The government is extending the minimum English language requirements under the Accredited Employer Work Visa.
From the beginning of June this year, the language requirement will apply to ANZSCO (Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations) and National Occupation List (NOL) skill level 3 roles.
The NOL groups jobs together into occupations with skill level ranges from 1-5.
Examples of level 1 are a chief sustainability officer or head chef/executive chef, while level 3 occupations include peer support worker or ski patroller.
Applying the requirement to level 3 roles will align them with the existing English language requirements for skill levels 4 and 5.
Immigration Minister Erica Stanford said skill level 3 was now the largest part of the AEWV cohort.
"Being able to communicate in basic, everyday English ensures that workers understand their rights and engage effectively at work and in the community while they are here.
"The required standard is the current baseline (IELTS 4.0 or equivalent), which demonstrates basic, everyday English for common situations, not a high or advanced level of English."
With the introduction of two new skilled residence pathways in August, she said it was important that people coming to New Zealand for "mid-skilled roles with aspirations for residence" arrive with a "minimum of basic, everyday English".
"They will then have up to five years to meet the higher level of English required for residence."
Global Workforce Seasonal Visa and Peak Seasonal Visa AEWV applications were not required to meet the minimum standard of English.
The government was also expanding the Active Investor Growth category to include a philanthropic component.
From June 1 this year, applicants in the Growth category would be able to include philanthropic gifts of up to 20% of their total investment.
This option is currently available in the Balanced category, but not in Growth, which attracts the most applications.
"This expansion retains the Grown category's focus on active investment, while recognising that philanthropy also supports positive outcomes for communities alongside strong economic investment," Stanford said.
Visa applicants would be able to donate to charities, as long as they were not connected to the charity, and the charity had been operating for at least five years.
Some Department of Conservation projects would also be listed as acceptable charitable investments, with Stanford and Conservation Minister Tama Potaka expected to release a list in coming weeks.
Stanford told media that American investors, which made up about half of all Active Investor Plus applications, had called "strongly" for a philanthropic component.
"They've strongly been saying to me, 'hey, we would really like to make philanthropic contributions. There's no pathway. We love New Zealand. We've fallen in love with the place. We want to give back.' And so it was important for us to be able to give them that pathway."
She stuck to her position that Active Investor Plus applicants would not need an English language requirement.
The Green Party has previously called it a double standard.
But Stanford said the "very, very small number" of people coming in under Active Investor Plus were "very different" to people coming to New Zealand under long-term work arrangements.
"We've never considered putting the Golden Visa into the English language requirement. They are completely different visas. It's not something that's come across out my desk, and it's not something I'd consider."
ACT Party leader David Seymour said extending the language requirements to level 3 roles was a "strong step," and one which reflected ACT policy, but also said it should go further and apply to all skill levels.
Extending basic English language requirements was part of ACT's immigration policy package announced earlier this month, but Stanford said the government had been working and consulting on the English language component in the weeks leading up to ACT's announcement.
"This has been in the pipeline for some time, and you can track back the paperwork on that. But we made it clear to coalition partners that we would be making this change a couple of weeks before ACT's announcement."
This story was first published on rnz.co.nz |  |
