New measures have been put in place by the New Zealand government in order to encourage new migrants to settle outside of the largest city in the country, Auckland.
Auckland, also known as the ‘City of Sails’ has many migrant applications each year. Almost half of the 10,000 skilled migrants who move to NZ each year arrive here. Investment and skills are needed in the rest of the country however so the NZ Immigration Department has issued new procedures in order to address this issue.
New incentives have been introduced (in effect from the start of November 2015) applicable to potential skilled migrants applying to live outside of Auckland. It is hoped that the measures should improve the spread of skilled workers across the country.
Additional bonus points will be awarded for skilled migrants with a job offer applying for residency in regional areas. Additional points will also be available for entrepreneurs applying to set up businesses outside of Auckland. This should help with improving the spread of investment across NZ and increase the number of jobs created outside of Auckland.
A condition of the additional points is that settlers will need to remain for at least 12 months.
The New Zealand immigration Department is keen to make sure that skills shortages across the country are met in order to develop the regional economies.
NZ has a number of skills shortages and there are many roles in certain regions which can’t be filled by residents. The NZ government publish skills shortage lists on an annual basis which change according to the needs of the economy. The published lists include the long and short-term skill shortages lists and the Canterbury skill shortage list. Further information can be found here: NZ Skill Shortage List Check
Current shortages include construction workers, engineers, accountants, dentists, dental technicians, outdoor adventure instructors, chemists and upholsterers.
The Canterbury Skills Shortage List (CSSL) was set up in response to the rebuild of the region after the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. Current skills required for the rebuild include building surveyors, quantity surveyors, civil engineers, carpenters and bricklayers among others.
