Labour Party leader Andrew Little has unveiled a stringent new set of immigration rules he would impose if in Government. He hoped it would reduce immigration by up to 30,000.

Immigration restrictions on overseas students rorting the visa scheme as a "backdoor entry" into New Zealand could reduce immigration by up to 30,000, Labour says.

The party has unveiled a major new immigration policy, which proposes tightening rules to limit student visas, remove work visas for some international graduates without job offers at the end of their course and regionalise the occupation list for all work visas.

"Closing off the ability to work during and after study for people who do low-level courses will stop backdoor immigration," leader Andrew Little said.

Prime Minister Bill English slammed the policy saying it would "stall the economy", but would not say whether the Government believed current immigration levels were sustainable.

Little said the Government's settings had "the perverse effect that a 23-year-old with a New Zealand diploma and three years' experience in retail can get more points towards residency than a 45-year-old oncologist who wants to migrate here".

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"A third of international students studying at private training establishments say they plan to work or seek residency here after study," Little said.

Labour said it would stop issuing student visas for courses below a bachelor's degree, that were not independently assessed by the Tertiary Education Commission and NZQA to be of a high quality.

International students had to be studying a minimum of a bachelor's degree, in order to be able to work in New Zealand while studying.

The post-study work visa - which allows any international student who has studied for long enough in New Zealand to gain an automatic one-year work visa - would also be limited to students studying a minimum of a bachelor's degree.

And the national skills shortage list would be split into regions and Labour would also remove bonus points under the Skilled Migrant Category for those who had already studied or worked in New Zealand.

"It's time for a fresh approach. Labour will make changes to immigration settings [that] will reduce net immigration by 20,000 to 30,000 a year," Little said.

HAGEN HOPKINS/GETTY IMAGES Labour is criticizing the government for failing to foresee a population boom in NZ.

A number of other changes would extend the age points from 30 to 45, see the introduction of the KiwiBuild visa - to complement its Kiwibuild housing policy - and introduce an Exceptional Skills Visa.

The Exceptional Skills Visa would be available to people in an occupation on the long-term skills list, and had significant experience or qualifications that far exceeded what was normally available.

Highly specialised fields like paediatric oncology for example, might allow someone with the appropriate skills to gain a visa that would allow themselves and their partner and children to move to new Zealand.

The number of people arriving in New Zealand intending to stay has surged in recent years, sending the latest net migration figures to a new record high.

Statistics New Zealand said the net gain from immigration rose to 71,932 in the year to March 31, up from 71,333 in the year ended February 28. In the month of March alone, the gain was 6100.

Statistics New Zealand said 129,500 people arrived in New Zealand intending to stay for at least 12 months in the year to March 31, up from 128,800 in the year ended February 28.

Little said National had failed to foresee a population boom, and New Zealand was now paying the price through an overheated property market and buckling infrastructure and public services.

"Since 2013, immigration has been more than four times what was forecast - 130,000 more people than expected have settled here, equivalent to the population of Tauranga," Little said.

"Immigration needs to be sustainable. We've always sought to manage immigration to match our economic needs with our capacity to cope with population growth.

"We reviewed the system from top to bottom and found that several areas were being abused and not delivering the results Kiwis expect."

English said Labour's policy was an "attack on the international education sector".

"And it's based on a complete misunderstanding of what happens with students; 70-80 per cent of them leave New Zealand and go home, so it doesn't have any impact on the long-term population."

But it would have a big impact on the education sector.

"This is a sector that has been a key part of diversifying our economy, particularly through the difficult times when dairy prices were low; employs 33,000 people, generates $4.5 billion in income for the country," he said.

"A 30,000 reduction in migration right now will stall the economy, it'll deprive businesses of the skills they need to enable them to make the investments they want to make, to grow New Zealand. "

But English stumbled when asked to explain whether the Government would reduce immigration, or whether it was content to sustain current levels into the future.

"We're making adjustments at the margin, because Government can control the flow but we want to do it in a way that gets the right mix of skills for the jobs that are there," he said.

"We're up for the challenges in dealing with sustained success and growth for New Zealand."

IMMIGRATION CLAMPDOWNS "POSITIVE FOCUS" BUT NO PANACEA

BusinessNZ Chief Executive Kirk Hope praised a "positive focus" of the policy, and could help bring higher-skilled migrants and push workers to the regions.

But the overall effect could still make it difficult for employers.

"It would be particularly useful to get the regions' skill needs more comprehensively represented in the occupational shortages list, to have visas issued for work in specific regions, and to involve regional businesses and business organisations in those decisions," he said.

But on top of recent restrictions already imposed by the Government, Labour's proposals could make it harder for employers to fill jobs.

"Employers are finding it hard to fill positions in hospitality, IT, horticulture, construction and other sectors. The more restrictions that are placed on lower-skilled migrants coming here, the harder it will be for the economy to grow."

The announcement has drawn criticism from the aged care sector.



New Zealand Aged Care Association chief executive Simon Wallace said proposals from both Labour and the Government were "kneejerk politics" that ignored the longer-term needs of aged care.



"We are keen to work with current and future governments to get more New Zealanders into employment, but right now immigration is being used as a political football without consideration for future needs of aged care.



"We already face critical shortages in New Zealand's caregiver workforce, particularly in aged residential care, which will escalate in the next decade as the need for care rises sharply with our rapidly ageing population," he said



Migrant workers were essential to the industry.



"The current proposals will seriously affect valuable labour force, disrupting continuity of care, creating higher churn and cost for employers and hindering training and upskilling," Wallace said.