28 Feb 2024

Immigration NZ didn't assess risk of visa abuse: report

From Morning Report, 7:13 am on 28 February 2024

A review has found Immigration New Zealand didn't properly assess the risk of visa abuse when it loosened settings for its Accredited Employer Work Visa scheme.

The scheme, launched 18 months ago as part of the then-Government's post-Covid settings, resulted in numerous cases of migrants paying to come here for jobs but arriving to overcrowded living conditions and little or no work.

The Public Service Commission report also found staff at Immigration New Zealand raised concerns about migrants being exploited but say they were ignored.

MBIE chief executive Carolyn Tremain spoke to Corin Dann.