In its interim response to the Productivity Commission's immigration inquiry the Government agrees mostly with the commission's recommendations - but has kicked to touch the idea of ending Permanent Resident visas for new residents

The Government seems likely to pick up the Productivity Commission's key immigration inquiry recommendation around the issuing of a Government policy statement on immigration policy.

However, while the Government has responded favourably to most of the commission's 24 recommendations, it seems to have given short shrift to the idea of discontinuing the issuance of new Permanent Resident visas for new Residents and require new Residents to renew their Resident visas every six years.

The commission's final report into its inquiry into New Zealand’s long-term immigration settings was given to the Government nearly a year ago. 

That final report recommended an Immigration Government Policy Statement (GPS) that would require governments to set a clear strategic direction for immigration policy. Governments would also be required to specify how the demand for temporary and permanent visas would be managed to reflect the country’s capacity to settle more people and how it would invest, if necessary, to expand that capacity. Ideally the GPS would look ahead for five to 10 years.

In its interim response the Government says on this recommendation that it "supports the intent" of it.

"There are opportunities to improve transparency over the strategic intent for the immigration system and to address the recommendations relating to the role of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in immigration policy settings and institutions," the Government says.

"...A GPS is an attractive option for bringing together the Government’s strategic intent for the immigration system, transparency and a link to absorptive capacity considerations."

The Government says officials also have work under way to identify how to better track the total number and composition of both temporary migrant workers and recent skilled residents.

"The aim is to inform choices about when settings might need to be adjusted. This work is at an early stage and involves considering relevant economic, labour market and other factors to identify whether there is an issue and what responses (immigration or non-immigration) may be appropriate. Officials will report back to Cabinet by mid-2023 with options."

Immigration Minister Michael Wood said the Government's priority is to improve how it communicates the goals for the immigration system and that it balances immigration policy objectives with broader government objectives, including how it manages demands on housing, education and health services that migration brings.

"I have asked officials to provide advice on what a Government Policy Statement (GPS) for the immigration system will look like. This will included targeted consultation on an initial outline of a GPS.

"We will also progress work on the commission’s recommendation for more engagement with mana whenua on how to reflect Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Te Ao Māori in immigration settings and institutions."

However in response to the recommendation of ending Permanent Residence Visas, the Government says it is "not considering" the recommendation "at this stage".

"While the recommendation has some merit, other priorities on the immigration policy work programme this year mean that consideration of this proposal will not occur before 2024," the Government says.

"The permanent resident visa policy settings have been in place since 2000 and strike the balance between ensuring migrants demonstrate an ongoing commitment to New Zealand and to make New Zealand an attractive destination for highly skilled migrants."

The commission's final report to the Government had said on this recommendation that New Zealand has large numbers of Permanent Resident visa holders offshore and it had said that  the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) had estimated that over 110 000 Permanent Resident visa holders had been overseas for at least six months at the end of February 2020 (just before the border closures due to the pandemic) with almost 80% of them being overseas for more than two years.

Moreover, Immigration New Zealand issued an average of around 40 000 residence class visas every year from 2011 to 2019.

"If this trend continues, another one million people will obtain New Zealand residency over the next 25 years – suggesting that the number of Permanent Resident visa holders living overseas is likely to reach 200 000 in a couple of decades.

"This situation increases the risk of future population volatility and makes planning for housing, infrastructure, and public and private services more difficult," the commission had said in its report.

The statement issued by the commission following release on Monday of the Government's interim response to the commission's final report made no reference at all to the recommendation that had been made about Permanent Resident Visas.

Commission chair Ganesh Nana said the interim response from Government "highlights general agreement with the recommendations made in the Commission’s final report".

"I am particularly heartened by the positive response to the need for a Government Policy Statement and look forward to seeing how the draft Statement will bring immigration objectives together with other government priorities around infrastructure investments and education and training," he said.

"I am also encouraged to see that there will be engagement with Māori and consideration of what Te Tiriti means for future immigration policies.

"While immigration is neither the cause of nor the solution to, New Zealand’s productivity woes, an immigration system fit for the future will be a vital part of lifting New Zealand’s productivity and improving the wellbeing of all New Zealanders - now and for generations to come."

*You can also listen to Productivity Commission Chairman Ganesh Nana on why NZ needs to move away from an 'ad hoc' immigration policy in our Of Interest podcast here.