- Hon Andrew Little
New Zealand's health system now has thousands more health workers thanks to new visa pathways put in place by this Government, Immigration Minister Andrew Little says.
"A year on since the borders reopened more than 6300 overseas health workers have joined our health workforce through the Accredited Employer Work Visa scheme and the Green List Straight to Residence pathways.
"This includes 2,500 nurses, and more than 2300 workers in the aged care, disabled and personal care sectors," Andrew Little said.
"The evidence is clear that at time of global health worker shortages, New Zealand's immigration settings are helping to attract more health workers to our shores to bolster our health system."
This Government created the Green List in 2022 to help attract highly skilled workers in nationally significant roles amidst global workforce shortages.
There is now a total of 48 health sector roles on the Green List all of which are on the Straight to Residence pathway.
This includes enrolled nurses, nurse practitioners, dentists and dental technicians, MRI scanning technologists, paramedics, optometrists, pharmacists and counsellors.
"Growing our health workforce is a top priority for this government, and these visa pathways are part of work we are doing to improve healthcare for New Zealanders," Andrew Little said.
"A recent OECD report ranked New Zealand as the number one country in the world for attracting highly skilled workers, which gives New Zealand an advantage in a highly competitive global market."
There are also a further 800 people offshore who have been approved an Accredited Employer Work Visa, who are yet to make the move to New Zealand.
This Government also created a residence pathwayfor some care workers under the Accredited Employer Work Visa to gain residence after 24 months.
ENDS
Notes to Editor:
These new additions to the workforce represent people who have been:
- Approved an Accredited Employer Work Visa or Straight to Resident Visa in healthcare roles from offshore and since arrived in New Zealand
- Or are onshore and have been approved for their first work visa - for example, this will include internationally qualified nurses who came to New Zealand on a visitor visa to undertake a Competence Assessment Programme through the Nursing Council and have since applied for their first work visa.
