Indian nationals face tougher pathway to residency from August - lawyer
Tuesday, 7 July 2026
A lawyer says Immigration New Zealand (INZ) is changing its temporary work visa rules in a way that will make it tougher for anyone on a work visa to pursue a skilled residence pathway, effectively creating “barriers to residency” for Indian nationals.
Auckland immigration lawyer Alastair McClymont told The Post the change was not technically targeted at India, but would have the effect of limiting the ability of South Asian nationals from obtaining residency.
New rules ‒ in effect from August 24 ‒ come after a war of words between Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Immigration Minister Erica Stanford over Indian immigration and the India Free-Trade Agreement (FTA).
Peters has alleged the Government is misleading its Indian counterpart about its true migration gains under the deal ‒ a concern National ministers have strongly rejected.
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INZ issued an official circular through its mailing list on June 18, outlining changes to work visa conditions with a note that they would be published in the publicly accessible Immigration New Zealand Operational Manual “in due course”. The online manual was last updated on June 1 as of the time of writing.
McClymont is among those who received the circular and ‒ after combing through its dense contents ‒ told The Post one thing sticks out.
“The half dozen colleagues with Indian clients I’ve chatted to have all come to the same conclusion; the changes will have the effect of considerably limiting pathways to residency for Indian applicants.”
The Post last week reported some quarters of Government were worried immigration changes could put New Zealand-India relations at risk if they were made public before Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi’s visit to Auckland on Friday.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Stanford and Trade Minister Todd McClay have offered repeated reassurances that what was agreed to in the New Zealand-India free trade agreement (FTA) is mutually understood ‒ and will be honoured ‒ in response to Peters’ claims.
The months-long coalition feud centres on the FTA’s new temporary employment entry (TEE) visa for Indian nationals for select occupations in sectors where New Zealand has a skills shortage, such as tech, engineering and cheffing, with the number of TEE visas capped at no more than 5000 over three years ‒ or 1667 annually.
The trade deal stipulates these TEE visas will be granted if applicants “meet all relevant eligibility requirements”, “are in possession of a genuine employment offer from an accredited employer in New Zealand” and “are otherwise qualified under all applicable immigration measures”.
While the FTA text has been inked, the conditions that immigration officers will be able to apply to anyone on a temporary work visa ‒ including Indian nationals ‒ who want to pursue a skilled residence pathway will change next month.
The definition of genuine employment is being tweaked, including a requirement to consider market rates.
The circular stipulates INZ will soon consider if an applicant’s remuneration offer is comparable to the market rate for New Zealand workers in that occupation, and whether the employment offer was made by a family member.
Applicants will also be required to provide a summary of earnings or a tax statement confirming their offshore work experience ‒ and secure pay rates at 1.2 times the median wage.
McClymont said these changes would make it harder for offshore workers filling skills shortages often dominated by Indian sub continent and other Asian nationalities to obtain residency.
He used chefs and bakers as an example, arguing these workers ‒ many of whom come from India, Vietnam and Sri Lanka ‒ would require wage rates of approximately $39 an hour, the “very upper limit” of market rates for a qualified, experienced chefs and bakers.
India’s tax system also had a relatively high income threshold at which a worker had to file tax returns, meaning many young workers would not have the tax statement New Zealand would soon be asking for.
“They will still come and fill skill shortages but most migrant workers come because of the residency pathways, rather than short term filling skill shortages.
“They intend to transition from temporary work to residency but the opaqueness of the residency changes operate to disguise those barriers to residency, thereby posing minimal risk to the ability to continue importing temporary workers.”
The Post asked Stanford if she accepted these immigration changes put up “barriers to residency”, and when she was planning to make policy changes set out in the INZ circular public.
Her office issued a statement, saying the INZ circular “had no relation to the India FTA” and “does not allow immigration officers to treat anyone differently on the basis of nationality”.
“The amendment circular gives effect to the new Skilled Migrant Category pathways in immigration instructions.
“These include a Skilled Work Experience pathway for people with significant skilled work experience, and a Trades and Technician pathway for people with trade or technical qualifications and relevant work experience.”
The statement said the changes were technical updates to wage-rate settings across relevant Work to Residence pathways, and “clarified” the genuine employment requirements for skilled residence applications.
“These requirements help ensure job offers are genuine and ongoing, and reflect a real need for the role to be based in New Zealand.
“Both the Minister of Immigration and the Minister of Trade have been clear since early 2026 that three-year TEE work visas agreed under the FTA are not a pathway to residence.
“Indian nationals will continue to be able to apply for residence through the usual visa pathways where they meet eligibility criteria and will be assessed in the same way as anyone of any other nationality.”
Modi lands in New Zealand on Friday.