On Tuesday, New Zealand government announced new curbs which includes curtailing number of immigrants to the country, capping family categories and raising requirements for skilled migrants.
Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse said the changes to the New Zealand Residence Programme (NZRP) for the next two years were part of a regular review of the numbers.
This decision comes after considering the impact of migration on the economy.
PARENT CATEGORY TO BE CLOSED
The changes include temporarily closing the parent category to new applications - a measure that will directly affect a huge number of parents wanting to live with their migrant offspring in New Zealand.
INTAKE TO DECREASE
Overall the number of residence approvals for the next two years would be cut from 90,000-100,000 down to 85,000-95,000.
SKILLED MIGRANTS FACE BIGGER CHALLENGES
The government has decided to raise the requirements for skilled migrants. The threshold for skilled migrants has been raised by increasing the number of points they must have from 140 to 160, Newshub wrote.
REASON: MIGRANTS AFFECTING LOCAL HOUSING AND INFRASTRUCTURE
“Migrants make a valuable contribution to New Zealand both culturally and economically, and the government periodically reviews all our immigration settings to make sure they are working as intended,” Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse told Newshub.
Recently several leaders from the Opposition raised concerns over issues such as the worsening housing crisis, which is rippling out from the largest city of Auckland.
The opposition New Zealand First party said the government had panicked after polls. “The plain fact is after years of denial, their polling is telling them the public are concerned,” New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said in a statement.
The government had “created a massive problem” by bringing in huge numbers of unskilled migrants, and the parent category meant their parents had “flooded in also”, straining the provision of housing, health and education, said Peters.
“Over 15 years we have taken in over 87,000 parent migrants who have no requirements to contribute to the economy while they receive free access to public health immediately, and superannuation after just 10 years here,” he said.
FOLLOW SBS HINDI FOR ALL VISA-RELATED NEWS:
Want to migrate to Australia? 2016-17 Skilled Occupations List (SOL) announced
