The Green Party is seeking 10,000 signatures to their open letter to the Minister of Immigration, calling on Hon. Kris Faafoi to reform New Zealand’s immigration system – and you can sign here.

At the time of this writing, the petition already collected 7,400 signatures in less than one day.

What the Green Party is asking for

You can download the open letter in English, Hindi, Tagalog, and Chinese (simplified).

Here’s what the Green Party is calling the Immigration Minister on, in a snapshot:

1. Create pathways to residency.
   The Government must ensure there are clear and achievable pathways for all migrants to gain residency, including transparent and honest communication with temporary visa holders. Also, the Green Party is asking the Government to enable migrants already here to gain residency.
2. Create a broad amnesty programme for overstayers.
   The Green Party wants the Government to grant residency to people who overstay their visa, ensuring people aren’t left vulnerable to exploitation.
3. Decouple work visas from single employers.
   This would allow migrant workers to switch employers without risking their visa.
4. Require Immigration New Zealand to stop visa processing delays.
   “Immigration New Zealand must operate in a way that is consistent, prompt, transparent, and fair,” the open letter reads. “That includes ending the visa processing delays, and resourcing Immigration New Zealand properly to do so.”
5. Remove salary criteria for the skilled migrant category and parent reunification category visas.
   This would ensure migrants are not excluded by “unreasonable salary thresholds”. Plus, it would make it easier for migrants’ parents and family members to gain residency in New Zealand.
6. Review partnership visas to ensure they are culturally competent.
   Arranged marriages, queer relationships, and other relationships that aren’t traditional or common in Western cultures would be taken into account when determining eligibility for a partnership visa, to avoid discriminating based on nationality.
7. Devolve resources to iwi, hapū, and whānau to link between migrants and local communities.
   “Recognise the sovereignty of iwi, hapū, and whānau that is affirmed in Te Tiriti, and adequately resource iwi, hapū, and whānau to support migrants within their communities,” the open letter reads. “The Government must work with tangata whenua to determine how the Crown can work with Māori on immigration decisions and reviews as a Te Tiriti-based process.”

“Migrants are welcome members of our communities, not economic units.”

In their open letter, the Green Party also calls on the Government to treat migrants as “welcome members of our communities,” rather than “economic units.”

Migrant communities are flourishing in Aotearoa, as people come from around the world to create a good life for them and their families. All migrants deserve to have their dignity, rights, and humanity honoured by Immigration New Zealand and our Government.

But in Aotearoa, we have an immigration system that discriminates and separates, treating migrant workers as cheap labour and second-class citizens. Migrants on temporary visas have no clear pathways to residency, are left dependent on dodgy employers, and are separated from their families and loved ones through rules that discriminate on wealth, nationality, and relationships.