9878 (2024). Ricardo Menéndez March to the Minister of Immigration

9878 (2024). Ricardo Menéndez March to the Minister of Immigration: What briefings, advice, memos, reports, or any other documents, if any, has the Minister received regarding decoupling visas from specific employers since December 2023, by title and date?

Hon Erica Stanford: Since becoming Minister, I have not received any written advice from officials specifically on decoupling visas from specific employers. During this term so far, I have taken steps to reduce the exploitation of migrants. This includes: • instructing Immigration New Zealand to tighten their Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) assessment settings to introduce more checks on employers; • adjusting the AEWV policy settings to include minimum English language standards for lower skilled workers, to ensure they are better able to understand their rights and seek help in exploitative situations; and • Adjust the AEWV settings to introduce a minimum qualification and/or experience threshold, to ensure that migrants are genuinely able to do the role.