As the United States continues to crack down on foreign entries, immigration has become a new source of tension between India and New Zealand following the conclusion of talks on their new Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The trade deal allows more temporary employment visas for Indians.
As per the provisions of the FTA, New Zealand will offer a temporary employment entry visa pathway for Indian professionals in skilled occupations, with an annual quota of 5,000 visas and a maximum stay of up to three years.
This pathway covers professions such as AYUSH practitioners, yoga instructors, Indian chefs, and music teachers, as well as high-demand sectors including IT, engineering, healthcare, education, and construction, strengthening workforce mobility and services trade.
Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal announced on Monday, 22 December, that graduates in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) or post-graduate courses will be eligible for four-year work visas, while those completing bachelor’s degrees with honours will qualify for a three-year work visa.
“For those taking a degree course or a bachelor degree with honours, they will be eligible for a 3 years work visa, while those graduating in STEM or taking a post-graduation degree, then they will be eligible for a 4 years work visa,” he said.
New Zealand will also offer two-year work visas to students going to the country for further studies.
But as the proposal was finalised, New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters criticised the FTA with India, calling it “neither fair nor free”. He warned that his party, New Zealand First, will oppose the deal when it comes before Parliament for approval.
Peters said New Zealand First, which holds eight of the 123 seats in Parliament and is part of the coalition with the National Party, will vote against the agreement.
The coalition has 67 seats, but the National Party holds only 48 and relies on support from coalition partners, including New Zealand First.
Explaining why parliamentary approval of the new FTA with India may face hurdles, the minister said the agreement concedes too much, particularly on immigration.
The deal “gives too much away, especially on immigration, and does not get enough in return for New Zealanders, including on dairy,” Peters said in a statement.
The foreign minister also expressed concerns about what he said was a deal which is too generous on international migration over local workers, and by creating a new employment visa specifically for Indian citizens, the NZ government, he said, was encouraging more Indians to want to move to the country when the “labour market is tight.”
He said, “New Zealand First looks at all proposed changes on migration from the same standpoint: do they protect the ability of New Zealanders to find meaningful employment as well as the integrity of our immigration system? The India deal fails that test. By creating a new employment visa specifically for Indian citizens, it is likely to generate far greater interest in Indian migration to New Zealand – at a time when we have a very tight labour market.”
That said, anti-immigration sentiment in New Zealand has also been evident, as reflected in a recent incident where a Sikh rally was confronted by placards that read “This is New Zealand, not India” along with a performance of Haka.
This incident was one of many, with several videos emerging over the past few months that have highlighted the growing anti-immigration sentiment in New Zealand.