NZ Government Considering Complete Overhaul of NZ’s Points System – Thomas. Jefferson Associates Limited

Within days of the New Zealand Government implementing an overnight change of the Skilled Migrant Category’s (SMC) Points System, the Government had already commenced consulting with dozens of industry players about the overhaul proposal, as reported by Radio New Zealand (RNZ).

This comes amid Immigration New Zealand’s (INZ) second review of the SMC, whereby initial reviews lead to the department’s fears that the SMC points system does not prioritise the “highest value” workers that it was designed to achieve.

It is worth noting that the current SMC system has been in place since 2003, where it was designed to assess New Zealand’s needs for skilled migrants.

According to INZ’s area manager Mr. Darren Calder, the aim of the current review for an overhaul of the SMC system was to ensure that it provided the “most benefit to New Zealand”.

Mr. Calder further stated that 1300, or 36 percent, of all residence applications were decided within 60 days in September, citing improvements in INZ’s processing time of SMC applications in the August/November 2016 period.

Contact Thomas. Jefferson Associates today for expert advice and assistance for your SMC application to New Zealand.