'No clear pathway' for international student to get NZ residency
Sunday, 31 October 2021
A Palmerston North international PhD student is frustrated and uncertain about her family’s future after being left off the list of people fast tracked for a residency visa.
Lily Jia and her husband Kai Pan are originally from China, but have been in New Zealand for 10 years and thought they would be eligible when the immigration minister Kris Faafoi announced in September the Government would fast track thousands of migrants on temporary work visas to residency.
The one-off 2021 resident visa is available for about 165,000 eligible migrants who met one of six criteria: have lived in New Zealand for three or more years, earn above the median wage ($27 per hour or more), work in a role on the long-term skill shortage list, hold occupational registration and work in health or education, work in personal care or other critical health worker roles, or work in the primary industries.
But Jia, who is on a student visa and Pan, who is on a partnership work visa, were not eligible. Jia said they felt it was unfair and rude.
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She said there was no clear pathway to show her how to get residency.
Jia has a petition signed by more than 350 PhD students asking Faafoi to include PhD students because they work in specialised fields and would be in line with the Government’s claim it welcomes skilled migrant workers and wants to improve the country’s research reputation.
But a statement from Faafoi’s office, attributed to an anonymous spokesperson for the minister, said the Government would not consider widening the eligibility criteria.
The statement said the visa was a one-off residence pathway in response to extraordinary circumstances and recognised settled, skilled and scarce migrant labour where people have been in New Zealand for three years or more.
There were other pathways to residency if people had not met the eligibility requirements, it said.
A spokeswoman for Immigration New Zealand said it had nothing further to add to the response from the minister’s office.
Jia said there had been no explanation for why some people met the criteria but others didn’t, which had caused her uncertainty and anxiety.
“The policy is always changing. I feel like we can't keep up with the policies. For my personal career I want to be a researcher on breastfeeding to support [women].”
Her three children, aged 9, 5 and 2, were born in New Zealand and they recognise themselves as Kiwis first, then Chinese and Jia also felt a strong connection to the country.
“I’m worried about having to go back to China after staying here for 10 years. I’ll probably have to face the hardest choice in my life about having to go back to China.”
Jia came to New Zealand in 2012 from Beijing to study human nutrition at Massey University on a student visa.
“After I came here I found this is an amazing country, the people are so kind and I felt like this is my dream life,” Jia said.
Jia had problems breastfeeding when she had children, so it sparked her interest in her research, which focuses on helping mothers have a better milk supply.
Pan came to New Zealand on a work visa and was working in television in Auckland, but moved to Palmerston North to be with Jia.
He wasn’t able to find work in his chosen field, so worked as a masseuse, but injured his hand so is now doing odd jobs like cleaning. He is now on a partnership work visa.
Jia has a part-time job as a research advisor at Massey. Her student visa expires in April, but it is unlikely she will complete her studies by then, so would need another visa to finish.
Once she completes her studies she said she would need an employer to support her to apply for residency.