About 15,000 work visas & 5000 residence visas being approved monthly

Economy / news

Around 188,000 people are in New Zealand on work visas, MBIE figures show

18th Oct 24, 10:56am by Greg Ninness

The Government is approving around 15,000 work visas a month and 5000 residence visas.

The latest figures from the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) show 15,198 work visas were approved in September, with work visa approvals increasing for three consecutive months, rising steadily from 11,511 in June to 15,198 in September.

However, those figures are still below where they were last year when there was still a shortage of overseas workers in the wake earlier Covid-related travel restrictions.

The latest figures show on average fewer work visas are being approved each month now than they were prior to the pandemic hitting, when around 20,000 approvals a month was the norm. See the graph below.

According to MBIE, there were 188,364 people in New Zealand on work visas at the end of September.

That number has declined slightly for six consecutive months, from the March high of 200,643, and is now well below March 2020's 10-year high of 222,054.

The number of residence visas being approved has settled between 4000 and 5000 a month since the start of this year, with 4956 approved in September.

Those numbers appeared to have settled again after a surge in 2022 and 2023 from the 2021 Resident Visa scheme which fast tracked residence visa approvals for people who had already been in NZ for a significant length of time on work visas.

However, current residence visa approval numbers are running well ahead of where they were pre-Covid when they were averaging around 3000 a month. (See graph below).

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76 Comments

by HughJorgan | 18th Oct 24, 11:05am 1729202716

Immigration was a fad from 15 years ago to promote diversity and if you were opposed to it you were labelled a racist.

Today, we need to look at the economics behind it and understand the impact on our standard of living. It would be helpful if MSM actually acknowledged the protests around the world, like in Canada, so those that want to discuss the issue can do so without be villainised.

by Ocelot | 18th Oct 24, 11:21am 1729203706

Immigration makes up for locals that aren't able to afford to have kids. And keep housing pressure up so it's good for landlords and banks. And keeps wages down so it's good for business owners. Are you seeing a pattern? Apparently what's good for the wealthy is good for "the economy". It's almost like the wealthy have co-opted the concept of the economy to mean that anything that's good for them is good for "the economy" regardless of it's actual impact. In reality we all know that more money at the bottom of the economy is better because money flows up, not down.

by Yvil | 18th Oct 24, 11:46am 1729205194

I don't disagree with your post Ocelot, but I've never heard that "money flows up". How does that actually work ?

by Eschaton | 18th Oct 24, 11:50am 1729205427

https://www.sahilbloom.com/newsletter/the-cantillon-effect-how-the-rich-get-richer

by Yvil | 18th Oct 24, 1:36pm 1729211788

Thanks for the great link Eschaton, I certainly don't doubt that people closest to the source of money or new money, benefit most from it. But it doesn't support Ocelot's claim that "money flows from the bottom up". Or is your link in support of my rebuttal ?

by bloodymigrant | 18th Oct 24, 2:45pm 1729215937

Well said!

by interesting1234 | 19th Oct 24, 7:38am 1729276723

I’d imagine it would go along the lines of: Give a man with nothing $100 and he will spend it to feed himself and his family, however give someone with $10k in savings $100 and they’re more likely to park it in the bank.

by JimboJones | 18th Oct 24, 11:54am 1729205689

Its rubbish Yvil. The rich pay lots of tax and that definitely flows down. Some pay less tax than they should, but even the GST paid by a rich dude would be a bigger contribution to society than the entire tax bill of a poor dude.

by Chaosinflesh | 18th Oct 24, 1:03pm 1729209791

You're ignoring the fact the poor are and remain poor because they feed all their income into the enterprises of the rich. Especially in our rentier-finance based economy.

by Yvil | 18th Oct 24, 1:38pm 1729211906

Could there be a link between poverty and ignorance about money matters ?

by Murray Falconer | 18th Oct 24, 2:42pm 1729215746

Almost certainly Yvil.

However, that doesn't mean there isn't also an elephant in the room. An elephant that some may willfully ignore and even try to divert attention away from.

by JimboJones | 18th Oct 24, 11:51am 1729205485

You forgot that it keeps the average age down so we have someone to pay for all our retirees. Without immigration we are completely screwed. With immigration we are less screwed but have other issues.

by Advisor | 18th Oct 24, 1:06pm 1729210000

Without immigration we are completely screwed

That appears to be the mainstream narrative. However, there is very little proper data or research on what migrants contribute as taxes vs what investment is required from the Crown to make up for the increased demand for infrastructure and public services vs what the Crown is actually putting in to play catch up.

Productivity Commission took a look at our immigration settings and published reports in 2021 & 22 stating that the skill level of incoming migrants had been gradually tumbling in the preceding decade. Erica Stanford stated in the beginning of 2024 that more than half of the migrants entering NZ since borders reopened in 2022 were low skilled or unskilled.

My argument is that we need skilled migrants, but the skill-agnostic approach adopted over the last several years is also detrimental to our socioeconomic wellbeing in the medium-to-long run.

by ghytresd | 21st Oct 24, 7:20am 1729448424

more than half of the migrants entering NZ since borders reopened in 2022 were low skilled or unskilled.

Interested if there's a breakdown for that supposed stat, ie definition of "skilled", whether it's just counting our recognised quals, whether the way of getting this info is sufficient, and whether it's truly just those working age pers who are included.

by Murray Falconer | 18th Oct 24, 2:55pm 1729216552

so we have someone to pay for all our retirees.

Pay with what - tax from selling coffees to each other? It's exports that pay our way in the world and if you aren't exporting or very closely associated with exporting then how are immigrants helping pay for them? How many immigrants start export businesses vs just add to demand and drive off our young that would have stayed and worked in luxury areas such as healthcare? Why can't we just look after them ourselves to the best of our ability and means?

Without immigration we are completely screwed.

In what way, be specific or are you unable? Then, tell us how immigration fixes that?

With immigration we are less screwed but have other issues.

What areas are we less screwed? What other issues? We are hugely changing our demographics, a little more detail is warranted (not just yourself, but media including this site). The accountant in me is all for a good cost vs benefit analysis.

by singautim | 18th Oct 24, 9:51pm 1729241493

I was an immigrant. Now I am retired. If we need immigrants to pay for our retirees we must stop them from retiring.

by Pa1nter | 18th Oct 24, 12:46pm 1729208791

Immigration makes up for locals that aren't able to afford to have kids.

Or just aren't having them.

Who'd have thought letting women control their fertility would drastically reduce birth rates.

by 1harlow1 | 18th Oct 24, 2:21pm 1729214477

Well you can look at a lot of different ethnic groups in NZ and even though all have the same access to birth control, birth rates vary wildly.

by K.W. | 18th Oct 24, 2:36pm 1729215375

Looking at NZ in the year to March 2024 - there was a 14% reduction in the number of European babies born, a 4% reduction in the number of Maori and Pacific Islander babies born, and a 12% increase in the number of Asian babies born. For the first time ever, there were more Asian babies born than Maori babies.

by bloodymigrant | 18th Oct 24, 5:05pm 1729224346

Tell them to make more! One of my European friend got eight kids and living in Auckland. His mother in law looking after kids and making some money ( Childcare benefits).

by dumbthoughts | 18th Oct 24, 11:29am 1729204199

Leftie academics, politicians, hand-wringing champagne socialist types etc all love mass immigration because it lets them feel good about trying to solve the big issues of the world and is a convenient means to dismantle the evils of homogenous Western culture. They are also sufficiently privileged to only see the good sides ... the interesting cuisines, cultural events and so on. Just as long as those same immigrants don't happen to live next door (not that they can afford to).

Righty 'business lobby' types, rentiers etc love mass immigration because it artificially stimulates demand, depresses wages, worsens housing shortages etc. They too are also sufficiently privileged to only see the good sides - particularly on the economics side e.g. rising asset prices. Once again, just as long as those same immigrants don't happen to live next door (not that they can afford to).

Little wonder - with all these powerful types benefitting greatly for two distinct reasons - the average joe hasn't been able to question things.

I don't blame immigrants for wanting to seek a better life. But we shouldn't blame people already in NZ for questioning whether they are getting a "good deal" or not ... and those born/already here should be at the front of the queue.

At the very least we should be asking why - when so many are without jobs in NZ at the moment - we are bringing anybody in who effectively provides a competing unit of labour unless it is some job for which we cannot train a Kiwi (and which is critical to the day-to-day running of the country e.g. healthcare)

by Murray Falconer | 18th Oct 24, 3:10pm 1729217404

Nice summary dt.

just as long as those same immigrants don't happen to live next door

I'm not sure that is an issue either for most to be honest - they're usually quiet and respectful of others. Even though I frequently post against immigration, it's important to note, as you do, that it's not the same as being anti-immigrant (racist, xenophobic etc.). It's being pro looking after those already here going forward. Population growth needs to be a considered choice given the constraints we seem to be running into.

by singautim | 18th Oct 24, 9:57pm 1729241849

true. Usually it is immigrants who speak the most sense about immigration. They don't want to see their standard of living drop or social cohesion to reduce. Having made sacrifice and effort to get NZ residency they don't want NZ's good life style to be diluted.

by Murray Falconer | 19th Oct 24, 10:37am 1729287460

Usually it is immigrants who speak the most sense about immigration.

Yes, because they know both sides of the story and can't be called racist. They know the benefits largely fall to the immigrants over those already here (which research to supports). I've known immigrants that vote NZ First due to their perceived stance on reducing immigration (I ask the reason). Quite often it's the ones that have been here 20 odd years too - long enough to see NZ heading back to what they left.

by singautim | 19th Oct 24, 11:51am 1729291864

21 years for my PI wife and myself

by MikeM | 18th Oct 24, 3:43pm 1729219436

Excellent summary.

by April Spruiker | 18th Oct 24, 4:17pm 1729221467

We need to have a mature conversation about immigration, and our aspirations for New Zealand in terms of population policy - instead of shutting down any attempt at a conversation as racist. I agree, I don't blame immigrants for wanting to seek a better life. But my loyalty is to New Zealand first, and much of this migrant labour is utilised to drive down wages for working class people in particular. Yes, of course we need skilled migrants, but we have a lot of migrants at the low end of the skill level who are victims themselves. My local liquor store has a friendly clerk from India on a temporary working visa, who works 7 days a week, and told me he has had only five days off since he arrived in February. For many it is a new form of modern-day indentured slavery.

by MikeM | 18th Oct 24, 12:49pm 1729208993

DEI is now rife in the corporate world. To the extent where citizens are ironically being discriminated against in order to satisfy quotas.

It's even reached the RB monetary policy committee.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/top/530973/ex-staffer-wants-reserve-bank-to-…

by Mark L | 18th Oct 24, 1:23pm 1729210994

Co-operative bank too. They are seeking a new director and "We will also look for diversity in the search for candidates, whether that comes in the form of gender, ethnicity or other areas."

https://www.co-operativebank.co.nz/about-us/our-governance/call-for-dir…

You should want the best qualified for the job but that attitude doesn't seem to fit the agenda.

by ghytresd | 21st Oct 24, 7:31am 1729449106

Best qualified may be the expectation but has never really been the case in the actual world.

Networks, family ties & Peter principle. The "Not what you know it's who you know" adage.

Have you considered that there are benefits to DEI policies?

by SomeKiwiFounder | 18th Oct 24, 1:38pm 1729211889

DEI in corporates is overstated, they’re not moral entities. Corporates use DEI the same way as they did Politically Correct, Affirmative Action, and the rest of the cultural movements that came before them; they use it to make money off of cheaper wages. The same is even true of modern militaries, they realised that they could either pay their soldiers way more or they could appeal to the sensibilities of the younger generation they want to attract and keep the wages the same. They will drop it the moment that it becomes effective to do so.

SKF

by Tui12 | 18th Oct 24, 6:06pm 1729227987

I’m not threatened at all by immigration and I’m all for it but I absolutely despise DEI. DEI surgeons and DEI Pilots is the absurdity we have now reached.

by ghytresd | 21st Oct 24, 7:33am 1729449188

Why is a workforce representative of the population absurd?

by Mystery | 18th Oct 24, 4:10pm 1729221007

The narrow-mindedness of those who are anti-immigration always surprises me. It's as if when looking at the economics behind immigration (into the country) they concentrate only on the negatives and ignore the positives such as the fact that immigrants help to grow the economy which benefits most locals in the process, especially the ageing locals whose Super is more secure with governments that are able to collect more taxes, etc.

Feels like the anti-immigration crowd is just a bunch of NIMBYs on a grand scale.

by redcows1 | 18th Oct 24, 2:09pm 1729213781

Or they are simply intelligent enough to recognize the stupidity of "growth".

by 1harlow1 | 18th Oct 24, 2:25pm 1729214733

You can argue about the stupidity of growth if you want. But we need immigration just to maintain..

by Murray Falconer | 18th Oct 24, 5:32pm 1729225936

just to maintain

Maintain what exactly? Rental demand? Higher house prices? A smaller slice of NZ Inc. per citizen every year?

Some people just think about the costs and how they can pay less, ignoring they also own less of the remaining asset too as population grows.

by 21Trillion | 18th Oct 24, 3:09pm 1729217398

the fact that immigrants help to grow the economy which benefits most locals

Living standards per capita are in decline though. Zooming out and seeing growth doesn't mean there actually is real value growth. You'll find it's not so much NIMBYs as they benefit from this, it's more younger people.

Employment number is in free fall and we are bringing in fresh meat, how is this benefiting most locals? Applicants per job ad has surpassed 300 vs 100 in 2008/2009. https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:725237398804619673…

Need I say more?

by Murray Falconer | 18th Oct 24, 5:42pm 1729226549

benefits most locals in the process

What is the benefit to the half of Auckland that rent to having more competition for houses?

What is the benefit to those that used to work in liquor stores, grocery stores and petrol stations as Uni jobs to having those filled by immigrants?

What is the benefit of the 1/5,000,000th of NZ David Seymour spoke of each NZ'er owning at the last election getting smaller?

What is the benefit to every min wage job worker having their wages kept low rather than employers having to meet the market and pay more to attract talent?

Just asking so I can broaden my mind.

by singautim | 18th Oct 24, 10:06pm 1729242416

A NIMBY doesn't want even one pig farm or mental hospital adjacent to their home. Those of us who are anti-immigration are different - we all want some limited immigration. Our objections mainly relate to quantity. Admittedly there are some who object to foreign cultural practises eg FGM but most immigrants will rapidly adopt NZ culture if they are not living in an immigrant ghetto. Modest rates of immigration from a broad range of countries is good for social cohesion as immigrants waive our flag with enthusiasm.

by sammnz | 18th Oct 24, 11:06am 1729202780

Would be interesting to see what sectors the people on work visas are with

by Mark L | 18th Oct 24, 12:30pm 1729207826

Uber driving, bottle shops, tandoors, and nursing.

by Advisor | 18th Oct 24, 1:11pm 1729210292

A bigger proportion of migrants were issued open work visas (students, working holidaymakers, family members of existing migrants, certain work categories, humanitarian causes, etc.) in 2023 than pre-Covid.

So, short answer to your question on where those people work - who the hell knows and who the f*ck cares?! MBIE or the gov doesn't.

by April Spruiker | 18th Oct 24, 4:19pm 1729221543

Does anyone have this information? I'm struggling to find out what the top ten occupations are for temporary working visas... I imagine that's by design.

by rastus1 | 18th Oct 24, 11:23am 1729203821

Media question to MSD -

How many on work visas have been granted emergency benefits? etc etc

by ozzzy2 | 18th Oct 24, 11:46am 1729205166

As the great Sir Fedrick Dagg once said, "You can only fit so many sheep into one paddock"

by bw | 18th Oct 24, 12:38pm 1729208301

All the farmer needs to do is keep borrowing money to feed and shelter the sheep;expand their home paddock (using the existing fencing materials, of course. Additional posts and wire aren't affordable in addition to the extra feed) and rinse-and-repeat, and all will be well.

by Gummy Bear Hero | 18th Oct 24, 1:11pm 1729210293

As a descendant of recent immigrants ( the Gummster clan arrived variously around the 1860's & 1880's ) I feel it's quite selfish to deny others the opportunity of a better life which has been granted to us ...

... notwithstanding our need to rejuvenate our population base with younger immigrants , our nation is severely underpopulated ... and hamstrung on many fronts because of this ...

by Yvil | 18th Oct 24, 1:42pm 1729212124

So, the Gummy family welcomes the Biryani, Dim Sum and Boerewors families with open arms

by Gummy Bear Hero | 18th Oct 24, 1:45pm 1729212329

...I've got absolutely no idea who you're talking about , there ... I don't follow MSM ...

by TheGhost | 18th Oct 24, 1:52pm 1729212732

This nation is not under-populated.

by Gummy Bear Hero | 18th Oct 24, 1:54pm 1729212867

'Tis so ...

by Yvil | 18th Oct 24, 3:18pm 1729217928

"This nation is not under-populated."

Why do you think that the train system is not viable in NZ then?

by pacifica | 19th Oct 24, 11:21am 1729290077

Lack of engineering skills and maintenance issues due to high land and asset prices sucking up any capital (including both new projects and costs required to keep the existing lines running e.g. more land needed at critical points, high costs for minor expansion of services for the new tech) and most skilled workers leaving NZ for access to housing for their families' to grow up in overseas.

by Let me be Frank | 19th Oct 24, 12:13pm 1729293208

And yet it was viable in the past with a much smaller population....1910 is an interesting benchmark, population 1 million.

https://teara.govt.nz/en/interactive/21378/new-zealands-rail-network-18…

by 21Trillion | 18th Oct 24, 3:12pm 1729217576

I feel it's quite selfish to deny others the opportunity of a better life which has been granted to

I feel it's quite selfish to deny our own kiwis and next generation the opportunity for health care without dying in the ambulance in the line outside the hopistal. It's quite selfish to deny the kiwi dream of a home and family opportunity. It's quite selfish to supress wages to keep unproductive wealth generation tax free.

by Gummy Bear Hero | 18th Oct 24, 3:45pm 1729219524

... you've lost me , how does immigration negatively affect house prices or the healthcare system ?

by 21Trillion | 18th Oct 24, 4:48pm 1729223321

You should add /s or (sarc) so people know you're being sarcastic here

by bloodymigrant | 18th Oct 24, 5:23pm 1729225383

All western economies are booming because of migration. When I came to NZ GDP was 40 Billion now it is roughly 350 billions! I still don't understand why few people are anti migration?!

by Murray Falconer | 18th Oct 24, 7:28pm 1729232890

Booming or straining under the load?

If it's a larger GDP number you want then we could just create some more zeros in the bank accounts to get inflation - no need to displace those here of housing and limit wage rises.

Not everyone is capable of logical thinking or understanding cause and effect is different to correlation. It would be nice if they knew their own limitations or provided a list of actual benefits in support of immigration to be compared to the costs many such as myself have posted.

by bloodymigrant | 18th Oct 24, 8:47pm 1729237627

When you start migration in any country intelligent people win, below average people always struggles. I know who moans here..

by Murray Falconer | 18th Oct 24, 9:26pm 1729239968

How are you defining intelligent? Because on the one hand you state you don't understand why anyone is against immigration. Then you contradict yourself by saying half (assume half are below average) will lose out which would make it entirely understandable that they would be against immigration.

Are you speaking of intelligent people like these ones (85 Akl businesses caught in migrant worker exploitation crackdown (1news.co.nz)) or are they not intelligent because they got caught?

Can you be more specific about how intelligent people win, or are the benefits of immigration too difficult to explain?

by singautim | 18th Oct 24, 10:15pm 1729242952

Using data from USA then $40 Billion in 1950 is now worth $520 Billion today. And the population of NZ was under $2 million. Does anyone have NZ data? I thought with technology we were all getting richer with or without immigration.

by Gummy Bear Hero | 18th Oct 24, 5:36pm 1729226166

... I'm not being sarcastic : 100 % confused by the anti-immigration tone on this thread ...

NZ does not have indigenous people : we are all immigrants ...

... and I'm appalled at the low brow cheap shots at immigrants as if they're the cause of our nation's problems ... they are not !

by 21Trillion | 18th Oct 24, 5:50pm 1729227019

In the last two years we've had net migration of around 150k. That's building a city the size of Hamilton including all infra in 2 years - does this seem sustainable to you?

NZ hospitals are at their limits, unemployment is rising, "housing shortage".

For someone commenting on an economics/finance website, you've completley ignored how supply and demand works here.

Edit: How is this anti-immigration? It's wanting a healthy demand for what we can supply.

by Gummy Bear Hero | 18th Oct 24, 6:01pm 1729227719

... I have done nothing of the sort .... immigration is a fantastic boon to our economy & culture ... we ought to be well pleased that people see us as a desirable place to relocate to ...

by bloodymigrant | 18th Oct 24, 10:01pm 1729242099

"In the last two years we've had net migration of around 150k. That's building a city the size of Hamilton including all infra in 2 years - does this seem sustainable to you?"

More than 400,000 New Zealanders left the country after covid. Rental houses are empty now! More than 100,000 brand new houses ( boxes) are empty. Who will buy or rent? Only poor migrant!

by singautim | 18th Oct 24, 10:17pm 1729243042

So why not aim for wealthy immigrants instead of poor ones?

by Murray Falconer | 18th Oct 24, 7:34pm 1729233288

I feel it's quite selfish to deny others the opportunity of a better life which has been granted to us ...

My question to you would be how many, of the literally billions that would come if we let them, should we take in?

If it's less than all those that would like to come, then this line reasoning falls flat on its face.

by 21Trillion | 18th Oct 24, 2:57pm 1729216677

Wages suppressed, rental and housing demand always at brink, young people don't have kids because of affordability, they also leave NZ for better pastures.

So we import more people to keep the initial root issue continuing. We wonder why more and more young kiwis are leaving and less that stay are having kids. You can play boomer games about birth rates but the large majority of online commentary from the age groups not having kids are always mostly voted on the ones referencing cost of housing and living in general.

by Gummy Bear Hero | 18th Oct 24, 3:53pm 1729219995

... absolute nonsense ... we produce and earn well enough to support a lifestyle far above what we currently have .... .... the root issue is our abysmal lack of improving productivity through innovation and competition ...

Nothing to do with immigration whatsoever ...

by HellToupee | 19th Oct 24, 12:33am 1729251193

Big part of our lack of productivity is we prefer importing cheap exploitable labour rather than innovation.

by nigelh | 18th Oct 24, 5:52pm 1729227158

We are not the only country relying on "cheap" labour.

https://www.businessinsider.com/spain-is-betting-on-immigrants-to-boost…

A few weeks ago read an article on the shortage of waiters in Spain. Read low wages and long hours.

by pacifica | 19th Oct 24, 11:34am 1729290864

Ironically we are not even adding a quarter of that number to our housing stock every month. We then rely on severe unsanitary overcrowding of existing homes, illegal contracts, migrant manipulation, wage & visa fraud, and huge amount of emergency and social housing required (of which there is not enough so the local population experiences even more degraded and deadly conditions then the migrants coming in, even if the migrants have been scammed). Our housing crisis is already past deadly to the local populace with many vulnerable having near continual deaths due to it. We are not hiring locals trained and experienced into jobs in the visa skilled categories (to the point many are leaving the country when they can but most will still be trapped here so it is our loss). Yet the pain and abuse of both the local populace and migrants being scammed continues. How about a break. If a job was truly skilled and could not be fulfilled through remote work or locals trained in the fields perhaps we could have an arduous process of actual checks & high wage above and beyond.

Any day a labour hire or agri business makes a claim for more workers you can guarantee it is predominantly a net negative for NZ at large and likewise any financial, management, software or nursing health roles are directly being taken from the hands of the locals as there are not enough roles to keep up with the local populace looking for work. If anything we have more call to keep the roles empty as many are short lived in a business market so dominated by housing & asset costs that we don't have an economy, we have a housing market with an economy buff tacked on with the end result that businesses will face more issues with rent costs & asset loan repayments then they do finding the right staff.

by singautim | 19th Oct 24, 12:00pm 1729292446

"" If a job was truly skilled and could not be fulfilled through remote work or locals trained in the fields perhaps we could have an arduous process of actual checks & high wage above and beyond. ""

Getting a skilled employee through the work visa process is arduous. Employer and employee have to deal with the stupidest, most inhumane bureaucracy NZ has managed to produce. But replace arduous INZ with a simple large cost for the visa plus a large bond cost and then use just the same minimal process we use for tourists. If the skilled immigrant is subsequently found to be incompetent, has lied on his application about health or qualifications or criminal record then confiscate the bond and send them back. The onus will be on the employer to check carefully and maybe if the costs are high enough try training a Kiwi.

by Let me be Frank | 19th Oct 24, 12:15pm 1729293340

Interesting idea....may potentially breach a number of our FTAs however.