Australia and New Zealand Immigration News

Australia's Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) granted a record number of temporary employment visas for IT professionals during the nine month's prior to 31 March 2007.

Australia's economy is growing at a healthy rate and the country is experiencing very low unemployment.

Australia's Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews has announced an "industry working group" that will investigate the needs of the trucking industry in finding skilled labor.

The group will assess the needs and circumstances in which the use of the 457 temporary work visa would be appropriate. For some time now, Australian businesses have complained that they are short of 'semi-skilled' workers to perform critical industry functions.

New Zealand's Immigration Minister, David Cunliffe, announced changes to the nation's Skilled Migrant Category (SMC), in an effort to attract highly skilled overseas talent that the minister feels New Zealand needs.

The SMC is designed to attract highly skilled migrants from abroad to New Zealand for the purpose of settlement, in an attempt to keep the country globally competitive.

According to Dr. Andrew Cleland, Chief Executive of the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ), New Zealand's budget for 2007 will create a greater shortage of professional engineers in the country.

Australia plans to spend $32 million AUD in 2007 and 2008 on a range of services designed to help refugees and other migrants with their integration into mainstream Australian life. The budget includes $19 million AUD in new projects.

Statistics New Zealand released a report on 18 May 2007 showing that arrivals to New Zealand exceeded departures during April.

Permanent and long-term (PLT) arrivals exceeded departures by 11,200 during the year ending in April, a slight increase over same period in 2006. The total PLT arrival rate was 82,400 and the total PLT departure rate was 71,200.