Saunders & Co Immigration Lawyers

30/10/2025

Immigration policy is an ever-changing landscape and it can be hard to keep track of what is happening and when.

At Saunders, we try to ensure our clients are kept "in the know", about what they need to know.

We have therefore linked below three fact sheets that we have created, that summarise the more significant policy announcements that INZ have released lately.

These include a summary of the newly launched Parent Boost visa, an update on the changes to Student visa policy, and the addition of 87 occupations that will be recognised as skilled and which allow for the grant of a work visa lasting up to 5 years.

For further clarification or advice on any immigration related matters, contact our Immigration team at Saunders and Co.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/saunders-lawyers-immigration_factsheets-boost-visa-student-visa-changes-activity-7389511405672251392-IIC4?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAArXyYIB-3ulUo2ooaTad1n-QYhwe_6helQ

24/09/2025

There are always changes on the horizon with immigration policy but the latest announcement is significant, as it offers new residence pathways to many of those who have been locked out by the current SMC and green list policies. Those existing categories are also getting some refinement.

The full policy has not yet been released but we have summarized the available information below.

23 September 2025 Welcome News as New Skilled Migrant Pathways Announced In a significant move to attract skilled migrants, two new residence pathways will be introduced under the Skilled Migrant Category in mid-2026. Two new residence pathways:  Skilled work experience pathway: for migrants in sk...

08/09/2025

𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗳𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗗𝗮𝗶𝗿𝘆 𝗙𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀

Dairy Cattle Farmers (including Dairy Farm Managers, Assistant Dairy Farm Managers and Dairy Herd Managers) are included on Tier 2 of the Green List, meaning they can apply for residence after accruing 24 months of work experience in this role in New Zealand. The Green List requirement for this role is a minimum of 3 years of experience working on a commercial farm in a relevant role.

Work to Residence policy states that workers in Green List roles must meet the Green List requirements for their role, for the whole duration of their 24 months of work experience in NZ. This means that ordinarily, a Dairy Cattle Farmer would first need to accrue a minimum of 3 years of relevant experience in order to meet the Green List requirements, and then only once that requirement is met they can start counting the 24 months of experience in New Zealand needed to apply for residence. In total, a Dairy Cattle Farmer needs to have 5 years of experience to be eligible for residence.

However recently INZ technical advisers have confirmed that for Dairy Cattle Farmers in particular, that is not how the policy is intended to work. They have stated that Dairy Farmers do NOT need to have 3 years of relevant experience before they can start counting the 24 months of New Zealand work experience required under the Work to Residence pathway. Instead, they can start accruing their experience as soon as they begin working in New Zealand as a Dairy Farmer, and they will be eligible to apply for residence once they meet the Green List requirement by having 3 years of experience, provided that includes at least 24 months in New Zealand. For many Dairy Farmers, this will mean they are eligible to apply for residence 2 years sooner than they had initially thought.

INZ has acknowledged that this is contrary to the wording of the policy, and differs from how the policy is applied to other Green List occupations. It has indicated that this will be added to the Green List review scheduled for 2026, and that further clarification will be issued in due course. For now, if you are working in New Zealand as a Dairy Farmer and you want to know when you may be able to apply for residence, contact us.

03/09/2025

The Parent Boost Visa is going live at the end of the month and interest is ramping up.

We have therefore put together a helpful summary of the category, including a comparison against the other existing Parent-centric visa categories.

We are here to help answer any wider questions on the Boost visa ahead of its launch.

02/09/2025

INZ recently announced the new Business Investor visa along with the immediate retirement of the Entrepreneur work visa category.

This heralds a long awaited and welcomed overhaul of the problematic entrepreneur policy, with the BIV being the first stage, aimed at attracting those looking to invest in and grow existing businesses in Nz, and with a later policy set to be announced which will be targeted at 'new' entrepreneurs.

You can read our summary of the BIV policy below.

2 September 2025 Out with the old, in with the new: INZ scraps the Entrepreneur work visa in favour of its new Business Investor visa In a significant reshaping of New Zealand’s immigration strategy for business investment, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford has announced the new Business Inves...

16/07/2025

17 July 2025 Residency boon for the trades, but at a cost. On 18 August 2025, the median wage under residence policy, and the number of occupations on the green list, are set to increase. - The median wage will increase from $31.61 per hour to $33.56 per hour. This increase will have a flow on effe...

18/06/2025

It's always a good news story when things get easier and less costly!

From 23 June, certain qualifications from 9 additional countries will now be automatically recognised by INZ without needing an International Qualification Assessment from NZQA.

Those newly added countries are:
- France
- Germany
- India
- Italy
- Singapore
- South Korea
- Sri Lanka
- Sweden
- Switzerland

Get in touch if you need help identifying whether your qualification will now automatically be recognised.

13/06/2025

Big news for the trades, with ten new occupations added to the Green List from August 2025.

Workers in these roles will now be able to apply for residence under the Green List - Tier 2 pathway, after they complete 24 months of experience in the role, and meet the stipulated occupation requirements throughout (most of which appear to involve a minimum rate of pay).

On 18 August 2025, the skilled residence median wage rate is also going to increase from $31.66 to $33.56 per hour.

We will provide further updates when the full policy has been released.

We are currently experiencing technical issues that may prevent some people from accessing their eVisa notifications online. We are working urgently to resolve this. If you are unable to view your eVisa before your travel to New Zealand, contact our Customer Service Centre for assistance.

10/06/2025

The parent boost visa has finally been announced and is set to bridge the gap between existing policies. Here is what we know so far.

11 June 2025 Parent Boost Visa set to bridge the gap Over the weekend, the Government has announced the upcoming launch of its Parent Boost Visa. This visa has been designed to allow families to spend more time together, where parents cannot or do not want to secure a resident visa for New Zealand.....

27/02/2025

Big changes are coming in the Immigration space. There is a lot to figure out and we have aimed to distill the changes into a few key points which you can read in our article below. As always, reach out to one of our team if you need further advice on how this affects your circumstances specifically.

https://www.immigrationlawyersnz.co.nz/news/2025-immigration-changes-unpacked/

17/12/2024

It's almost a wrap! The Saunders Immigration team's last official day in the office for 2024 is this Friday, 20 December so best get any last minute queries to us now! We will then be off for the holidays and be back in the office on 13 January 2025.

Speaking of the holiday season, now is a great time to check your passport and travel condition expiry dates, so you don't get caught by surprise at the airport.

This is particularly true for resident visa holders. While a resident visa allows its holder to live in New Zealand indefinitely, the ability to travel in and out of the country lapses after two years. This means that the visa will expire as you depart New Zealand after that point in time, unless you apply for a variation of travel conditions (VOTC) or a permanent resident visa (PRV).

So, if you are looking to travel soon, check your visa and passport expiry dates, plan accordingly, and get in touch if you have any questions or need assistance. The team will be happy to help.

Otherwise, wishing you all a sparkling Christmas and we will see you in 2025!

17/12/2024

INZ confirmed 2025 will kick off with a host of reforms to the Accredited Employer work visa scheme. There are a number of staged changes, and the full policy is yet to be released and won't be until closer to when each change is due to take effect.

In the meantime however, you can read a summary of the changes below. As always, if you would like to understand more, or know how these changes could impact you, please get in touch with the team.

The Government has announced reforms to the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV).