Dr Ganesh Nana, chief economist at BERL

 

The latest annual net migration figure of more than 17,000 is the highest in five years.

The figure is still well down from 2003’s high of more than 40,000, but it is much higher than last year’s paltry 4400.

 Source : http://www.3news.co.nz

Foreign workers fear expulsion

By REBECCA TODD – The Press

Work-permit applications are being declined at double the rate of a year ago, leaving immigrants worried about their future. More than 760 work-permit applications were rejected in April this year, compared with 224 in April 2006 and 357 last year. While 4500 applications were accepted in April last year, just 3200 were issued in April this year lowering the approval rating from 93 per cent to 81 per cent. Canterbury dairy farmer and consultant for recruitment company Greener Horizons, Shirlene Cochrane, said her company had 22 Filipinos working in Canterbury whose visas were due for renewal over the next 10 months. She had documentation from the Immigration Department indicating it would be “pretty much impossible to get them renewed”. However, she said unemployed Kiwis could not fill the jobs. Reinier Undan, 27, has been working on a Leeston dairy farm for eight months. His visa is due for renewal in October. He has a two-year contract, but is worried about whether he will be allowed to stay. Undan is saving money for his wedding next year, as well as paying for his younger brother to attend school. He had hoped to bring his wife to New Zealand to live. “I feel a little bit nervous because I heard some news from other Filipinos that when they went to get renewed, they were turned down,” he said. “It might be very hard to find work at home.” Undan’s employer, Alistair McDrury, said what set Filipino workers apart from many Kiwis was their work ethic. “Immigration is wanting to clamp up on letting them into the country, but just because people are unemployed doesn’t mean they are suitable to work on dairy farms,” he said. “The unemployment rate is climbing, but the dairy industry is still struggling to find staff.” Migrant Action Trust co-ordinator Agnes Granada said some migrants had been in New Zealand for up to nine years and were now faced with possibly having to go home. Immigrants who were made redundant could only look for work in the occupation their permit covered and had little time to find a new job. Granada said the trust was asking Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman to allow immigrants to seek work in any area. “Many migrants are unable to find a job in the current climate. Where are these people going to go?” she said. “We want to highlight to the minister that coming to New Zealand involves huge investment.” The National Distribution Union and Filipino workers’ group, Migrante Aotearoa, are petitioning the Government to extend redundant migrants’ work permits for three months.  “Many migrants and their families have lost their residency applications and are in deep trouble,” Migrante Aotearoa director Dennis Maga said. “We encouraged migrants and their families to come to New Zealand when we needed them to fill our labour shortage; we shouldn’t throw them out now that they are in need.” Coleman said temporary work visas would not be renewed as more New Zealanders became available to work. “There is never any guarantee that they will be renewed, and migrants know this when they come to New Zealand under those visas,” the minister said.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/farming/2480593/Foreign-workers-fear-expulsion

Key requirements under the Migrant Investment Policy

Key requirements under the Migrant Investment Policy.

 Investors and entrepreneurs will find it easier to get residency in New Zealand following the government’s decision to relax business migrant rules. Please find below a table provided by Immigration New Zealand highlighting the Key Requirements under the Migrant Investment Policy. The Migrant Investment Policy has two residence sub-categories.

Key requirements under the Migrant Investment Policy

For more information regarding your immigration matters, please contact the friendly team at Quay Law.

Immigration and the New Zealand Economy

At times like these any proposed immigration should be carefully planned.

 Unemployment in New Zealand is at its highest level since September 2000 with the outlook looking weak until early 2010.

 In a July jobs update, www.trademe.co.nz highlighted that the number of applications per job advertised had risen by 50 per cent over the past 12 months.

 New Zealand welcomes new migrants – people who will contribute to the country by bringing valuable skills or qualifications, setting up a business, or making a financial investment.  Moving to a new country is stressful and finding work and starting a job in a new country can add to that stress.  This aside from finding work within the constraints of the current economic situation.

 We hear too many stories of people who have arrived, become disillusioned when searching for work and subsequently deplete their savings whilst attempting to support themselves. They return to their country of origin disheartened. 

 On the other hand there are many success stories.  Happy immigrants well settled, fulfilling vital roles within many different occupations throughout the country

 We recommend that you do your homework and consult a professional immigration advisor to ensure that all your requirements pertaining to New Zealand Immigration are adequately addressed.

NZ cities more affordable

A fall in the value of the New Zealand dollar has made Auckland and Wellington much cheaper places to live for expatriates working for multinational organisations. Mercer’s worldwide cost of living survey, carried out in March and published today, showed the two New Zealand cities had close to the lowest cost of living out of 143 cities covered. Auckland was in 138th place, from 78th a year earlier, with a cost of living index of 54 compared to 81 in March 2008. The index is based on a figure of 100 for New York. Wellington is one place lower at 139, from 93 a year earlier, and with an index figure of 52.3, down from 77.6 in 2008. Rob Knox of Mercer said the New Zealand cities were “extremely” cost competitive across the Asia Pacific region for global workers, in comparison with places such as Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Osaka, which all climbed the rankings this year. “This helps make New Zealand a very attractive hub for companies looking to grow their presence in the Asia Pacific region,” he said. The cost of living of New Zealand cities benefited from a fall in the value of the NZ dollar, which at the end of March had depreciated by more than 33 percent against the US dollar from a year earlier. Also in this country’s favour, Mercer’s quality of living survey published in April ranked Auckland 4th in the world and Wellington 12th. Mr Knox said organisations needed to take the quality of living standards into consideration to establish the true “value of living” of a particular location. In Australia, Sydney remains the most expensive city for expatriates, but dropped from 15th to 66th place with a score of 75.5 points. Melbourne was down to 92nd with 69.9 points from 36th, Brisbane fell to 116th with 65.3 points from 57th, Perth fell to 117th with 65.2 points from 53rd, while Adelaide fell to 130th with 61.3 points from 73rd. Overall, Tokyo knocked Moscow off the top spot to become the world’s most expensive city for expatriates. Tokyo with 143.7 points rose from second place in 2008, while second placed Osaka was up from 11th place with 119.2 points. Moscow fell to third with 115.4 points. The most expensive European Union city is Copenhagen, Denmark unchanged from 7th place last year with 105 points, while New York is the most expensive city in the United States moving up to eighth place from 22nd. Bottom of the list is Johannesburg with 49.6 points. The survey measures the comparative cost of more than 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.

NZPA

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/personal-finance/2571966/NZ-cities-more-affordable

Immigration Advisers Licensing Act

From 4 May 2009 anyone who provides immigration advice in New Zealand must have a licence from the Immigration Advisers Authority, unless they are exempt from the requirement to hold a licence. From 4 May 2009, Immigration New Zealand will refuse to accept applications from unlicensed onshore advisers. 

If an onshore adviser acting on behalf of an immigration client is not on the Register of licensed advisers (or not exempt), their application will be returned failed lodgement, and we will advise the Registrar of the Immigration Advisers Authority. Advisers who are awaiting a licensing decision from the Registrar are considered unlicensed.

 From 4 May 2010, offshore advisers giving advice to people seeking visas or permits will also have to be licensed.

For more information regarding your  immigration matters, please contact the team at Quay Law.