The Government recently agreed to an additional class exception for up to 300 dairy farm assistants to help alleviate workforce shortages in advance of the calving season.
Hard-won concessions on immigration policy could see dairy farming ranks bolstered by upwards of 1000, when migrant spouses are reunited with their husbands in the coming months.
Immigration lawyer Ben De’Ath says law changes introduced in 2017 have prevented spouses and children joining their husbands in New Zealand under working visas.
This was an especially significant issue for the dairy sector.
De’Ath says his clients employ about 500 staff on work visas who will have spouses join them and he estimates a further 500 other migrant workers will similarly benefit.
He is aware of some migrant dairy workers who haven’t seen their families for three years due to covid rules restricting travel.
“That is a testament to their commitment to their jobs,” De’Ath said.
He said provided Immigration NZ (INZ) processed the relevant documentation in a timely fashion, spouses could join their husbands by July, in time to assist with calving, calf-rearing or relief milking.
He said INZ deserves plaudits for listening to the dairy sector’s concerns and while not getting everything it wants and needs, he says dairy has achieved more than other sectors who are similarly crying out for staff.
“This is a first step forward, acknowledging the problem,” he said.
He said dairy has twice in the past year been granted migrant allocations, more so than other sectors facing staff shortages, although he says it has been classified – wrongly in his view – as low-skilled.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi said employers wanting to employ immigrants will need to be accredited before they can hire a migrant on the new Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) category.
“The new visa opens for applications on July 4, but employers only need to become accredited at the point in time they intend to hire a migrant worker on an AEWV,” the spokesperson said.
These changes were signalled last year.
The minister expects the dairy sector to benefit from changes, which lower the salary threshold for the other critical worker immigrant criteria to 1.5 times the median wage and removes the requirement of proof that skills required for the role are not readily available in NZ.
“This expanded border exception pathway will enable the dairy sector to bring more experienced dairy farm managers to New Zealand,” the spokesperson said.
The changes mean dairy farm assistants paid less than 1.5 times the median wage won’t be eligible for the ‘other critical worker’ border exception pathway.
The spokesperson said this is why the Government recently agreed to an additional class exception for up to 300 dairy farm assistants to help alleviate workforce shortages in advance of the calving season.
He noted the sector is yet to fill all the spaces available for a class exception for 200 dairy farm workers granted in 2021, despite eligibility being widened to allow more dairy farm assistants to come to NZ.
