Big Visa Changes or Status Quo?

It’s official, we have a new Government, consisting of (from left to right) the ACT Party, the National Party and New Zealand first. This is a significant first for New Zealand with three political parties sharing the reigns, something that our MMP system has never managed to produce, although we have had some close calls. This election was was equally touch and go for a while, with no one sure as to whether we would need NZ First in the mix.

We also have a new Minister of Immigration and two Associate Ministers, which is a bit unusual (there is usually only one Associate). Erica Stanford of National takes the hotseat for Immigration as the key Minister, with her colleague Chris Penk (also National), as Associate and the second Associate role going to Casey Costello of NZ First. NZ First have always had a bee in their collective bonnets over immigration so I am not surprised that they managed to secure a seat at this Ministerial table.

Of course, with a new Government and new Ministers and an extra Minister to boot, the hum and whine of the rumour mill can almost be heard from the moon. Speculation is rife as to whether we will see a ‘big bang’ in the immigration space, with a raft of new policies, changes and pathways.

The answer of course is, quite different to what the commentariat might be thinking. There are no signs from any individual party or collectively from the coalition as to any major changes in the near future. There are some basic tweaks being rolled out, which will make a difference to some but as far as the big ticket items, don’t expect too much to change in the near to medium term.

Continued on our Immigration Site.