Below is a message that I sent to the Minister of Immigration and Prime Minister of NZ, which explains everything about this petition. If you would like to help our heroes mentioned in this message to get NZ residency, please SIGN IT. 

NOTE: You don't have to read the policy details at the bottom if you find it boring. The government will make its own decision anyway. The key meaning of your signature is to tell the Ministers that, these affected people are not alone as YOU are behind them. 

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A message to the team of five million—They have walked through the fire for us. Should we abandon them?

Dear all New Zealanders, the Honourable Kris Faafoi, Minister of Immigration, and the Right Honourable Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister,   

My name is Jack Wu. I am a licensed immigration adviser based in Auckland.

As we all know, the Minister of Immigration, the Hon Kris Faafoi has recently made an announcement regarding the one-off residence pathway for up to 165,000 migrants, which provides both migrant families and local businesses with certainty that they need to plan into the future and continue driving the economic recovery.

As an immigration professional who has seen enough migrants and business owners suffering from various types of pain caused by the unpredictable visa status of either themselves, family members, or staff, I was truly delighted to hear the news.

However, while many migrants are celebrating this big event, some of them have been sleepless in the past few days with huge disappointment and sorrow. They have two things in common – 1. They did not meet the criteria for the one-off residence scheme simply because they held certain types of visas that are excluded from the eligible list; 2. They have contributed a significant amount of their time, energy, money or even have risked their lives for our country throughout the pandemic since March 2020.

Immigration terms can be so complicated that most people do not enjoy reading. So, instead of only talking about what exact types of visas can or cannot meet the criteria for the one-off residence scheme, I would like to share some real stories here. Most of the people below have had direct conversations with me except for one person. NONE of them is eligible for the one-off resident visa according to the current policy. Here we go:

Serena—a student visa holder. Serena is a placement medical student and a front-line worker while studying towards Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery at the University of Auckland. She has also gained a certificate in immune oncology from Harvard Medical School. Besides working as an advisor in Auckland hospital for 2 years before the pandemic, in 2021 alone, she has already assisted over 100 surgeries, helped treat over 400 patients, and administered more than 1000 Covid-19 swab tests and vaccinations. Moreover, she and her partner (who is a senior software developer on a partnership-based work visa) have paid approximately 1 million NZ dollars combined tuition fees and taxes to their universities and IRD since they first arrived in New Zealand (2013 for Serena, 2006 for her partner).

Yikai & Eldon—student visa holders, former construction workers. Both of them had participated in the urgent project of upgrading ICU rooms at Middlemore Hospital before NZ’s first lockdown in March 2020, while their employer was struggling to find enough local workers who dared to work within 10 meters of Covid suspected cases. Yikai and Eldon had fearlessly worked there for about 11-15 hours per day, been wrapped by suffocating PPEs.

Francine—a student visa holder who is working as a part-time reliever at an Early Childhood Education centre while studying towards a graduate diploma in teaching (ECE). She has already received a permanent job offer that will make her a qualified teacher following her graduation in Jan 2022. By the way, New Zealand is having a serious shortage of ECE teachers right now. 

Wenjie—a Partnership-based work visa holder. He has been working as a disabled carer for over 5 years, looking after a 43-year-old disabled man Mr. George Tomlinson, his father Peter Tomlinson (77), and mother Lorraine Mare Tomlinson (75), while taking another part-time role as a Life Skills educator at Maurice Paykel Centre in Auckland. Wenjie has rejected quite a few new job opportunities because, as he said, “everyone in the (Tomlinson) family is old and vulnerable so I just can’t leave them alone”. Wenjie’s wife is a Ph.D. of Education student expected to graduate soon.

Hannah—a Working holiday visa holder. She has worked in NZ throughout the pandemic as a doctor. Hannah has worked in the hospital much longer than most other foreign critical health workers have. Yet the latter are eligible for the one-off residence scheme, but Hannah is not.

Crystal—a partnership-based work visa holder. She has been working as an essential service worker delivering food to multiple supermarkets since the first lockdown in 2020. Confirmed Covid-19 cases have been found at many of the supermarkets that Crystal has been to.

Tina—a student visa holder, currently studying towards a Diploma in Community Health and Support. Besides studying, Tina is working part-time as a caregiver at Arvida Waikanae Lodge and as a healthcare assistant at Griffin Healthcare. She had also been an essential service worker at two meat factories for two and a half years, both before and during the pandemic.

Teresa—a student visa holder who has been working as a frontline healthcare assistant since April 2021. She has also done essential work in a prime industry (meat factory) while holding essential skills work visa, both before and during the pandemic.

Rach—a student visa holder who has worked as a service attendant at a quarantined hotel in Christchurch where some stayers were tested Covid-19 positive.  

Kate—a student visa holder who has worked as a community support worker at Healthcare NZ.

…

The list can go much longer as I have only spoken to about 50 people out of thousands who are excluded from the 2021 one-off residence scheme.

Many people in the above-mentioned cases have switched their visas from an eligible type (e.g., essential skills work visa or post-study work visa) to an ineligible one (e.g., student visa), just because they were pursuing higher education. Some of them were about to get an eligible visa within a few weeks (e.g. graduates who will soon apply for a Post-study work visa) but missed the deadline of 29 September 2021.

In a word, they are excluded from a list of 165,000 people not because of what they did or will do but because of their visa status on a certain day. As we can see from the forementioned cases, such a criterion has caused significant issues—How could we invite such a large amount of people of all backgrounds to settle in our country quickly, without the inclusion of those who have walked through fire for us?! Aren't they more qualified than an average person in that165,000? 

How could we save the lives of many in the last couple of years, without medical professionals like Serena and Hannah risking their lives around the coronavirus?

Would there still be enough upgraded ICU rooms giving us peace of mind in every Covid-19 outbreak, without construction workers like Yikai & Eldon?

Would we be able to easily find another person looking after the vulnerable NZ family for over 5 years, full of patience and love, if Wenjie the disabled carer did not come to the country?

Would New Zealand be able to make it through the last year and a half, without migrants like Francine, Crystal, Tina, Teresa, Rach and Kate who have been looking after our children, supermarkets, clinics, hotels and meat factories while there were significant staff shortages?

Dear Mr. Faafoi, Ms. Ardern, and everyone else who is reading this, would you agree with me that these people above should be included in the one-off residence scheme?

I understand it is not easy to make significant changes to a comprehensive policy like the 2021 one-off residence program within a short period of time. Therefore, I have spent a whole week thinking about how to make it work without giving Mr. Faafoi and his team too much burden. Please see my ideas below:

SOLUTION

Under the current policy, applicants for the 2021 one-off resident visa must have met the below criteria on 29 September 2021.

-have been in New Zealand on 29 September 2021, and

-be on an eligible visa or have applied for an eligible visa on or before 29 September 2021 that is later granted

They must also meet ONE of the three criteria:

-have lived in New Zealand for three or more years, OR

-earn at or above the median wage ($27 per hour), OR

-work in a role on a scarce list.

Here is my suggested simple solution to the problem—

Replace “being on an eligible visa or have applied for one on or before 29 Sep 2021” with a new criterion below:

-had held any type of visa with work permission (either full-time or part-time) that is valid for 6 months or more, on or within 3 years before 29 September 2021;

Reason: By making this change all people in the forementioned cases and those in similar situations are covered.

And add another choice to the optional criteria list:

-students who entered a study program on or before 29 September 2021, through which they successfully obtain a post-study work visa later.

Reason: With this option, many highly skilled students will have a chance to, or continue to contribute to the country’s recovery from the pandemic in the upcoming years, if they do not meet any of the previous 3 options.

In conclusion, my proposed new criteria are:

On 29 September 2021, the applicant

-have been in New Zealand on 29 September 2021, and

-had held any type of visa with work permission (either full-time or part-time) that is valid for 6 months or more, on or within 3 years before 29 September 2021;

They must also meet ONE of the three criteria:

-have lived in New Zealand for three or more years, OR

-earn at or above the median wage ($27 per hour), OR

-work in a role on a scarce list, OR

-students who entered a study program on or before 29 September 2021, through which they successfully obtain a post-study work visa later.

Dear Mr. Faafoi, I sincerely hope the above information can give you enough reason to review your decision and make changes accordingly.

Thank you in advance on behalf of the team of five million.

Warm regards,

Jack Wu

Licensed Immigration Adviser

Director of River Origin Limited

Mobile: 0212361587

Email: jackwu.immigration@outlook.co.nz