Minister of Immigration
Hon Tuariki Delamere

• POLICIES FOR PROGRESS INDEX
• PM WELCOMES PROGRESS ON IMMIGRATION
• POINTS FOR WORK EXPERIENCE MORE REALISTIC
• ENTREPRENEURS ENCOURAGED
• MAKING NEW ZEALAND A MORE ATTRACTIVE DESTINATION
• LANGUAGE TRAINING
• MORE QUALIFICATIONS TO BE ACCEPTED
• STUDENT POLICY
• TOURISM AND TRADE
• BUSINESS INVESTORS

The Minister of Immigration, Tuariki Delamere, said that the move to accept a wider range of qualifications means New Zealand will benefit from skilled migrants with quality trade qualifications, particularly in emerging technologies.

"We will align the method of awarding points with the principles underlying the National Qualifications Framework that place greater emphasis on the quality of a qualification rather than on a 'time served' basis," he said.

Under the current immigration policy, points are awarded for overseas qualifications according to the time it takes to complete a comparable qualification in New Zealand. The minimum completion time is currently three years.

"This means migrants with some trade or technical qualifications fail to meet the minimum threshold for points because a comparable qualification in New Zealand would be completed in less than three years, despite being the most advanced or only qualification in an occupational field," Mr Delamere said.

The NQF is currently being reviewed to bring it up to date with international standards. Following that review in early 1999, immigration policy will be aligned with the NQF standards.