Changes in visa requirements for temporary workers in the music, screen and entertainment industry

Monday, 30 April 2012 (Source – Immigration New Zealand

Changes in visa requirements for temporary workers in the music, screen and entertainment industry take effect on 30 April 2012.  The changes apply to entertainers, performing artists and associated support personnel, film and video production and post-production crew, producers and directors.

What has changed?

Previously all such applications needed to be referred to the relevant professional association, industry guild or union such as the New Zealand Film and Video Technicians’ Guild, the Screen Production and Development Association, the Screen Directors’ Guild of New Zealand, New Zealand Actors Equity, the New Zealand Actor’s Guild, or the musicians’ branch of the Service and Food Workers Union.

New rules

From 30 April 2012 there will be a streamlined process, without any professional association, industry guild or union referral, for applicants whose engagement in New Zealand is:

• for 14 days or less, or
• on an official co-production, or
• with an accredited company.

Applications that fall outside these criteria will be subject to the same industry-led labour market testing that currently applies.

Accreditation

New Zealand companies who seek to engage entertainment industry personnel will be able to apply in advance to Immigration New Zealand (INZ) to become accredited. They must demonstrate that they:

• are financially sound,
• have a sound industry track record,
• have a commitment to engaging and training New Zealanders, and
• have good work place practices.

The relevant professional associations, industry guilds and/or unions will be consulted as part of consideration of applications for accreditation.

For more information on the accreditation criteria, please see Entertainment industry accreditation.

Approved arts and music festivals

Performers and direct support staff attending an ‘approved’ arts or music festival will be able to enter New Zealand as visitors, without having to apply for a visa if they are from one of the more than 50 countries with which New Zealand has a visa-waiver agreement.

For an arts or music festival to become ‘approved’, its organisers will have to submit a proposal to INZ demonstrating that their festival meets certain criteria. See the Checklist for Arts and Music Festival Approval Status PDF [334KB] for further information.

Rationale for changes

The key objective of the changes is to reduce red tape and compliance costs on entertainment industry businesses and to support economic growth. This will ensure that these businesses can get the people they need when they need them, while still providing protection for New Zealand workers. The previous ‘one size fits all’ immigration process, where all applications are referred to industry guilds or unions irrespective of whether there is a risk of displacing New Zealand workers, does not necessarily reflect the requirements of different industry sectors, types of production or other government objectives.

Benefits of the changes

The changes will make it easier for entertainment industry companies to bring workers to New Zealand. Inbound productions can create a significant number of jobs for New Zealanders across a range of roles.  The changes will reduce the risk of the immigration process reducing New Zealand’s attractiveness to overseas productions.

For more information regarding your immigration and visa requirements please contact Auckland law firm Quay Law NZ.

Steps towards gaining residence in New Zealand

Siva Shanker Rajadurai

Working temporarily in New Zealand can be used as a step towards gaining residence and settling here permanently. 

If your talents are needed by New Zealand employers, or you have exceptional talent in the arts, culture or sports, you can apply to work in New Zealand under the Work to Residence category. 

If you are already in New Zealand on a Work to Residence permit, after two years you can apply for residence.

Which policy you apply under depends on your occupation and your circumstances.

Your choice of lawyer to attend to your immigration needs is an important decision.  For relevant service or for more information please contact a friendly Auckland lawyer at Quay Law.

Which visa / permit best applies to you?

Before one submits an application for New Zealand residency, it is highly advisable to check the various immigration visas/permits leading to residency. 

 Consider which visa/permit best applies to you, as a wrong application could cost you your future. 

The various visas/permits are :

1. Work to Residency,
2. Skilled Migrant Category,
3. Investment/Investment Plus,
4. Long Term Business Visa/Permit,
5. Entreprenuer /Entrepreneur Plus. 

For more information regarding your immigration requirements contact a friendly  lawyer at Quay Law.

By Siva Shanker (Auckland Lawyer – Quay Law)

QUAY LAW LEGAL UPDATE – Types of Property Ownership in New Zealand

QUAY LAW LEGAL UPDATE

In this issue, Ian Mellett describes his business visit to India and the various forms of property investment available to new immigrants

Since my last article in this magazine, I have had the wonderful experience of being involved in a fantastic business trip to India.  It was incredible to be exposed to the social and cultural elements that exist in India on the one hand, contrasted against the might of the Indian economy on the other.  We even managed to squeeze in a visit to the Taj Mahal, one of the seven man-made wonders of the world.  The focus of the trip was “New Zealand Invest 2010” – promoting New Zealand from both an investment and immigration perspective.

The delegation included legendary New Zealand cricketer Sir Richard Hadlee, one of the keynote speakers, along with a group of property developers, real estate professionals and an internationally acclaimed property investment speaker.  I was invited to accompany the delegation in the capacity of an independent legal adviser.  During the various seminars, held in Delhi (23-24 January), Ludhiana (28 January) and Chandigarh (30-31 January), seminar attendees were provided with valuable information to enable them to explore lifestyle, investment and business opportunities in New Zealand.   During the numerous break-out sessions, I was called upon to provide expert independent legal advice and assistance to potential investors.  This has subsequently resulted in Quay Law now having quite a few Indian investor clients on its books, and the distinct possibility exists that there will be more to come in the future.

It goes without saying that this was a truly memorable and unique experience.  Not only was our entire delegation exposed to the broad spectrum of the Indian economy but being a cricket fanatic myself, I had the added bonus of meeting and spending two weeks with Sir Richard Hadlee.  What a nice guy, and a truly great ambassador for New Zealand.

One of the questions frequently raised by the potential Indian investors pertained to the type of property ownership involved.  I find that local purchasers in New Zealand often have the same query, so I thought that it would be useful to set out the most common forms of ownership below.

1) Fee simple: This represents a form of freehold ownership and in essence represents absolute ownership of the property. 

2) Leasehold: This is a form of property tenure where one party buys the right to occupy land or a building for a given length of time.  Until the end of the lease period the leaseholder has the right to remain in occupation as an assured tenant paying an agreed rent to the owner. 

3) Cross lease: This is a hybrid form of multi-unit tenure in which each owner has an undivided share of the underlying freehold as tenants in common, and is granted a registered leasehold estate of the particular unit or flat occupied.  Effectively the property owners share ownership of the land and each owner leases their building from the other owners, which together form the cross lease title.

4) Stratum estate: Under the Unit Titles Act 1972 the deposit of a unit plan has the effect of creating in each unit (usually multi-unit dwellings, shops, offices or industrial premises) a new kind of statutory estate called a stratum estate in freehold, or a stratum estate in leasehold, depending on whether the land which was subdivided into units was freehold or leasehold.

It is essential to determine, upfront, the exact nature of the form of property ownership when embarking upon a purchase of any property.  My experience is that it is beneficial to have your lawyer cast his/her eye over a potential purchase agreement, before you sign the document, to ensure that you fully understand the nature and form of property ownership involved.

Please feel free to contact Ian Mellett at Auckland Law firm, Quay Law for more information, or if you have any questions regarding your conveyancing or other legal needs visit our website www.quaylaw.co.nz for more information.

Siva Shanker joins the team at Quay Law

Auckland Lawyer Siva Shanker Rajadurai joins the legal team at Quay Law.

The team at Auckland Law Firm, Quay Law welcomes Siva Shanker Rajadurai to the team.

Siva Shanker Rajadurai holds a LLB from the University of London and a Diploma in Electronics Engineering from  Malaysia.

Prior to serving with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Malaysia, Shanker held numerous legal related roles in New Zealand Shanker is able to provided legal services in English, Malay and Tamil.

He is people orientated and knowledgeable in the areas of property law, family trusts, commercial law and immigration.

Welcome aboard Shanker.

Quay Law goes to India

Please find attached a link to some pictures taken on a recent business trip to India  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_87ouadwQ24  .

Taking into account the ongoing bilateral Free Trade Agreement negotiations between India and New Zealand, and looking at the potential trade and investment opportunities between the two countries, there could not have been a more opportune time to hold the New Zealand Invest 2010 in India.

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

Unexpected Costs when Purchasing a Property

Ian Mellett, Principal of Auckland Law Firm - Quay Law

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please click on link to view article on Unexpected Costs when Purchasing a Property in New Zealand. 

This article was written by Ian Mellett of Quay Law Barrister and Solicitor.