How easy is it to be approved for an ‘open’ work visa?

Ankur Sabharwal is the owner of immigration advisory Visa Matters. He is a licensed immigration adviser dealing with complex immigration matters.

OPINION: How easy is it to be approved for an ‘open’ work visa for New Zealand?

The Government has made it more difficult, but it’s still possible for some.

There are three main categories which allow ‘open’ work visas. (An ‘open’ work visa allows employment for any employer, in any location, in any occupation – apart from prostitution.)

Post-Study Work Visas

An international student used to qualify for a Post-Study Work Visa (of between one and three years) after completing any tertiary course of 60 weeks or longer. They could work in any occupation.

Now, you’ll need a three-year bachelor’s degree, a postgraduate qualification, or a qualification on INZ’s Green List before you can qualify for an ‘open’ work visa.

If your qualification appears on the Green List and is less than a bachelor’s degree, your ‘open’ work visa will only allow you to work in the occupation that the qualification relates to.

So, for example, if you complete a New Zealand Certificate in Agriculture (Level 4), which appears on INZ’s Green List, you can only be approved an ‘open’ work visa which allows you to work as a dairy farmer (i.e. someone running a dairy farm, not simply a dairy worker).

These changes to Post-Study work visas are part of the Government’s Immigration Rebalance, which is designed to make it easier to attract and hire high-skilled migrants and to discourage employers from relying on low-skilled migrant workers.

Partner of a Worker work visas

Another plank in the Immigration Rebalance policy is to restrict ‘open’ work visas for the partners of work visa holders.

Currently, if someone is approved a three-year Accredited Employer Work Visa, their partner can be approved an ‘open’ work visa for the same length of time.

The Government planned to change that last December, limiting work visas to partners of Green List workers and partners of highly paid workers.

However, those planned changes were not implemented after receiving negative feedback from employers and immigration industry groups.

“There are many employers in New Zealand who benefit and probably rely upon the flexible open work rights given to partners of work visa holders,” Nicola Tiffen, the chair of the New Zealand Association of Migration and Investment (NZAMI), told me.

Tiffen said many migrants would choose to apply for a work visa in another country if their partner cannot be approved a work visa while living with them in New Zealand.

The Government is considering changes to its plans, which it now expects to implement in April 2023.

I asked the Minister of Immigration for a copy of the feedback he had received … after I waited for a month, Hon Michael Wood told me that the feedback wasn’t recorded.

Let’s hope he does the right thing, in spite of having nothing in writing.

Working Holiday Schemes

No changes have been made to Working Holiday Visas (WHVs), which allow young people aged 18 – 30 from 45 different countries to work for up to 12 months in New Zealand.

Working Holiday Schemes were closed for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Before Covid, more than 60,000 people a year were approved WHVs, making it New Zealand’s number 1 work visa category.

I’m sure New Zealand employers would love to hire that many migrants again on ‘open’ work visas.

Compared with the Accredited Employer scheme, there are very low costs in hiring people on ‘open’ work visas, and they can start work straight away.

DISCLAIMER: This article does not constitute immigration advice. Individuals need to seek personal advice from a New Zealand licensed immigration adviser or lawyer to assess their unique situation. Ankur can be contacted at info@visamatters.co.nz.