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Due to ever-increasing migration applications for New Zealand, the New Zealand Immigration Service has again increased the current pass mark for General Skills migration visas from 28 to 29 for the month of September. The changes come into effect on 7 September 2002.
This is the second time that the Government has given short notice of changes. It ended the practise of a month's warning after previous changes in January led to a flood of applications prior to their implementation. Now the pass mark is reviewed monthly and changes implemented in a week.
In June, the pass mark was lifted from 25 to 28 points. The three-point increase was matched by a similar hike in the number of points an applicant received for a job offer. Points are doled out for factors like age, qualifications and work experience.
Half of all potential immigrants already have a job offer in New Zealand, which makes it much easier to meet the current pass mark. Most highly-skilled people would find it very difficult to meet the current pass mark without holding a job offer in New Zealand prior to migrating.
To see how many points you score, please go to: http://www.workpermit.com/new_zealand/nz_calculator.htm
