Immigration changes affecting students - update Tuesday, 28 June 2011
On 1 June 2011, the Minister of Immigration announced a package of policy changes for international students.
Following that announcement, sector feedback was received regarding the new requirement for students to study a two-year course before they can qualify for Study to Work visas (the Graduate Job Search and Graduate Work Experience visas).
In order to ensure that this requirement is well targeted, a further round of targeted sector consultation was undertaken. The submissions received have now been considered and final decisions made. These decisions are to:
延期到2012年4月2日,1年课程才不能拿到open工签。delay the implementation of this requirement until 2 April 2012 (students who commence their course before this date will not be affected)
enable qualifying one academic year courses to include:
all postgraduate qualifications, or
credit-transferred bachelors’ degrees, or
(对GDIT和一年幼教等有重大利好!)all one year level 7 courses.
(1年+1年算两年!)and also enable ‘one year + one year’ course combinations to meet the two-year study requirement, so long as:
both courses qualify for Skilled Migrant Category points, and
the second course is at a higher level than the first course (for example, a level 5 diploma followed by a level 6 diploma), and
both courses are of at least one academic year’s duration (eight months full time study).
Kia ora koutou
I am pleased to advise you that, in response to export education sector feedback, the Government has decided to:
· defer until 31 March 2012 the commencement of the policy requiring a two-year minimum study period before international students may apply for a Study to Work visa, and
· extend the range of one-year qualifications that will qualify for Study to Work visas.
The Minister of Immigration announced the two-year requirement on 1 June, along with various other changes in immigration policy for international students and graduates. These changes were consulted with all the peak sector bodies and other stakeholders in September 2010. There was general support for the changes, including the two-year requirement for Study to Work visas.
Following the Minister's announcement, we received additional feedback from some providers about this particular change, with the result that we opened the matter for further, brief consultation, to ensure the change was appropriately targeted.
From this additional round of consultation, the Minister has agreed to defer the planned 25 July 2011 commencement of the new requirement until 2 April 2012. Anyone whose studies commence before that date will not be affected by the change (i.e. a one-year course commenced before 2 April 2012 will still qualify the student for Study to Work visas).
As the Minister stated when he announced the changes, they aim to strengthen the incentives to study qualifications that have good employment outcomes, to ensure that students are incentivised to maximise their time and spend here, and are well-positioned to obtain skilled employment in New Zealand. In response to sector feedback, the Minister has also agreed that the following qualifications will be eligible for Study to Work visas.
To qualify for Study to Work visas, students will need to have obtained a recognised New Zealand qualification of at least two academic years' (a minimum of four semesters and 16 months total) duration unless they have obtained:
· a postgraduate qualification of at least one academic year's duration (previously announced), or · a credit-transferred bachelor's degree with at least one years study in New Zealand (previously announced), or
· any level seven qualification of at least one academic year's duration (including level 7 diplomas and graduate qualifications), or
· two SMC points-accruing (level four to six) qualifications in succession of at least one academic year's duration each, provided the second course is at a higher level - e.g. a one-year level five qualification followed by a one-year level six qualification.
Please note that a one-year course of study must be a minimum of eight months of full time study over at least two semesters. this morning. We are still working on the fine detail of some of the other changes. We will communicate that detail in the next few weeks.作者: B.I.G留学 时间: 2011-6-28 15:01:38
The changes do not apply to students who are currently studying here or those who have already obtained one-year qualifications here. Some of the changes (changes to the Skilled Migrant Category - SMC) will affect those students who commence studying in New Zealand on or after 25 July 2011. Changes to eligibility for Study to Work visas will only impact those students who commence studying in New Zealand on or after 2 April 2012.作者: Sare 时间: 2011-6-28 19:43:50