February 2012 News Archive
Archived Daily FX News from the TorFX Foreign Exchange Specialists...
Increase in the number of New Zealanders working in Britain24 Feb at 6 AMRecently published figures indicate that more New Zealand and Australian nationals are choosing to leave their home countries to find work in the UK. The increase in numbers comes despite fears that too many people are being excluded by strict visa restrictions. The latest data shows that 91,000 workers from New Zealand and Australia have...
Queenstown relaxes immigration rules20 Feb at 8 AMIn an attempt to encourage more skilled labour to Queenstown, Immigration New Zealand has said it will be relaxing the requirements for overseas job applicants. Previously employers wishing to employ a worker from another country have had to prove the job had been offered to New Zealand nationals or residents first. However, until the end...
NZ immigration medicals go online16 Feb at 5 AMMedical clinics across the country have been selected by Immigration New Zealand to conduct immigration medical examinations. An onshore panel physician network will use the eMedical system which allows doctors to submit x-rays and medical certificate online. The system has been developed by the immigration departments of Canada and Australia...
Mancunians most likely to choose new life in New Zealand4 Feb at 7 AMA top emigration advisory firm has revealed that Mancunians are the most likely to choose to emigrate from the UK to New Zealand. The Emigration Group, a consultancy that helps UK citizens move abroad, said that over the last six months it had received around 3,000 inquires about relocating to New Zealand, 300 of which had come from people in...
Hugh Laurie frustrated with Immigration NZ25 Feb at 8 AMHugh Laurie, the British actor and musician, has hit out at New Zealand’s sometimes complicated visa requirements on Twitter. The House star was apparently taken aback by having to provide information to the New Zealand authorities on the state of his marriage. Immigration New Zealand has been quick to refute the allegations that they...
Down Under Live offers overseas jobs19 Feb at 8 AMScots interested in starting a new life in New Zealand and Australia are being offered the chance to find out more at the SECC in Glasgow on 22 and 23 February. Down Under Live is one of the biggest emigration and jobs events in the UK. According to figures released by the government 489,000 people emigrated from the UK last year....
Doubling immigration numbers would boost the economy10 Feb at 9 AMA New Zealand economic think tanks claims that doubling the country’s immigration target could boost the economy by $1.8 billion annually. According to the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, increasing the number of immigrants will help to increase incomes and drive business competition. Over the past decade annual net migration...
New Zealand needs to boost immigrant intake3 Feb at 8 AMThe New Zealand Herald is campaigning for the government to attract more immigrants to the country, or risk damaging the economy. The popular newspaper said in an editorial that unless more is done to boost the number of immigrants now, New Zealand could find it harder to attract skilled workers in the future. According to the 2013...
Tongan woman arrested for immigration scam25 Feb at 9 AMA Tongan national has pleaded guilty in court to being involved with a widespread immigration scam involving Tongans moving to New Zealand. Khadijah Lolohea admitted that she had been giving out advice on how to migrate to the country without having a license to do so. The 38-year-old has been charged with nine offences by the Immigration...
Criminal records of NZ visa applicants wiped18 Feb at 9 AMOfficials in New Zealand are concerned after it has been revealed that Tongan police willingly wiped the criminal records of people who were trying to obtain New Zealand visas. Grant O’Fee, Tonga’s Police Commissioner, said a number of unknown people had been given clean criminal records even though they had been convicted of serious...
New Zealand agrees to take refugees from Australia11 Feb at 9 AMTalks between Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and New Zealand Premier John Key have resulted in a deal being stuck that will see New Zealand take 150 refugees out of its neighbours system each year. The new agreement will be ongoing from next year according to Gillard and is likely to affect asylum seekers residing in processing...
New Zealand summer holiday shift considered4 Feb at 10 AMNew research has revealed that just under a quarter of adults in New Zealand would support moving the summer holiday period from its traditional position in the calendar to February. The study conducted by Tourism Bay of Plenty found that 24 per cent of those who responded would like to move the summer break to a time when better weather was...
New Zealand must prepare for population explosion in Pacific 29 Feb at 6 PMAn explosion in the population of the Pacific Islands could have a huge impact on New Zealand, reveals an official report. In an effort to manage issues relating to employment and immigration, the Australian and New Zealand Governments have assigned a report about the population rise in the Pacific region, reveals the website TVNZ....
Collaboration in New Zealand is helping recruit workers28 Feb at 6 PMNew Zealand Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce believes that a project designed to attract skilled workers to the country is a good example of teamwork between the private sector and the Government. Speaking in Auckland, Mr Joyce said a number of Kiwi health technology companies are working alongside government agencies including...
NZ bureaucrats breaking law by hiding visa decisions27 Feb at 6 PMOrders to immigration officials to not record information in an attempt to evade judicial reviews and more paperwork have left civil libertarians outraged, leading them to calling it a measured attempt to dodge accountability. The Immigration New Zealand order to staff relates to section 61 of the Immigration Act, which permits the...
Job opportunities create applicants for transport programme24 Feb at 6 PMApplicants for UCOL's original truck and forklift driving programme know of the lack of skilled drivers – both in New Zealand and internationally. The Level 2 National Certificate programme in Goods Services started last year and its quota for 2012 is already full, reports the website Voxy.co.nz. Dave Jenkins, the Programme...
Air New Zealand announces new cheap route to Australia23 Feb at 6 PMAir New Zealand has announced it will start a direct service to the Sunshine Coast from Auckland twice a week for only AUD$149, starting on July 1. The deal has taken three years to come about, and will mean easier access to the area for the 80,000 to 100,000 New Zealand tourists who fly each winter. The airline will fly narrow-bodied...
Megaupload founder granted bail22 Feb at 6 PMFile-sharing tsar has been given bail by a court in New Zealand. Kim Dotcom, 38, who founded the website Megaupload, has been in jail since 20 January following a request by the US authorities. The US has accused him of being responsible for one of the biggest copyright infringement cases in the history of the country, reports the...
Norwegian sailor told equipment found21 Feb at 6 PMPolar officials revealed the gear of a Norwegian sailor was in storage at the Scott Base of New Zealand, before he began a voyage to Antarctica to retrieve it, says base manager Iain Miller. The gear was included in a depository by crew from a Berserk, a Norwegian yacht that sank a year ago when it entered a storm in McMurdo Sound and...
Foreign student schools in trouble20 Feb at 6 PMThere are growing problems at many schools that are chasing the foreign student market, reveals a series of reports. Five schools are in hot water with authorities for a variety of offences including student cheating, immigration breaches and reporting dubious qualifications, reveals the New Zealand Herald. A series of critical reports...
Reasons for visa denials will remain undisclosed17 Feb at 6 PMImmigration officers hide the reasons that discretionary visas are refused out of fear they could face legal action. Section 61 of the Immigration Act gives officers the chance to grant some visas in special cases, reports the website stuff.co.nz. The provision allows officers absolute discretion for cases including if someone has...
Checks on Kiwis still not happening in Queensland16 Feb at 6 PMPolice in Queensland are still waiting to start their six-month trail of having access to the criminal history database of New Zealand. Neil Roberts, the Police Minister, suggested the delay has been caused by problems in software as well as legal agreements not being finalised between Australia and New Zealand. He said that he is not...
Man caught smuggling cocaine15 Feb at 6 PMA man has been detained at Auckland International Airport following $1 million of liquid cocaine was allegedly uncovered concealed in urns of alcohol in his bags. American Peter Rhee, 29, landed in New Zealand from Los Angeles last week. Customs says "inconsistencies" were discovered in two bottles of alcohol. After testing they...
Parents of suicide girl seek boyfriends deportation14 Feb at 6 PMThe parents of a teenager who committed suicide are fighting to guarantee the man convicted of an illegal relationship with her will be deported back to Samoa. Hayley-Anne Fenton, 15, took her own life after receiving a text message she believed was sent to her by her "first love", Pelesasa Tiumalu, 27, who wrote, "Go Kill...
Aggressive Kiwi allowed to stay in Australia13 Feb at 4 PMA NEW Zealander man who was jailed over a brutal attack on his girlfriend is allowed to stay in Australia after a tribunal overrode the Federal Government efforts to deport him. Frank Matiu, who played for the New Zealand All Blacks under-21 team before emigrating to Australia, was drunk and had taken drugs when he punched, choked and bit...
Fiji Islander refused refugee status10 Feb at 6 PMA Fiji national has not been granted refugee status in New Zealand, despite his island being destroyed by phosphate mining and claims that he will be tortured if he is sent home. The majority of phosphate mined in Banaba (formally Ocean Island) was between the two world wars, and ended up on farms in New Zealand. The 703 people residents...
New Zealand migration loss will reverse9 Feb at 6 PMNew Zealand's diminishing population will reverse this year, with the increase coming from migrants from the UK, India and China, claims new government research. A Department of Labour paper called the "Permanent and Long Term Migration: The Big Picture" states that there will be more long term migration at the end of this year...
New Zealand police and immigration exceed their authority8 Feb at 6 PMImmigration and police officials in New Zealand have taken advantage of their powers by forcing an Indian woman to fingerprint deportation documents against her will, reveals two separate inquiries. The findings have now given the woman and her family grounds to stay in the country, and for her husband to be freed from jail, reports the...
More people leaving New Zealand than arriving7 Feb at 6 PMMore people are now leaving New Zealand than are entering, despite this not being the case during the Christchurch earthquakes and the global financial crisis. Figures released by the Labour Department show that "permanent and long- term" migration is declining, from an increase of 16,500 last year to just 3900 this year, and a...
Court rejects Megaupload co-founder bail request6 Feb at 6 PMAs reported by the BBC, the Auckland High Court has announced its agreement with a recent ruling that Mr Dotcom (a German citizen) may attempt to escape the country. The file-sharing site co-founder is charged with benefiting from the copying and selling of pirated content. Mr Dotcom's attorneys stated that he denied the accusations and...
New Zealand welcomes more students from India3 Feb at 2 PMAccording to New Zealand’s Department of Labour, more new international students are coming in from India than any other source country. India is also the second largest source country when it comes to skilled migrants. In 2011, skilled migrants coming to New Zealand from India made up 13 per cent with 10,500 arriving. This is up from the...
NZ repairman joins South Pole expedition by accident3 Feb at 9 AMA repairman from New Zealand is currently headed for Antarctica on a yacht manned by a rebellious Norwegian sailor who hurriedly cast off unaware he was still on board. The maritime mechanic was reportedly repairing an anchor belonging to the 52ft Nilaya at Auckland harbour, as the yacht quickly set sail while immigration officers...
GPs happier abroad2 Feb at 2 PMNinety per cent of doctors who emigrate to New Zealand do not have plans to return back to the UK, reveals a new study. Better jobs and more leisure time satisfaction in New Zealand are two of the reasons given by British doctors who plan to stay in their new home. The study was carried out by Oxford University, and spoke 282 UK-trained...