52572 (2024). Teanau Tuiono to the Minister of Immigration

52572 (2024). Teanau Tuiono to the Minister of Immigration: Does the Minister agree that tying of visas to a specific employer increases the risk of human rights abuse and if so, what work is being done to counter this; and if not why not?

Hon Erica Stanford: The Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) is the main way for employers to recruit migrants on a temporary basis. Its primary objective is to allow migrants to fill short-term labour shortages, by granting them a temporary work visa to fill a specific vacancy where the employer has been unable to find suitable and available New Zealanders. Granting AEWVs for a specific job for a specific employer helps to ensure that migrant workers do not arrive in New Zealand without a job to go to, and that they are not employed in roles that could be done by New Zealand workers. Linking workers to employers also ensures that employers meet accreditation standards, which allows Immigration New Zealand (INZ) to check that employers of migrants are genuine businesses, in a sound financial position, have not breached immigration law or employment standards, and are providing information to support settlement of migrant workers. Granting visas without knowing who the migrant would work for removes much of INZ’s ability to prevent exploitative employers from employing migrants and denying them of their rights. I am advised that since the AEWV scheme was implemented in July 2022, INZ has revoked AEWV accreditation from over 450 employers as part of their action to ensure those employing migrants are compliant. Migrants on temporary visas can be vulnerable and must be afforded the same employment conditions and rights as their New Zealand resident and citizen counterparts – this includes being able to change employers. With this in mind, we are committed to making it easy for AEWV holders to change jobs, while still meeting our objectives for the AEWV. An AEWV holder can apply for a job change to move to a different accredited employer who has an approved job check. This process is much cheaper and more streamlined than applying for a new AEWV and is more permissive than under the previous Essential Skills work visa. At this stage, we are undertaking a wider review of the AEWV to ensure it is optimally balanced, allowing compliant employers to efficiently hire migrant staff when there is a genuine shortage, while still minimising the risks of exploitation, strengthening the integrity of the system and managing overall levels of net migration. I am committed to reducing migrant exploitation through Immigration New Zealand improving their operational practices and refining of certain policy, without having to eliminate a key premise of the system, as that would likely create significant unintended consequences.