A group of long-term migrants currently residing in New Zealand, struggling to gain residence for many years have a heartening request for Jacinda Ardern’s government – to grant a residence amnesty.

ANKA – The Association of New Kiwis Aotearoa grew from a group of people to voices that cannot go unheard, especially when the conditions surrounding the pandemic are worsening by each passing day. With the reoccurrence of lockdown and no community vaccination roll out till date in New Zealand, the economy and businesses are struggling. The whole process is a chain and immigration on the other hand is not showing any change.

The residency applications from the year 2019 are still being processed even though there is no large influx of applications from last year due to the pandemic. Immigration New Zealand also halted the skilled migrant resident visa category since October 2020, the expression of interest for residency is not being selected by the immigration until further notice and is subject to change in future.

Kris Faafoi, the immigration minister has made it quite clear that the skilled migrant residency category needs a review, this statement has not only caused panic but also questionable future for skilled migrants stuck in New Zealand due to Covid-19.

Separated from family members who are stranded overseas due to the border closure, difficulties in changing work as it has become less secure in prevailing circumstances, lack of stability caused by uncertainty around the fact that whether they will be able to stay here or not and the impact on mental health which is gone unnoticed are just some of the issues faced by migrants currently residing in Aotearoa.

“We strongly feel that people who are invited to come to New Zealand is because there are a lack of skills or people here should be allowed to stay and integrate properly. We are not here temporarily. We love this place and its people and want to make our lives here. We want to contribute and make Aotearoa New Zealand a better place for all” says the team.

The petition that started ANKA has been presented in the parliament in February. Petition request is that the House of Representatives grant a residence amnesty to approximately 200,000 migrants on temporary working visas or resident/citizen partner working visas currently in New Zealand, similar to the amnesty granted back in 2000 under the fifth Labour Government.

The petition has already received a whopping number of sixty-four thousand signature and was presented on the 5th of February. The results are still awaited.

The reason for this petition is straight, “In March 2020, the skilled migrant residence pool was closed to new applicants, with no indication when it might reopen. In addition, there have been regular changes to the residence criteria, making some people who may have relied on those criteria when leaving their countries ineligible for residence once they are here. COVID-19 has added to the difficulties these ‘new Kiwis’ face. They are important to NZ—our economy and our communities—and I feel they should be granted residence status now” quotes petition of Ryann Lourenco.

For more details and on this petition, you can visit www.anka.org.nz , they are keen to accept support not only across the political spectrum but also from local people across New Zealand. “We are keen to emphasize that we are not ‘taking jobs’ or ‘taking houses’ from New Zealanders. We are already here; we pay taxes at the same rate as New Zealanders. This is not about bringing lots more people across the border, but about supporting people who are already here!” quotes the association. – TIN Bureau