June 2010

Greetings from AIMS GLOBAL team. Via this monthly communication with you, we aim to keep you in touch with what’s new at Aims Global and update you about latest news in Immigration and Education overseas, whether that is a policy change or a top headline.

Survey shows that higher number of employers hiring migrants in NZ

A recent survey by the Department of Labour in NZ found that 83 percent of responding employers hired migrants because they couldn't find a New Zealander with the right skills. Satisfaction with migrant workers was also high. Key findings of the survey are:

• More than four-fifths (87 percent) of employers said they rated their migrant employees as good or very good.
• Employers who had tried to find a New Zealander before hiring a migrant reported not being able to find someone with the right skills (83 percent) as the main reason they didn't hire a New Zealander.
• For the employers that reported challenges in hiring a migrant, language difficulties was the most common issue (43 percent).
• Almost half (44 percent) the migrants that had left an employer in the previous 12 months had worked there longer than 12 months, whilst 17 percent had worked there less than 6 months.
• The most common reason for a migrant leaving was to return to their country of origin (23 percent).

A very interesting read with graphs shown for comparative analysis - Employers of Migrants 2009 - From recruitment to retention.

Australia Student Numbers Plummet

- from Education New Zealand E-News 1 June 2010

International student enrolments could drop by as much as 20 per cent next year, costing the economy up to $2 billion, as a consequence of the Rudd government's "abrupt" tightening of immigration requirements and rising competition from North America and Britain for the lucrative student trade. Australia's largest international student recruiter, IDP chief executive Tony Pollock, warned that changes to visa rules and priority skills were being made without giving the industry time to adjust. As a result, student demand had plummeted and the sector's market standing was at risk.

Mr Pollock said international placements into Australia across IDP's network were down 37 per cent in April compared with a year ago, with current Indian demand almost wiped out. He said the Australian High Commissioner in India had told his staff there that the number of student visa applications it had on hand had crashed to just 200, compared with 8600 a year ago.

The Australian was unable to verify these numbers with the commission. According to the Department of Immigration, its latest application figures for the nine months to the end of March 31 show that applications from Indian nationals are down 47 per cent at 23,601.

Mr Pollock said further negative fallout was expected as more students were stranded by private college collapses caused by the downturn, and frustration grew among the thousands of students already enrolled . in courses that have been culled from the Skilled Occupations List that provides a pathway for permanent residency. "My concern is that the numbers for the next 12 months are going to be severely impacted," he said. Immigration Minister Chris Evans has tightened visa requirements and refocused on a narrower range of skills to clamp down on rorts and student exploitation. These included "visa factories" or dodgy courses in areas like hairdressing, cookery and community welfare that were focused solely on permanent residency. International education is Australia's third-largest export earner behind coal and iron ore at about $17 billion a year. International student fees have become a key revenue source for universities following declines in government funding, accounting for more than 15 per cent of revenue. "The government's desire to clean up the industry is entirely admirable, but they have made the changes so abrupt that there is little time for the kind of structural adjustment that is necessary in any big change of this nature, both for the students and the institutions," Mr Pollock said. A spokesman for the Department of Immigration said the changes to a more "demand-driven" immigration program had been signalled as far back as early 2008.

"The recently announced changes to skilled migration remove incentives for students to seek permanent residence through low-quality education courses, a practice that damaged the integrity of both the migration program and the education industry," the spokesman said.

A spokeswoman for Education Minister Julia Gillard said the sector was well placed to weather the changes.

"The introduction of the new Skilled Occupations List will require a refocusing for some education and training providers, but we believe the market is well placed to continue as a world leader in international education services," she said.

International students are set to protest against changes to the skills list at a demonstration in Sydney on June 3. So far this year, 15 private colleges have already closed, affecting 3713 students, of which only 57 per cent have been placed at other providers or given refunds.

The latest government figures show international student commencements rose by just 0.3 per cent in the nine months to March, compared with average growth rate over the past eight years of 8.6 per cent. While commencements at universities were up 11.8 per cent, they were down in the vocational and English language sectors that are key feeders for universities.

Canada looking for Heavy-Duty Equipment Mechanics

Please send your detailed CV if you meet the following requirements and are interested in moving to Canada. Main duties include

Heavy-duty equipment mechanics perform all of the following duties:
• Check bulldozers, cranes, graders and other heavy construction, agricultural, logging and mining equipment for proper performance and inspect equipment to detect faults and malfunctions
• Diagnose faults or malfunctions using computerized and other testing equipment to determine extent of repair required
• Adjust equipment and repair or replace defective parts, components or systems, using hand and power tools
• Test repaired equipment for proper performance and to ensure that work meets manufacturers' specifications
• Clean, lubricate and perform other routine maintenance work on equipment
• Service attachments and working tools such as harvesting and tillage equipment, blades, ploughs, winches and side booms
• May perform repair work on heavy trucks
• May attach components and adjust new farm equipment
• Heavy-duty and farm equipment mechanics may specialize in specific types of machinery such as combines or tracked vehicles, or in engine overhaul, power shift transmissions, fuel injection, hydraulics or electronics

Email info@aimsglobaleducation.com

Information Concerning New Zealand Licensed Agents and the Student Visa Exemption

-From the latest newsletter by Immigration New Zealand, New Delhi

People who provide immigration advice offshore on student visa and permit applications only are exempt from licensing. This exemption does not cover advice on any other application types submitted with a student application, such as guardian, visitor or work applications, or subsequent graduate work, work experience and residence applications in New Zealand.

Example A– Individuals at an offshore education information meeting ask an adviser specific questions about their personal circumstances regarding work and visitor applications for their dependents. As the adviser uses their knowledge of immigration matters to answer these questions, this is providing immigration advice in matters outside the offshore student exemption and the adviser needs to be licensed to do this.

Example B – Individuals at an offshore education information meeting ask an adviser specific questions about their personal circumstances regarding the course they intend to study, subsequent work visa options and residence options. As the adviser uses their knowledge of immigration matters to answer these questions, this is providing immigration advice in matters outside the offshore student exemption.

This is an example of an adviser providing advice about other types of applications and to provide this advice the advisor needs to be licensed.

Licensing regime protects immigrants

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