Friday, 9 September 2011

At the recent 2011 New Zealand International Education Conference, Head of Immigration Nigel Bickle outlined the broad strategic direction for Immigration New Zealand (INZ).

The strategic direction includes taking a more risk-based approach to visa applications, and the importance of the trusted partnerships that INZ has with its key external stakeholders, such as with Education New Zealand. As part of his general comment about student visa processing he referred to the example of visa processing developments in the UK.

 

Specifically, he noted how students of low risk nationalities (as determined by the UK) are able to apply for a student visa to attend a “highly trusted” education provider (again, determined by the UK) without having to supply some standard documents, such as evidence of qualifications and maintenance.

 

Mr Bickle said innovations in processing along similar lines are included in our vision for how our export education sector might work in the future.

 

The current technology available to INZ does not allow for processes like this. However, we are aware that we must continue to examine the way we do business and how we deliver services to our customers to ensure that what we provide meets expectations. We are presently exploring the feasibility of alternative processing models.

 

We are also working on a number of initiatives to facilitate genuine students attending high quality providers, including:

• working with NZQA to see how INZ can use the External Evaluation and Review (EER) NZQA quality ratings, together with other indicators such as immigration compliance, to provide better service and benefits for students attending high quality providers.
• looking at expanding the Students Online system to additional providers in New Zealand. Students Online gives providers the ability to lodge visa applications from on-campus, with the provider collecting the required documents and ensuring they are correct. If the visa is approved, INZ sends the visa label to the provider to be placed into the student’s passport.  In October 2011 we will begin contacting providers who have previously expressed interest in becoming a Students Online partner.

We are aware of the need to provide online services in the future in order for New Zealand’s export education sector to remain competitive, and we are working towards achieving this.