New Immigration Laws Ignore The Plight Of Offshore Migrants – Scoop.co.nz

Tuesday, 5 May 2020, 5:22 pmOpinion: Aaron Martin Yesterday the government announced temporary changes tothe Immigration Act to allow more flexibility to manage visachanges for the large numbers of migrants who are unable toleave New Zealand. Leading immigration lawyer AaronMartin explains the implications for offshore migrantsto the new rules.

The governments decision totemporarily change our immigration laws deals with thewoeful inadequacies of the current law when trying to managethe fallout from a pandemic.

From an administrativepoint of view it also deals with one very difficult problem:how do you make up new visa rules to accommodate themultiplicity of circumstances that arise from borderclosures that occurred globally and prevented people fromleaving and returning to New Zealand?

However, thecurrent provisions in the Act for extending temporary visasonly relate to those migrants that are already in NewZealand.

There is aglaring omission from the new law changes that have not beenaddressed what do you do about the visas issued topeople offshore requiring them to enter New Zealand by acertain date, when that is just impossible?

For thosewho have been issued resident visa but are currently livingout of New Zealand, that is an incredibly pressingproblem.

If they were issued their resident visa whenthey were offshore, then the visa holder has 12 months tofirst enter New Zealand. Currently, there is no ability forthat to be extended by immigration officers.

If atemporary visa holder is offshore with a deadline for thefirst entry, the back-office processes that have to beundertaken in order to reissue a visa with a new entry datecreates a burdensome level of work, particularly if you haveto do that for thousands of people.

Immigration NewZealand does need to address this issue to resolve theconcerns of thousands of migrants, whose visas are either inprocess or approved, who are now waiting in limbo.

Tothe thousands of visa holders currently stuck offshore withvisas due to expire, or with visas that require the holderto actually be working in New Zealand, the proposed power inthe new bill to extend the expiry date of visas will bringwith it a glimmer of hope that they may be provided somerelief.

One of their biggest complaints have been thattheir onshore cousins had their visas extended to 25September by the issue of an epidemic management noticeunder the current legislative regime, but they had clearlybeen forgotten when the Immigration Act wasformulated.

Another important change is thepower to suspend the ability of people offshore to makeapplications for visas by certain classes of people. Thiswill cause great concern to offshore visa holders.

Thecurrent border closure looks like it is going to be in placefor some time. For those offshore with visas expiring, theprospect of being denied the ability to make an applicationto come back is going to cause alarm.

At one level itis sensible if the border is closed and people continueto file applications, the date of receipt will determine thevisa criteria that will be applied.

If that visacriteria is somewhat out of date because of substantialchanges in circumstances as a consequence of a pandemic(read changes in the labour market for example), it makeslittle sense to assess that visa application under rulesthat have become outdated by circumstance. Practicallyspeaking, if people cant enter, why let them file anapplication?

So at this level, putting a pause on thereceipt of applications while new rules are developed todeal with the real-time situation the country currentlyfaces makes practical sense.

But it doesnt provideany solutions for those visa holders who have been grantedresidency or a work permit who are now stuck outside of thecountry. Many of these people had jobs lined up to go to orhad invested a significant amount of time and money to applyand be accepted.

The introduction of this new lawshows a clear intention by the government to utilise itquickly.

This new law will allow quick simple andeffective administrative decisions to be made. What thosedecisions will be is the crucial thing and determineshow this government's response is judged by the migrantcommunity, by locals seeking to bring elderly parents to NewZealand, and by employers whose employees are strandedoffshore.

Get it wrong and there will be significantreputational damage in an election year and to use anOlympics metaphor: it's often the dismount that determineswhether you're a winner.

Aaron Martin Principal Immigration Lawyer at New Zealand ImmigrationLaw

Aaron Martin is one of New Zealand's most highlyregarded and experienced immigration law practitioners. Hehas extensive experience assisting individuals, SMEs, andlarge multi-national corporate clients.

He hasexperience in general legal practice with over 20 years ofexperience and a thorough working knowledge of relevant taxlaw and commercial issues facing investor categoryapplicants and migrants wishing to establish businesses inNewZealand.

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