NZ Passmark... Good News at Last!
Nov 20th 2002, 4:21 am
#1
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NZ Passmark... Good News at Last!
Phew, the news is coming in thick and fast the last few days...
From today's Herald:
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The English test migrants must pass to get into New Zealand has been made tougher.
The move is expected to slash the number of newcomers from China and other North Asian countries in favour of people from countries where English is widely spoken.
The main change lifts the required English level for those seeking entry in the "general skills" category from 5 to 6.5 on the internationally recognised test.
Officials estimate this will reduce the number of people who would qualify by 9000 a year. The new policy took effect from midnight... About 80 per cent of those who qualified yesterday would still qualify today.
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AND HERE ARE THE WORDS MANY OF US HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR...
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But Ms Dalziel [Immigration Minister] said she did not intend to reduce the overall number of migrants coming into the country, set at about 50,000 a year.
She has asked officials to review the current 30 points required to qualify as a migrant, and said she expected the points total would drop in December.
"I believe those points are too high. It means we are missing out on people, for example tradespeople, who can't get to 30 points."
-----
The fact that she's prepared to predict a specific date (and so soon!) for a lowering of the passmark shows they must be very confident the English thing is going to have a major impact. Perhaps they've cut the backlog. Whatever, it's great news for anyone with 29 points (or 24 and the will to pack up and go job-hunting for 6 months), and hopefully it means the passmark will come down steadily over the next few months. Fingers crossed!
John,
Tokyo
From today's Herald:
----
The English test migrants must pass to get into New Zealand has been made tougher.
The move is expected to slash the number of newcomers from China and other North Asian countries in favour of people from countries where English is widely spoken.
The main change lifts the required English level for those seeking entry in the "general skills" category from 5 to 6.5 on the internationally recognised test.
Officials estimate this will reduce the number of people who would qualify by 9000 a year. The new policy took effect from midnight... About 80 per cent of those who qualified yesterday would still qualify today.
---
AND HERE ARE THE WORDS MANY OF US HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR...
----
But Ms Dalziel [Immigration Minister] said she did not intend to reduce the overall number of migrants coming into the country, set at about 50,000 a year.
She has asked officials to review the current 30 points required to qualify as a migrant, and said she expected the points total would drop in December.
"I believe those points are too high. It means we are missing out on people, for example tradespeople, who can't get to 30 points."
-----
The fact that she's prepared to predict a specific date (and so soon!) for a lowering of the passmark shows they must be very confident the English thing is going to have a major impact. Perhaps they've cut the backlog. Whatever, it's great news for anyone with 29 points (or 24 and the will to pack up and go job-hunting for 6 months), and hopefully it means the passmark will come down steadily over the next few months. Fingers crossed!
John,
Tokyo
Nov 20th 2002, 4:44 am
#2
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Re: NZ Passmark... Good News at Last!
Forgot to post the URL for that article:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3005259&thesection=news&t hesubsection=general
There's plenty more on the usual news sites (www.stuff.co.nz, www.nzoom.co.nz etc.).
John
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3005259&thesection=news&t hesubsection=general
There's plenty more on the usual news sites (www.stuff.co.nz, www.nzoom.co.nz etc.).
John
Nov 20th 2002, 4:47 am
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Posts: 7,613
Hi John - I just read that too and it mean what it says on the tin - when the Immigration Minister says she sees the passmark dropping in December, it drops. The question is, 27, 28 or 29?
And Hi to Green Ice, thanks for your private message and the reply is here.
1. The Prime Minister Helen Clark is following the NZIS advice/ guidance revealed in the 'Briefing to the incoming minister' (on www.immigration.govt.nz) which said that immigrants would integrate better if there were no significant language barrier. The NZ govt wants immigrants to contribute immediately to the NZ economy, that means getting a job within a few weeks of arriving. Poor English skills was seen as a major obstacle.
2. The job search visa new requirement, ie to only be allowed to get the 6 month visa if your skill was on the skill shortage list, is a tough one. We (the Pleasances!) would not have passed the PR passmark under this points system unless I'd been lucky enough to get a job offer before applying for PR (and had a prospective employer willing to wait 6 months or so. Right. Our professions are not on the current skill shortages list)
3. IELTS score now 6.5 overall average. Tough enough. The fact it's 6.5 average rather than 6.5 minimum in each of the 4 test areas does give some flexibility to be slightly worse in one or 2 areas. eg written English, and still pass if you can be very good in another area (eg spoken English) and bring the average up. But see answer (1) and the other NZ threads on this board from yesterday to read more discussion on this subject.
Cheers and best wishes - Don
And Hi to Green Ice, thanks for your private message and the reply is here.
1. The Prime Minister Helen Clark is following the NZIS advice/ guidance revealed in the 'Briefing to the incoming minister' (on www.immigration.govt.nz) which said that immigrants would integrate better if there were no significant language barrier. The NZ govt wants immigrants to contribute immediately to the NZ economy, that means getting a job within a few weeks of arriving. Poor English skills was seen as a major obstacle.
2. The job search visa new requirement, ie to only be allowed to get the 6 month visa if your skill was on the skill shortage list, is a tough one. We (the Pleasances!) would not have passed the PR passmark under this points system unless I'd been lucky enough to get a job offer before applying for PR (and had a prospective employer willing to wait 6 months or so. Right. Our professions are not on the current skill shortages list)
3. IELTS score now 6.5 overall average. Tough enough. The fact it's 6.5 average rather than 6.5 minimum in each of the 4 test areas does give some flexibility to be slightly worse in one or 2 areas. eg written English, and still pass if you can be very good in another area (eg spoken English) and bring the average up. But see answer (1) and the other NZ threads on this board from yesterday to read more discussion on this subject.
Cheers and best wishes - Don
Nov 20th 2002, 5:27 am
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Originally posted by pleasancefamily
Hi John - I just read that too and it mean what it says on the tin - when the Immigration Minister says she sees the passmark dropping in December, it drops. The question is, 27, 28 or 29?
----
I find myself in the strange position of actually not wanting the passmark to come down too much too soon. We have 25, maybe 26 points depending on an NZQA assessment that we now need to get done ASAP, but we're months away from having all the stuff together to apply. I thought 25-26 points was months if not years into the future, but after the stunning news of the last two days who knows? Logic says they'll take any reduction a point at a time and slowly (December 29, February 28...), but then logic said they would give non-English speakers more than a few hours notice of changes to the IELTS rules...
John
Hi John - I just read that too and it mean what it says on the tin - when the Immigration Minister says she sees the passmark dropping in December, it drops. The question is, 27, 28 or 29?
----
I find myself in the strange position of actually not wanting the passmark to come down too much too soon. We have 25, maybe 26 points depending on an NZQA assessment that we now need to get done ASAP, but we're months away from having all the stuff together to apply. I thought 25-26 points was months if not years into the future, but after the stunning news of the last two days who knows? Logic says they'll take any reduction a point at a time and slowly (December 29, February 28...), but then logic said they would give non-English speakers more than a few hours notice of changes to the IELTS rules...
John
Nov 21st 2002, 12:05 am
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More newspaper articles today: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3005444&thesection=news&t hesubsection=general
'The Government was warned after this year's election that immigrants with poor English language skills faced an uphill battle settling into New Zealand.
Opposition groups have criticised the timing and content of the Government's announcement that immigrants under the general skills category now have to pass a test showing they have enough English to cope with university study.
Previously, applicants had to show enough skills to handle the equivalent of secondary school education.
In August, the Immigration Service sent briefing papers to the Government after its re-election warning it that even immigrants from English-speaking backgrounds took five to 10 years to achieve employment rates and incomes equivalent to those of comparable New Zealanders.
"For migrants who integrated less readily - typically those with lower education or less skill with English - average convergence times were in the range of 25-40 years," the papers say.
Immigrant numbers were putting pressure on infrastructure and services in some centres. Census data showed that one-third of recent immigrants from North-east Asia could not hold an everyday conversation in English.
Tuesday's immigration change followed a strong campaign by NZ First leader Winston Peters over immigration levels.
But Immigration Minister Lianne Dalziel yesterday rejected any link between the change and Mr Peters' campaign.
"This is a pro-settlement move. This is about ensuring the people who come to New Zealand do well once they get here."
...'
'The Government was warned after this year's election that immigrants with poor English language skills faced an uphill battle settling into New Zealand.
Opposition groups have criticised the timing and content of the Government's announcement that immigrants under the general skills category now have to pass a test showing they have enough English to cope with university study.
Previously, applicants had to show enough skills to handle the equivalent of secondary school education.
In August, the Immigration Service sent briefing papers to the Government after its re-election warning it that even immigrants from English-speaking backgrounds took five to 10 years to achieve employment rates and incomes equivalent to those of comparable New Zealanders.
"For migrants who integrated less readily - typically those with lower education or less skill with English - average convergence times were in the range of 25-40 years," the papers say.
Immigrant numbers were putting pressure on infrastructure and services in some centres. Census data showed that one-third of recent immigrants from North-east Asia could not hold an everyday conversation in English.
Tuesday's immigration change followed a strong campaign by NZ First leader Winston Peters over immigration levels.
But Immigration Minister Lianne Dalziel yesterday rejected any link between the change and Mr Peters' campaign.
"This is a pro-settlement move. This is about ensuring the people who come to New Zealand do well once they get here."
...'
Nov 22nd 2002, 8:22 am
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Posts: 236
Originally posted by pleasancefamily
Previously, applicants had to show enough skills to handle the equivalent of secondary school education.
...'
Previously, applicants had to show enough skills to handle the equivalent of secondary school education.
...'
Lizzie
