Immigration
A strategically balanced immigration policy offers an opportunity to not only provide New Zealanders with a sound immigration plan, but to also integrate the policy with other strands of economic and social policy.
United Future is committed to a policy which gives certainty to immigrants and provides a mutual benefit for them and existing citizens. Immigration should be seen as entirely positive and beneficial. We must have faith that our immigration policies are fair, objective and sustainable.
United Future will:
- Develop a 10-year population policy (preferably based on a multi-party agreement), which will provide a blueprint for developing and enhancing a modern multi-cultural New Zealand. The key themes will be promoting inclusiveness, encouraging migration, embracing multiculturalism, providing support for migrants through integrated settlement programmes, and ensuring population requirements are met through appropriate immigration approval numbers.
- set a minimum of 60,000 immigration approvals per annum to achieve a net immigration gain of 10,000 per annum.
- encourage more foreign students to undertake study in New Zealand and enable them to gain permanent residence once they have graduated and found permanent employment in New Zealand.
- Deploy recruitment teams to New Zealand Embassies to interview and screen potential immigrants
- Provide right of entry to any person who has a parent born in New Zealand.
- Remove the present restrictive and discriminatory English language test and replace it with a standard English test specified by their employer.
- Make additional English as a Second Language (ESL) resource available for schools on the basis of need.
- Devise new, comprehensive immigrant settlement programmes, in consultation with the Federation of Ethnic Councils. These will ensure that all new immigrants receive full information and support on all aspects of New Zealand society, including language, customs, access to employment, and health and social services, for the first 12 months after arrival.
- Revitalize the Migrant and Ethnic Affairs Service (within the Department of Internal Affairs) to work with the Federation of Ethnic Councils and other migrant groups to provide policy and advocacy for immigrants
- establish a one-stop Migrant Business Development Agency within the Immigration Service, especially in Auckland.
- Form a trained, ready-response refugee team that can fly at short notice to the location of a refugee crisis and apply pre-set criteria to fill New Zealand's quota.
- Provide additional staffing resources to the Immigration Service to meet customer demand, especially in Auckland and at pressure points overseas.
United Future Parliamentary Office: Bowen House, Lambton Quay, Wellington
Email: Phone: (04) 471 9890
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