‘Anti-immigrant NZ moving goalposts’

• Author: Chris Keall
• Published date: 07 August 2021
• Publication title: Hawkes Bay Today

“New Zealand has become extremely anti-immigrant,” Raygun co-founder John-Daniel Trask vented in frustration on Twitter.

Trask, known as “JD” in the industry, took to the social network to vent about what he saw as Immigration NZ moving the goalposts.

His company, which offers quality-testing and customer experience monitoring tools for software makers, does most of its recruitment locally, but has hired overseas for a number of specialised roles.

Raygun chief operating officer Lana Vaughan elaborated to the Weekend Herald that the company had raised the salary of a Wellington-based employee by around $10,000 to $106,080 to meet a skilled worker visa minimum requirement threshold — only for Immigration NZ to move the goalposts to $112,320 while the worker’s application letter sat unopened.

Vaughan now worries the skilled worker will have to leave NZ on December 3 when his talent visa expires. She notes Immigration NZ current lists a 22-month wait-time for applications.

The worker first notified Immigration NZ of his salary increase to the $106,080 threshold (that is, twice the...