Editorial: Dairy visa woes set to ease

For years, Federated Farmers has been pushing for changes to the Accredited Employer Work Visa scheme on behalf of farmers desperate for migrant workers to ease acute staff shortages on farm. Getting visa approval for an accredited employer to recruit a migrant dairy farm worker is taking up to six months.

For dairy farmers, the crux of the problem has been the type and format of information required by Immigration NZ and the time officials are taking to process applications.

Feds have been pushing for a simpler process and greater recognition for accredited employers.

And it was Immigration Minister Erica Stanford who really delivered for farmers last Christmas.

The critical changes to the Accredited Employer Work Visa settings include:

• Removing the requirement to pay new migrant staff at least the median wage ($31.61/hour).

This hardly made sense, paying what are essentially entry-level farming staff the median wage, particularly when that's more than what a Kiwi in the same role would be earning. All that did was inflate the wage bill for farmers who were already under huge pressure, desperate to find staff, and couldn't find any suitable Kiwis who wanted to do the work.

• Extending the duration of visas for ANZSCO level 4 or 5 roles to three years, up from two years, plus a one-year extension; a shift Federated Farmers had specifically requested.

This means a staff member can stay in the country for three years on one single visa, instead of needing two visas by the time you apply for the one-year extension. For farmer employers wthis will cut thousands of dollars in costs for farmers.

DairyNZ data shows that 16% of farms didn't have enough staff to meet their needs.

The Government's changes will make it easier for the dairy sector to attract good overseas workers and ease the staff shortage while helping to create a pathway for these migrants. It's a win-win situation.