With an aim to fill labour gaps, the Government of New Zealand has decided to relax immigration rules and double the numbers in the working holiday visa scheme. The objective is to draw about 12,000 working vacationers to the country from overseas.
Not only will some sectors enjoy median wage exemptions, but the onshore working vacationers whose visas have expired will be able to get an extension of six months.
People who possess a working holiday visa but were unable to travel due to the pandemic will be able to come to New Zealand during the summer. Starting October 2022, new visas will be issued allowing entry to New Zealand by 31 January, 2023. These visas will allow them to stay in New Zealand for a year.
With the capped Working Holiday Schemes being doubled, about 12,000 additional working holiday makers will gain entry into the country over the next one year.
Wage rules have been relaxed for skilled migrants in sectors such as adventure tourism, meat processing, elderly care, infrastructure, construction, seafood and so on.
With the Country’s rate of unemployment being 3.3 per cent in Q2, these measures had to be taken to tackle the worker shortage, especially in the hospitality and tourism space. These steps will definitely bring relief to businesses in these sectors that have born the maximum brunt of the pandemic-induced mobility restrictions and closing of borders.
