"Immigration New Zealand's central Christchurch office in the Crystal Plaza building is unable to be accessed for safety reasons. 2000 temporary visa applications are in that office.

"I have issued a special Ministerial direction effective immediately that any foreign national who is here legally and whose application is caught up in the Christchurch office will have a six month visa extension issued.

‘’Technically this is referred to as an Interim Visa. Any foreign national whose travel plans have been disrupted by the earthquake will similarly be granted a visa extension to allow them to remain legally in New Zealand for the reasonable duration of their visit.

"We know whose applications are in the Christchurch office, and INZ staff in Wellington are accessing the relevant files via the INZ computer system to issue the visas."

Conference Chair, Alun Chisholm, Association Chair Coral Wong, ladies and gentlemen

Over the past two years, the immigration adviser community has transformed itself from a fragmented industry delivering services of uneven quality into a potent professional grouping defined by high service standards.

 On 4 May this year, mandatory licensing was extended to immigration advisers based outside of New Zealand.

This is a significant event and marks a new era for your industry and for Immigration New Zealand.

 The New Zealand Association for Migration and Investment is in a unique position to support this government's objective to position Immigration to build New Zealand's prosperity.

Economic growth is crucial to New Zealand's future prosperity.  Immigration can support economic growth by targeting those migrants who can add skills, innovation and capital to the economy.

 Your industry has a valuable part to play in this - it can help translate government policy into concrete commercial results.

 The facts speak for themselves - one in four workers in New Zealand is a migrant. Over the past five years 60% of New Zealand's workforce growth came from temporary and permanent migrants. And today, even as we continue to recover from the recession, we are facing ongoing skill shortages that will almost certainly need to be filled from overseas.

 This Government has already put in place policies which target these migrants and make New Zealand a more attractive place to live.

 The Government's May tax package was the biggest reform of the tax system in 25 years. The changes will help boost economic growth and make New Zealand a far more attractive destination for skilled migrants and for business investment. 

 Business incentives have also been improved. As mentioned already, the new company tax rate of 28% is better than Australia's and very competitive by international standards. 

Last year we announced a new business migration package, targeting migrants who want to both live in New Zealand and invest in or set up a business here.

These new policies were designed to make it easier for entrepreneurs to invest here and create more jobs for New Zealanders.  Since the introduction of the new business migration package just a year ago:

That's close to $300 million of new investment funding that could potentially make its way into the New Zealand economy very soon.

As with any new policy, there have been some minor teething problems. Compare this, however, to the 2007 - 2009 policy - only eight people transferred funds totalling $60 million in two years.  I think you'll agree that we are headed in the right direction.

I note the chair of the NZAMI was quoted in the NZ Herald last week regarding the business migration package. She said the Entrepreneur Plus scheme makes it more difficult for business migrants to gain residency compared to the old scheme. Ms Wong also said New Zealand's funds transfer policy - which did not recognise any other means of funds transfer other than bank-to-bank - was deterring many would-be investors, especially from Asia.

Entrepreneur Plus is an add-on - a quick route to residence to people who fulfil the criteria up-front. It's not a barrier to residing in New Zealand, it's actually an additional path for migrants to take.

On the funds transfer issue we know how important China is to our country. It's our second-biggest trading partner and an important source of business migrants.

However the Chinese Government has rules in place which makes it difficult for its citizens to transfer money out of the country using bank-to-bank transfers. We are looking into this issue with the Chinese Government and want a scheme that works for both countries

Briefly, it's important to remember why bank-to-bank transfers were introduced. Before 2005 there was a lack of transparency and legitimacy regarding the flow of funds into New Zealand. That exposed us to fraud and money-go-rounds.

Using bank-to-bank transfers ensures the source of funds is legitimate and transparent and maintains the integrity of our immigration service. That's something I make no apologies for.

To consolidate the early successes of the business migration package and develop further commercial opportunities, Immigration New Zealand's business migration team continues to work closely with agencies such as New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, Economic Development Agencies New Zealand, Rugby World Cup 2011 and a wide range of private sector investment agencies. 

The new Silver Fern policies, aimed at bringing highly skilled young people to New Zealand,opened in April 2010.  The initial quota of 300 filled within 30 minutes.  While its success will be measured by how many of these potential skilled migrants transfer through to the Silver Fern Practical Experience policy and to the Skilled Migrant Category, the initial interest in New Zealand is certainly a positive sign.  So far, almost a quarter of migrants approved under this policy have had postgraduate qualifications.

In March 2010, I introduced the Temporary Retirement and Parent Retirement categories.  These policies are aimed at attracting people of retirement age who will make a significant contribution to New Zealand's economic growth.  Already several applications have been made under these categories.

The previous Government talked about immigration as an economic driver - a tool to help grow the economy - but they never came up with a cohesive plan to deliver it.

This Government is delivering a strategic direction for immigration that supports economic growth. We are attracting more capital through our Business Migration Package and we are attracting high-worth and highly skilled migrants through our new visas and permits.

We've made changes to the export education sector and created a more flexible environment which allows short-term students to enrol on more courses. Further work is also underway on creating better pathways for students who study in New Zealand.

We are also focussing on better matching immigration to the needs of employers - helping them get the right staff when they need them.

Economic and social goals are mutually supportive. Immigration brings new people into the workforce and communities, with social impacts on both migrants and host communities. Positive social outcomes result in positive economic outcomes, and vice versa.

In spite of the global economic downturn, the market for skilled migrants remains keenly competitive. We still face strong competition from countries such as Australia, Canada, the United States and Germany. This competition will intensify as the world economy moves out of recession.

It is important that when we think about attracting migrants we have a coherent strategy and view it as an end to end process; from attracting potential migrants, employers and sectors in need of skills recruiting them, and ensuring that they settle well in New Zealand.  We should focus on migrants that have the skills and capital to help grow and build the economy. The challenge is to match those interested with opportunities in New Zealand and facilitate them through the immigration process.

Part of this process involves a review of the pathways to work and residence for international students and it is underway. This review aims to increase the employability of international students who are seeking to transition to work and residence, to ensure New Zealand employers have better access to the skills they need to innovate and grow.

A review of the SMC Work to Residence policy and settlement and contribution assessment in the SMC is also underway.  This review aims to ensure that applicants who come to New Zealand have realistic expectations and that the settlement and contribution assessment in the SMC is fair and transparent.

I anticipate that further policy reviews, including the capped family policies, will take place in the medium term to ensure that immigration is delivering the migrants that New Zealand needs.

 The implementation of the new Immigration Act will help deliver the migrants we need and the Act was a major focus in 2009/2010 and will be again in 2010/2011 as we move towards a 28 November general commencement date. Immigration New Zealand is looking forward to updating advisers on how the Act will modernise and future proof our immigration system.  I understand this will take place around September or October this year.

Collectively, these projects form part of a coordinated approach that will ensure that immigration supports this Government's economic growth agenda.

While it is important that our immigration policies focus on economic growth, they can only do this if we also get service delivery right.  One of my immediate priority areas is to overhaul Immigration New Zealand's service delivery.

 It is crucial to New Zealand and to your businesses that Immigration New Zealand makes consistent, good quality decisions and that it makes them in a timely manner. Backlogs in branches, such as have happened in student processing, are not acceptable if we are to remain internationally competitive.

 I am therefore working closely with the Department of Labour to address Immigration New Zealand's immediate operational needs.  This means removing choke points in the system, removing unnecessary business processes, lifting quality and improving customer satisfaction.

Work is being done on the fundamentals of application processing, to ensure we have consistent processes from the beginning to end in the application life cycle, in all Immigration branches around the world.  Common processes that provide robust assessment while simplifying administrative requirements. 

Part of these new processes will include a new operating environment for licensed immigration advisers. Significant productivity gains will be made if Immigration New Zealand better utilises the skills and knowledge of licensed immigration advisers. 

A specific recommendation is to consolidate applications from licensed advisers at a single branch.  Department of Labour officials will be entering discussions with representatives from your organisation in the next few weeks to ensure that this proposal, and any others that have merit, are developed in partnership with you.  Implementation of these new processes are planned for early 2011.  This will assist to streamline Immigration New Zealand's processes and strengthen the relationships between INZ staff and immigration advisers.

We need to ensure there is a trusted partner relationship between Immigration New Zealand and licensed advisors.  Frontline immigration officers should be able to trust the skills and knowledge of licensed immigration advisers and vice versa.  This platform of trust will enable better and faster outcomes for our shared customers.

That means managing risk and meeting core policy and process requirements in all cases-in other words "good" decision-making across the board.

Immigration New Zealand is also looking at the tools it needs to do the job. This includes the implementation of the new Immigration Act and the development of a new ICT system. Work is already underway to provide a modern, flexible and fit-for-purpose immigration ICT system that incorporates the latest advances in computer technology.

The new system will enable Immigration New Zealand to take advantage of recent developments in biometrics and better align its processing systems with partner agencies across the globe.

To make our immigration policies work it is vital that we have experienced staff on the ground in key markets.

South Africa is an important source for skilled migrants and I am aware that many of the companies represented here today have done extensive marketing in South Africa and made regular visits there.

As you will know, a new Immigration New Zealand Branch was opened in Pretoria on 1 July. All African temporary entry and residence work will be gradually transferred from the London Branch over the next year. This is a major milestone in servicing this market.

 

You will also know that plans are also on track to open a second Immigration New Zealand Branch in Mumbai by the end of 2010. This will relieve the enormous pressure on our New Delhi Branch and enable Immigration New Zealand to better meet the growing demand in the Indian student market.

Domestically, the industry has established a powerful brand that provides prospective migrants and Immigration New Zealand with the certainty that they are dealing with licensed professionals who conform to a uniform set of industry standards. It now has the opportunity to extend the power of that brand into offshore markets.

Immigration New Zealand no longer accepts applications from unlicensed immigration advisers and people who are not exempt. This has enormous potential for your industry and for the development of the New Zealand economy.

 

I also understand that around 200 offshore advisers have been licensed so far. This confirms that the value of licensing is now recognised outside of New Zealand. It confirms the value of your brand - a brand that will continue to increase in value. I would like to acknowledge the good work of the Immigration Adviser's Authority in the licensing of advisers and I'm sure their relationship with the sector will continue to help strengthen the industry.

The licensing of advisers provides valuable guarantees for prospective migrants and strengthens the New Zealand brand internationally. This is good for New Zealand and good for your industry. The establishment of the licensed immigration advisers' brand overseas also extends the reach of your industry.

This will enable your industry to develop new markets and commercial relationships.  These developments show how the adoption of mandatory licensing has released the full commercial potential of the immigration adviser industry.

This is largely attributable to the leadership of the New Zealand Association for Migration and Investment. Your association's leadership has transformed mandatory licensing from concept to reality.