Masaryk University Faculty of Education Department of English Language and Literature Michaela Semerádová New Zealand Immigration Policy Bachelor Thesis Supervisor: Mgr. Zdeněk Janík, M.A., Ph.D. Brno 2013 Acknowledgement I would like to thank Mgr. Zdeněk Janík, M.A., Ph.D. for his patience, help and valuable advice during the process of writing this thesis. I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the sources listed in the bibliography. ………………………………………………… Michaela Semerádová Abstract The objective of this bachelor thesis is to analyse the historical progress and current structure of New Zealand immigration policy. The work consists of two parts, a theoretical and practical part. The theoretical part outlines development of New Zealand immigration regulations throughout the past and present, but also upcoming immigration changes. The practical part examines immigrants' experience with immigration and resulting settlement. The main aim is to discover how Immigration New Zealand decides and works. Moreover, it deals with questions which help to describe closely New Zealand immigration policy, specifically: Has New Zealand really acquired non-discriminatory approach in accepting immigrants? Is New Zealand immigration policy successful? Key words: Colonization, immigration, Maori, New Zealand immigration policy, The Treaty of Waitangi, an immigration act, visa, settlement strategy, assimilation. Content 1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………….7 2. Historical background ………………………………………………………………………9 2.1. Colonization of New Zealand……………..………………………………………9 2.2. New Zealand modern history of immigration …………………………………...11 3. Selected events in New Zealand immigration policy……...……………………………….13 3.1. Early years and immigration……………………………………………………..13 3.2. The Treaty of Waitangi and immigration………………………………………...14 3.3. Restrictions on others......………………………………………………………...14 3.3.1. The Chinese Immigrants Act 1881……………………………………..15 3.3.2. The Immigration Restriction Act 1899…………………………………16 3.3. 3. The Chinese Immigrants Amendment Act 1907………………………17 3.3.4. The Immigration Restriction Amendment Act 1908…………………...17 3.3.5. The Undesirable Immigrants Act 1919………………………………...18 3.3.6. The Immigration Restriction Amendment Act 1920…………………...19 3.3.7. The Immigration Restriction amendment Act 1931……………………20 3.4. After the WW2…………………………………………………………………...21 3.5. Non-discriminatory immigration policy after 1960……………………………...22 3.5.1. 1960s- 1980s……………………………………………………………22 3.5.2. 1980s- 1990s……………………………………………………………23 3.5.3. 1990s- 2000s……………………………………………………………24 3.5.4. 2000s- 2010s…………………………………………………………....25 4. Recent changes and current situation in New Zealand immigration policy...……………...27 5. Future perspectives in New Zealand immigration policy..………………………………...29 6. Types of visa as they exist now……………………………………………………………30 6.1. Temporary visa…………………………………………………………………...30 6.1.1. Work Visa………………………………………………………………30 6.1.2. Visitor Visa……………………………………………………………..31 6.1.3. Study Visa………………………………………..…………………….31 6.1.4. Working Holiday Visa………………………………………………….32 6.2. Permanent visa…………………………………………………………………...32 7. New Zealand settlement strategy…………………………………………………………..35 7.1. Treating Maori……………………………………………………………………36 7.2. Settlement strategies applied on others…..………………………………………38 8. Practical part: Immigration policy survey………………………………………………….43 8.1. Summary of respondents' characteristics………………………………………...44 8.1.1. Demographic characteristics…………………………………………...44 8.1.2. Application procedure summary……………………………………….46 8.1.3. Social integration and settlement of the respondents…………………..48 8.2. Has New Zealand really acquired non-discriminatory approach in accepting immigrants? ..................................................................................................................50 8.3. Is New Zealand immigration policy successful? ...................................................52 9. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………55 1. Introduction Migration is a worldwide phenomenon. Together with globalization and growth in foreign visitors, migration is becoming a hot issue, and so it is in New Zealand where nearly 20 percent of their citizens and residents had been born in another country. A country´s immigration policy, however, does not only focus on benefits from newcomers but also deals with an outflow of their own habitants. Moreover, after crossing the frontier, immigrants become a part of a particular nation, and therefore, it touches every sphere of human lives such as economic, culture, politics or socialization. We can easily understand that immigration is a very complex system, which requires attention of many government agencies and also general public. For New Zealand being a multicultural country, migration is of the utmost importance to their future prosperity. On that account, it continues to be a source of plenty debates. After decades, migration system was shaken and there have been a number of immigration policy changes, which played a crucial role in constructing New Zealand's future. After the country was discovered, many travelers ended up settling there. The sweeping change in New Zealand history came with the arrival of British and with appropriation of this far distant country. When New Zealand became an outpost of Britain, the British influenced the policy-making for centuries. Generally the main aim of the policy was to keep New Zealand white. Although this was not claimed officially as in Australia, the white man policy was pushed forward. However, such beliefs were dismissed in about 1970 when the criteria for entry gradually changed. Even though the restrictions on immigrants remained strictly regulated, government targeted at deciding according to personal qualities and skills, which is more or less followed until now. 7 The thesis consists of two parts, theoretical and practical part. The theoretical part discusses all the noteworthy changes in New Zealand immigration system. In order to understand the immigration policy it is necessary to be familiar with the history of New Zealand colonization and settlement. Therefore, this work starts with historical background. The next chapter outlines the evolution of the immigration regulation from the very first contact with British men to the current situation there. It also covers a topic of settlement and assimilation which is an important factor of immigrants' life and influences their living in the country. The practical part deals with the impact of immigration policy on different nationalities. I came up with a survey with suitable questions and distributed it among people who ever applied for New Zealand visa. Consequently, I compare their experience in terms of the application and arriving process, but also in terms of their settlement and integration within the country. Lastly, on the basis of the survey I try to answer two questions characterizing New Zealand immigration policy: Has New Zealand really acquired non- discriminatory approach in accepting immigrants? Is New Zealand immigration policy successful? 8 2. Historical background 2.1. Colonization of New Zealand It has been more than thousand years since the vessels of 40 canoes with Polynesian ancestors first touched Aotearoa1 at the shore of the northern island. It is estimated that those first settlers came either from Cooks islands or from Tahiti. Nevertheless, the land remained vastly uninhabited until 1642 when Dutchman Abel Tasman on a research sail happened to meet the two islands which were later on named by Dutch Nova Zeelandia ( Sinclair, 2003, 27). Nearly one hundred years later, in 1762, James Cook first landed in New Zealand. This first touch with British was followed by dramatic and abrupt changes in environment, culture and agriculture. Moreover, Cook opened possibilities for further British entry. Many of New Zealand early immigrants arrived in search of items to trade (Ch. Rawlings, B. Atkinson et al., p. 31-32). Despite the isolation, the presence of natural sources such as oil, flux and fur led people to leave their homelands and travel thousands of kilometers. Nearly 100 years after the first Europeans reached New Zealand and more than 100 sealers, whalers and missionaries settled in the New Zealand land. Except for a few Americans and Asians, most of them were of the British or Irish origin. In the following decades the non-Maori population was rising. These days British were already promoting their interests and so the first targeted immigration was organized by so called New Zealand Company, which until 1839 brought about 2,000 migrants. As the indigenous people did not by all accounts obey any principles and rules, conflicts among Maoris and Europeans began to deteriorate. 1 Aotearoa is a Maori name for New Zealand. It is actually a compound of three Maori words. All together it could be translated as a long white cloud. It is often said that during the great migration Maori were navigating according to long white clouds. The other explanation, which even more probable, is that the long white cloud was the first thing they saw when they arrived to New Zealand ("Definitions of Maori words used in New Zealand English") 9 The situation changed in 1840 when in view of need to control the colonization, The Treaty of Waitangi was signed. Although both sides, the British Crown and Maori chiefs, were presented to the act, there were many chiefs who strictly disagreed. The treaty enabled the United Kingdom to regulate the inflow of people settling