Working holiday visas extended, immigration reset delayed

Wednesday, 9 June 2021

Protesters gather in Auckland's Aotea Square in support of migrant rights.

Ten thousand working holiday visa-holders will have their visas extended for another six months, but critics say it makes a mockery of last month’s much-hyped immigration reset.

Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi said the extension and other changes to essential skills visas would “provide employers with an assurance they can continue to access the current onshore workforce to help fill roles”.

Faafoi said the announcement would “put the minds of visa holders at ease knowing they can stay and work in New Zealand for the foreseeable future”.

As rumours of an announcement began to circulate on Wednesday morning Into NZ immigration adviser Katy Armstrong told Stuff there was a contradiction between extending the visas of working holiday visa-holders in low-paid jobs while also saying the Government didn’t want migrants in low-paid work.

Kris Faafoi says the announcement gives migrants certainty that they can stay for the “foreseeable future”.

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Mine Bayson says the delays between announcements has caused her and her friends a lot of stress.

Working holiday visa-holders are often younger tourists from foreign countries who pay for their holiday by working lower-skilled jobs. Many found themselves stuck in New Zealand as air travel closed down and countries closed their borders.

“I could well imagine in this current madness they would decide to extend the very visas that are most associated with the low skilled work they want to reserve for Kiwis,” Armstrong said.

Working holiday visa-holders like Mine Bayson, 30, have been stuck in limbo for months.

Bayson, a Turkish citizen, said there was a pattern of “last-minute” announcements leaving people like her with little certainty right up until their visas were set to expire.

This announcement was no exception with a press release fired off less than a month before many of their visas would have expired.

“Every single day we are talking about this with our friends whenever we meet,” Bayson said.

“Some of them are lucky to have the opportunity that they can get a working holiday visa in Australia, but for me that’s not an option.”

National Party Immigration spokeswoman Erica Stanford welcomes the extension, but says it contradicts the Government’s own immigration reset.

Working holiday visa-holders like Bayson have little trouble securing employment here. To get a job in hospitality all she had to do was take a tour of the area’s cafés, then hand out her CV.

She got a job in Mount Maunganui within two days.

The Government came under pressure over the issue of temporary migration, pathways to residency, the Government’s immigration reset and an imminent working holiday visa scheme announcement at an education and workforce select committee meeting on Wednesday morning.

Katy Armstrong says working holiday visas are the type most associated with the low-skilled work being targeted during the reset.

National Party spokeswoman for Immigration Erica Stanford asked Faafoi if an “imminent” announcement on working holiday extensions was an acknowledgement a broad range of migrants were needed.

Speaking to Stuff Stanford said she welcomed any announcement to extend working holiday visas, but also thought it highlighted problems with the reset.

Migrants have hit back at the so-called immigration 'reset' saying it uses them as a 'scapegoat' for problems with housing, infrastructure and worker welfare.

“We've just had this announcement from the Minister saying that we’re going to focus on highly-skilled migrants and we’re going to have this reset, and this switch, to fewer lower-skilled migrants and more highly-skilled migrants.

“The very first opportunity he has to start putting that policy into place, he does the exact opposite.

“The reality is we need a range of skilled workers across a spectrum of skills. I think that they understand that too, but it’s not politically palatable to say that.”

Working holiday visa-holders are able to change employers, which puts them in a better position than longer-term migrants who hold essential skills work visas which can often be tied to certain professions, employers or regions.

Some working holiday visa-holders had to convert their visas to a horticulture and viticulture-focused Supplementary Seasonal Employment work visa (SSE) last year, which restricted them to seasonal work, but now this visa type will become an open work visa too.

Foundry worker Alexei, who asked for his name to be changed for publication, has been in the country for over six years working a 48-hour hour week across five shifts in a hot, dangerous environment.

Unlike many on working holiday visas Alexei is unable to change employers or industries on his longer-term essential skills visa, which in turn makes it difficult for him to negotiate his pay upwards from below the median wage.

“My visa is linked with my employer so I can work only for my company … I’m totally dependent on my employer.”

He would have only been able to renew his visa every six months before today’s changes to the essential skills work visa.

Holders of essential skills visas who earn less than the median wage will now be granted a longer stay on their visas with terms extended from six months to 12 months.

The implementation of a cooling-off period, where essential skills visa holders would have to spend one year outside the country after renewing their visa three times, has also been delayed till July 2022.

Bayson said she was not in regular contact with other types of migrants, but working visa-holders often visited the same online forums as other types of visa-holders.

She has been surprised at the stories in those forums, many of which are much worse than her own.

“It’s really shocking for me because I am coming from a country which is not so good at human rights and not a very developed country.

“It also shows me immigration is really a serious problem in New Zealand that really should be solved, because people are really in a hard situation.”