Photo: suppliedGiving long-term temporary migrant workers a chance to gain residency will be a significant step to help with longstanding needs in the South, southern employers say. However, because of temporary migration settings, many of these lower-skilled temporary migrants had no pathway to residence. The Government was using remuneration thresholds for permanent and temporary migrants as a tool because they served as a ''good proxy'' for the quality of those migrants. She welcomed the one-off opportunity for residency for the lower-skilled, long-term temporary migrant workers and families living in the South Island. At the same time, proposed new stand-down rules for lower-skilled migrants would reduce the potential for residence applications to be dominated by lower-skilled workers.

Source: Otago Daily Times April 19, 2017 18:33 UTC