New Zealand’s history is one filled with the importance of Immigration to the growth of the country and the economy. New Zealand still attracts immigrants, and needs them. International students are one of the biggest revenue contributors to the New Zealand economy. While Tourism is one of the biggest industries in New Zealand and is a vital part of its economic make up. While New Zealand immigration policy is constantly changing to identify with the ever changing population growth and demands. This is identifiable not only in the last decade, and can be seen throughout the 1880’s and 1900’s, where New Zealand’s changing immigration policy has reflected the changing economic demands and population diversity.
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There has always been some sort of assisted immigration to New Zealand, and some form of guidance regarding the proper process and what is needed. From the 1880’s with assisted migration, since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and the establishment of a New Zealand state as part of the British Commonwealth, people such as Vogel and later the New Zealand government itself developed plans and organizations to bring workers into New Zealand. This was seen in a 1988 attorney general report which identified that development is needed in the information provided by New Zealand immigration services, and has led to improvements in the service. This has been an ongoing battle with NZ immigration services, as there is a strive for further improving NZ governmental agencies to assist the public.
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There has not been much written regarding the standards of those employed, and the current report by the auditor general into Immigration Services also looks into this to identify where there are inconsistencies in the department. The report was ordered by Former Prime Minister Helen Clark, as there were reported incidence of inconsistency and lack of helpful advice as well as deceit in the department. However the report found that the integrity of staff is intact, and what has been an issue is how the staff are trained and the ongoing training that should be provided in order to maintain consistency in decision making.
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While New Zealand does have training requirements and upgrades that are provided to their employees regarding Immigration information and policies. The report has recognized that it is not the intention of the staff to misinform, however due to the lack of instruction and guidance given to the staff which seems to have led to these instances of misinformation and inconsistency perceived between not only braches but officers. It is also not New Zealand immigration services, and the way it operates that has been criticized rather the advice given by government consultants and this has been seen in Table 1. These results show that New Zealand places high on customer satisfaction regarding the process for permanent and temporary visa applicants. However it is the relations with the consultants or agents which has shown to be in the bottom 33% of international government organizations which have been involved in the testing.
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This inconsistency in advice by immigration staff is not only a matter seen in New Zealand, and has been recognized in many other western countries including Canada, United States of America and Australia. However this shouldn’t be viewed as a disadvantage for New Zealand as the actions taken by these countries to ratify these inconsistencies can be evaluated by New Zealand policy makers and New Zealand Immigration Services, and find which actions are most desirable for New Zealand. Such actions include the United State’s involvement with communities in certain cases, as well as involvement in international cooperation. Canada’s specialized immigration courses and the ever going training provided in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia as well as New Zealand. Because there is not much academic literature, or many policy reports regarding the subject of Immigration Service Staff development, it makes it a perfect opportunity to discuss the subject. It also allows for this report to analyse the actions taken by other countries and illustrate which options would be most suitable for New Zealand.
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