April 2013 News Archive

Archived Daily FX News from the TorFX Foreign Exchange Specialists...

Winston Peters wants better quality migrants29 Apr at 10 AM

Winston Peters, leader of New Zealand First, has taken a swipe at the government’s immigration policy accusing it of allowing immigrants who are not up to standard to settle in the country. The attack came as Statistics New Zealand confirmed that in the 12 months to March the net gain of migrants in New Zealand hit 56,275. This is an...

INZ targets visa test imposters23 Apr at 9 AM

Immigration New Zealand is implementing new measures to help identify prospective immigrants who may be cheating in order to get their visa applications approved. According to INZ some applicants have been attempting to cheat the system by getting others to sit English language examinations and medical tests. Michael Carley, operations...

Kim Dotcom faces deportation from New Zealand17 Apr at 10 AM

Controversial internet entrepreneur and New Zealand resident Kim Dotcom could face deportation for not filling in his residency application correctly. The Megaupload website creator allegedly failed to declare that he had a conviction for dangerous driving. Katie Knowles, acting area manager for Immigration New Zealand, said the agency...

NZ immigration advisor demanded sex from clients8 Apr at 5 AM

A court in New Zealand has heard that a former immigration consultant would attempt lure female clients into providing sexual services in exchange for visas. Hakaoro Hakaoro was sent to prison last year for failing to produce a license to practice. The prison term handed to him was 20 months. However, it has come to light that the...

New powers for INZ officers to be closely monitored2 Apr at 5 AM

New Zealand immigration officers will be given more power to monitor employers if a new bill is passed. However, there have been calls for greater checks to be put into place. Officers will be permitted to enter an employer’s home and search for documents as well as interview anyone within the residence without having to produce a...

Nigella Lawson granted NZ work visa24 Apr at 9 AM

Nigella Lawson, the celebrity British cook, will be allowed to visit New Zealand despite being excluded from the US after admitting drug use. Immigration New Zealand has granted Lawson a work visa so she can shoot a commercial for Whittaker’s, the chocolate maker. Without special dispensation from the immigration authorities Lawson...

Government pressured to relax investor immigration rules18 Apr at 8 AM

New Zealand construction firms are calling on the government to relax immigration laws in order to ease the process of settling in the country for wealthy investors. The Construction Development Alliance wants a new immigration category introduced that will allow investors with a pot of NZ$ five million to enter New Zealand without first...

Expats face strong competition for NZ housing11 Apr at 8 AM

Demand for expat housing in New Zealand is rising dramatically. This means that rental prices will continue to increase. This is happening across the country’s north and south islands. Demand is particularly high in Auckland, currently ranking high on a list of the most expensive cities in which to live on the planet. Property prices...

QROPS shake up for UK expats2 Apr at 10 AM

Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes (QROPS) for UK citizens living in New Zealand were given a savage shake up in April 2012. More than 40 schemes were axed from the HM Revenue and Customs list. However, Chancellor George Osborne appears to be sanctioning a U-turn in his 2014 Budget. The initial problem for HMRC was that...

Chinese visitors to New Zealand to get a longer visa29 Apr at 9 AM

Independent Chinese visitors coming to New Zealand will now have the opportunity of applying for a two-year visa. Previously Chinese tourists were granted a visa valid for 12 months. The change has been made in an effort to attract more travellers from New Zealand’s second largest tourist market. Tourism Minister John Key said...

New Zealand tourism boosted by gay marriage law22 Apr at 9 AM

Last week’s announcement that New Zealand is to allow gay marriage is expected to bring a boost to the tourism industry. Reece Farmilo, owner of gay travel agency Sydney’s Out Travel, said thousands of people would travel to New Zealand either to get married or as guests of a wedding. He added that since last Wednesday he had received a...

Migrants giving up permanent residency in NZ to return home15 Apr at 9 AM

Integration issues and a lack of job opportunities has resulted in thousands of immigrants who have been granted residency in New Zealand deciding to leave. Immigration New Zealand has published figures that show around 40,000 immigrants given permanent residency between 2004 and 2011 have packed up and left. Experts, including Dr Henry...

New Zealand offers jobs to skilled electricians8 Apr at 9 AM

New Zealand has joined Australia in trying to encourage experienced electricians to emigrate from the UK. A migration company based in Chester claims that the booming construction sectors in both countries means there is a stronger demand than ever for qualified professionals. The Canterbury rebuild also means there is an added demand for...

Number of Kiwis moving to Australia falls1 Apr at 9 AM

New data released by Statistics New Zealand shows that the number of Kiwis crossing the Tasman to Australia has dropped to a two-year low. Last month 3,770 New Zealanders travelled to Australia compared to 4,630 for the same month a year ago. The number of people moving in the opposite direction also rose to 1,420 meaning a 2,350 net...

New Zealand changes immigration rules to deal with boat arrivals30 Apr at 10 AM

The New Zealand government has introduced a new immigration law aimed at deterring the mass arrival of illegals by boat. Rather than needing individual warrants to detain asylum seekers, officials will now be able to deal with mass arrivals by way of group warrants, immigration minister Nathan Guy announced today. Mr Guy said the country...

NZ government assured Jackson on Hobbit visas27 Apr at 9 AM

According to documents released under the Official Information Act, the New Zealand government told filmmaker Peter Jackson that it would intervene to solve any possible visa problems connected to the filming of Hobbit. During a meeting in September 2010 with the Screen Production and Development Association (Spada) and the country’s...

Christchurch confident in luring back migrants26 Apr at 9 AM

Leaders in Christchurch have been encouraged by a drop in the number of people leaving the city after last year’s devastating earthquake. The number of those emigrating to search for new opportunities abroad is half what it was a year ago, and Mayor Bob Parker believes the trend will soon start to reverse as the rebuild creates economic...

Calls for common borders between Aus and NZ25 Apr at 9 AM

Timed to coincide with yesterday’s Anzac Day celebrations, top tourism chiefs in both Australia and New Zealand have called for passport-free travel between the two countries. The proposed common border, which would only require travellers to show a photo ID much like they would for domestic flights, is being dubbed the “Anzac express”....

BBC showcases perks of immigrating to New Zealand24 Apr at 9 AM

British families looking to immigrate to New Zealand are to be placed in the spotlight in a new BBC programme, ‘Wanted DownUnder’. The prime-time show will follow five families as they visit the country to learn about housing, schools, social activities and the labour market. The families will be taken to Greater Auckland, where estate...

Parents of sick child denied NZ residency23 Apr at 11 AM

South African parents looking to gain residency permits in New Zealand have told of their frustration at being denied because their son is terminally ill. Louise Moore and Dale Crebo applied for residency as skilled migrants, but were told their 11-year-old son Jedd is a "medical burden". The couple arrived in New Zealand seven...

Courier service loses immigration documents23 Apr at 9 AM

A woman whose passport and birth certificate were almost lost by a courier service after she sent them to New Zealand Immigration has spoken of the stress caused by the incident. Cheryl Gray, 30, was trying to renew her working visa when the important package was misplaced by CourierPost. The shipping firm in fact only found the documents...

Indonesian mother refuses to let sick son return to New Zealand19 Apr at 9 AM

A woman who has been accused of keeping her Kiwi son chained to a bed in Indonesia because she says no one knows how to deal with his mental disability has refused to let him return home. Yuhanie Marisa Latinia’s 26-year-old son Simon is a New Zealand citizen and has overstayed his visa in Indonesia. He is one of five children father by New...

Brits struggle to gain NZ residency for autistic son18 Apr at 10 AM

British parents have been told that their son may not be able to gain residency status in New Zealand because of the costs of dealing with his suspected autism. The couple, who came to New Zealand with their eldest son in 2007, have since had second son born in Taupo. Ian Fitch works as an operational manager while his wife Claire, who is...

NZ and Australia launch largest migration drive in 4 decades17 Apr at 6 PM

As reported by the Construction Index, New Zealand and Australia are launching one of their largest migration drives in 40 years to lure in skilled trades people, according to The Emigration Group. Emigration Group director Paul Arthur says there are a huge shortages of skilled trades people in New Zealand and Australia. In the Canterbury...

New Zealand hopes to attract Saudi students16 Apr at 4 PM

As reported by Arab News, Steven Joyce, New Zealand’s Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister, will arrive in Riyadh today to hold conferences with senior Saudi officials, as well as participate in the International Exhibition and Conference on Higher Education. He hopes to heighten New Zealand's reputation as a foremost...

Card skimmers caught en route to NZ13 Apr at 6 PM

As reported by the New Zealand Herald, a gang of Bulgarian alleged card skimmers en route to New Zealand were caught as they were boarding a flight in Kuala Lumpur bound for Auckland. The nine people were stopped, with two of them prevented from getting on the flight. Another person also stayed in Malaysia while the other six suspects...

Chinese asylum seekers to stay in Australia12 Apr at 9 AM

A group of ten Chinese asylum seekers, which was threatening to sail from Darwin to New Zealand, has decided to seek refuse in Australia instead. After meeting a New Zealand immigration officer on Wednesday and being warned about the dangers of the voyage, the group, which consists of eight adults and two children, allowed themselves to be...

Dotcom unable to reveal conviction when applying for New Zealand residency11 Apr at 9 AM

Official documents have revealed that Mega Upload founder Kim Dotcom was unable to reveal a pending court case against him in Hong Kong when applying for residency in New Zealand. The German millionaire was prevented by Hong Kong law from telling Immigration New Zealand about the charges, but was allowed to stay after finally convicted a...

Chinese group seek asylum in New Zealand10 Apr at 3 PM

Chinese asylum seekers are reportedly heading to New Zealand after they were forced to dock their boat in Australia. The Minister of Immigration for New Zealand said that he is worried about their safety during the journey. Nathan Guy, New Zealand's Minister of Immigration, added that he is trying to get more details from Australian...

Call for New Zealand immigration gaffe repercussions9 Apr at 12 PM

The leader of New Zealand First has called for repercussions after the revelation that an illegal immigrant was still receiving sickness benefit despite being banned from the country. Winston Peters said that heads should roll after Salam Mansoor Abdelabbas Al-Bawi continued to be paid $360 a week, despite being charged with immigration...

Two expats die in drowning misfortunes6 Apr at 6 PM

Two Scots have died in separate drowning events in Australia and New Zealand. Tommy McCreaddie, 34, drowned after wading through a river while walking home from work in in Australia, reports the Evening Times. The pub chef ran into difficulty while wading into the Yarra in Melbourne. Horrified onlookers called for help as Tommy was...

Dotcoms cars to be sold 5 Apr at 3 PM

Cars seized during the January raid against Megaupload creator Kim Dotcom's Auckland home are to be sold. The proceeds of the sale could raise up to $6 million according to a police estimate, and will be partially used to pay legal costs by Dotcom as he pays for his defense against charges of criminal copyright infringement by the US,...

More than half a million expats denied full pension4 Apr at 6 PM

The Government has published its latest figures on the amount of people that are affected by the frozen pensions policy. The statistics were exposed by Lord Freud, the minister for welfare reform, following the Liberal Democrat peer Lord Jones asked for a written answer finding out how many people living abroad received non-uprated state...

New Zealand becoming destination for international students3 Apr at 6 PM

When Josephine Huong Le was in school in Vietnam, she wanted to study in Switzerland. When the financial crisis arrived, she began looking into more affordable options. While was considering possibilities, she watched The Lord of the Rings, filmed in New Zealand. The stunning landscape impressed Ms. Le so much that she started exploring...

Dotcoms bail desires granted2 Apr at 6 PM

Internet-piracy accused Kim Dotcom has been given permission to record music, go swimming, meet with his co-accused and even access the internet under new lenient bail rules. Judge David Harvey approved all of the internet kingpin's requests - with some conditions - in the North Shore District Court, reports Suff.co.nz. The Megaupload...