2 New Zealand’s migration context
Migration is a dynamic process. There are cyclical elements to inflows and outflows due to the effect of economic cycles. Any policy response needs to operate within the current context. Therefore this paper focuses on the contemporary migration story. There is evidence that in the last five years or so there has been a fundamental shift in the type of migration received by New Zealand. The evidence shows that over the last five years temporary flows have become increasingly important in global migration, both in terms of quantum of inflows as well as in providing a supply of semi-integrated migrants ready to move into residence categories.
This section outlines the current structure for immigration in New Zealand. A basic understanding of the current categories is a useful starting point for evaluating the contributions that immigration can make to economic growth and also for understanding possible policy levers to influence change.
2.1 Immigration categories
2.1.1 Residence categories
New Zealand’s immigration system can be divided into two main entry streams: residence and temporary. In 2004/05 there were 48,800 people approved for residence and over 82,500 individuals were approved with temporary permits.
The stated objective of New Zealand's residence immigration policy is to contribute to economic growth through enhancing the overall level of human capability in New Zealand, encouraging enterprise and innovation, and fostering international links, while maintaining a high level of social cohesion. The New Zealand Immigration Service (NZIS) Operations Manual states that this objective is achieved through selecting a broad mix of migrants on the basis of either their skills and experience or their family links to New Zealand (New Zealand Immigration Service 1999).
Residence policy is broken down into the Skilled/Business Stream, Family Sponsored Stream, and the International/Humanitarian Stream. The Skilled/Business Stream is explicitly designed to increase human capability and this stream dominates residence policy. The explicit objective of increasing human capability through the use of residence policy suggests that residence policy should be aiming to maximise the flow of human capital to New Zealand until it reaches the tipping point where there may be negative impacts on social cohesion. This implies a need to ensure that there are observable and measurable social cohesion indicators.[3]
The Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) was announced in July 2003 after a comprehensive review of the General Skills component of the Skilled/Business stream of the New Zealand Immigration Programme. The SMC replaced the previous General Skills Category (GSC), which operated under a single tier points system. Its stated aim is to promote the active recruitment of skilled migrants to New Zealand.
The Business Stream is also part of the government’s residence programme. The objective of Business Immigration Policy is to contribute to economic growth through increasing New Zealand's level of human capital, encouraging enterprise and innovation, and fostering external links.
It is important to note that not all immigration categories have an economic objective. While economic growth is explicitly stated as an objective of the skilled/business categories as well as being addressed through some components of temporary policy, the Family Sponsored Stream and the International/Humanitarian Stream do not have economic objectives.
The objective of the Family Sponsored Stream (Family Category and Family Quota) for example is to contribute to nation building. While it does not have a specific growth objective, this stream is significant as it generally accounts for around 30 percent of all residence approvals (New Zealand Immigration Service 2004). This stream allows New Zealand citizens and residents to sponsor family members to live in New Zealand (under certain circumstances). Migrants approved under this stream have a different profile from the skilled/business migrants. For example they are less educated, often older and as a result generally have poorer employment and settlement outcomes than other migrant groups.
The International/Humanitarian stream is mainly comprised of Refugee Quota people, asylum seekers, Samoan Quota and the Pacific Access Category (PAC). New Zealand's refugee policy is designed to ensure that New Zealand meets its obligations under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. New Zealand accepts around 750 United Nations mandated refugees as part of the refugee quota each year. In addition there are asylum seekers who claim asylum after crossing the border. New Zealand is then required to ascertain whether they meet the requirements for official refugee status. The Samoan Quota and PAC recognise the importance of the relationship between New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. The International Stream makes up only ten percent of the residence approvals.
2.1.2 Temporary categories
The objectives of New Zealand's temporary entry policy are to facilitate the entry of genuine visitors, students and temporary workers, while managing the associated risks, and to contribute to building strong international links, attracting foreign exchange earnings and addressing skills shortages (New Zealand Immigration Service 1999).
In considering economic impacts, the most significant categories of temporary entry policy are the student visa category and the work permit category.[4] This is partly because the objectives of these categories are partially economic objectives and partly because of the large numbers of visas that are issued under these categories.
The purpose of New Zealand's student policy is to facilitate the entry of foreign students in order to foster the development of international linkages and mutual goodwill and understanding through reciprocal exchange schemes, and promote increased foreign exchange earnings from educational services, and enhance the quality of New Zealand's educational services.
The objective of work visa and permit policy is to contribute to developing New Zealand's human capability base. Work policy seeks to achieve this by facilitating the access of New Zealand employers and New Zealand industry to global skills and knowledge, while complementing the Government's education, training, employment and economic development policies.
The impacts of migration for the labour market are significantly affected by trends in work permits. This is discussed further under the sections on labour utilisation and labour productivity.
