What’s new in global immigration?

26.02.2025

This week, the Global Immigration team at Smith Stone Walters would like to highlight the following recent updates from Finland, Hong Kong and New Zealand.

Finland: Foreign wild-berry pickers now subject to seasonal work rules

Following legislative amendments that entered into force on 17 February 2025, wild-berry picking carried out by foreign nationals is now treated as seasonal work. Employers must hire foreign berry pickers for a contractual employment relationship to enable them to apply for an entry permit to Finland, and berry pickers will apply for a seasonal work visa for stays up to three months.

The Seasonal Workers Act will apply to wild-berry picking starting from the 2025 harvest season. In future, companies must hire berry pickers for a contractual employment relationship to enable them to apply for a visa or residence permit for seasonal work.

In practice, an employment relationship was already required last summer when berry pickers applied for a residence permit for an employed person issued by the Finnish Immigration Service. The recent legislative amendments enable berry pickers to apply for a seasonal work visa or a seasonal work permit from 2025.

Berry pickers seeking to stay in Finland for up to 90 days apply for a seasonal work visa at a Finnish mission. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is responsible for processing the applications.

Some of the conditions for granting a seasonal work visa differ from the conditions for a tourist visa, to minimize the risk of exploitation. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has a duty to take preventive measures if there are indications of work-related exploitation and human trafficking.

The Finnish Immigration Service issues residence permits for seasonal work that lasts between three and nine months. Applications can be submitted at Finnish missions. Nationals of visa-free countries can apply for a certificate for seasonal work at the Finnish Immigration Service.

Countries of origin may lay down conditions for berry pickers in accordance with their legal provisions. The authorities of these countries monitor compliance with the conditions. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs or Finnish missions do not negotiate these conditions on behalf of employers.

As part of its regular monitoring of the use of foreign labour, the occupational safety and health authority monitors the right to work and the minimum terms of employment of foreign wild-berry pickers who have entered Finland with a seasonal work permit. Improving the status of berry pickers is part of the government’s action plan for preventing work-related exploitation.

The government states that it will monitor the effects of the changes and, if necessary, introduce further measures to combat exploitation in the berry sector.

Hong Kong: Talent List updated

On 18 February 2025, the government announced that the latest round of the Talent List update has been completed.

The new Talent List will take effect from 1 March 2025 and cover 60 professions with local talent shortages. Foreign national talents who meet the eligibility criteria for relevant professions can enjoy immigration facilitation when applying under the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme (QMAS), the General Employment Policy (GEP) and the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals (ASMTP).

Following the update, the Talent List will include nine newly added professions from the industry segments of financial services (accountants, financial professionals with Islamic market experience and experienced professionals in commodities trading), innovation and technology (experienced systems architects and patent professionals), legal and dispute resolution services (legal knowledge engineers) and aviation and shipping (ship surveyors, professionals in green shipping and aircraft maintenance engineers).

The Chief Executive announced last year that the government would update the Talent List in early 2025 to include top talents and professionals required for the development of industries related to the “eight centres” with a view to generating new impetus for their growth.

The Labour and Welfare Bureau and relevant bureaux and departments updated the professions covered in the Talent List in consultation with stakeholders including industry organisations of various sectors, major business chambers, the Human Resources Planning Commission and the Labour Advisory Board.

The updated List, detailed specifications of individual professions and the guidance note for applying under applicable admission schemes have been uploaded to the dedicated website (www.talentlist.gov.hk) and the website of Hong Kong Talent Engage (www.hkengage.gov.hk).

Those interested in submitting applications for the admission schemes can visit the electronic application platform of the Immigration Department and submit applications.

The government drew up the first List in 2018 with a view to attracting high-quality talent. The List was reviewed and expanded in 2021 and 2023 respectively. Under the GEP and the ASMTP, employers who seek to fill vacancies falling under the professions on the List are not required to provide proof to substantiate their difficulties in local recruitment when making applications, thus shortening the time to recruit outside talents. Furthermore, since the revamp of the QMAS that took effect on 1 November 2024 last year, eligible applicants who meet the requirements of the List will be favourably considered under the General Points Test of the QMAS after assessment.

New Zealand: Changes to the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) and median wage

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has announced a number of changes to the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) in March 2025, and changes to the median wage in February 2025.

In December 2024, the Government announced reforms to the AEWV to make the settings more flexible and responsive to the differing needs of businesses in certain sectors and regions. As a result of this, Immigration New Zealand (INZ) will be rolling out a number of changes over the course of 2025.

Further information about how these changes may affect employers and employees is here.

Phase 2 of these changes are as follows.

Remove the Median Wage requirement from AEWV and Specific Purpose Work Visa (SPWV):

From 10 March 2025, employers recruiting workers under the AEWV and seasonal SPWV policies will no longer be required to pay the median wage. Instead, there will be no set pay thresholds except the New Zealand minimum wage (currently NZD 23.15 an hour, increasing to NZD 23.50 an hour on 1 April).

Employers will, however, still be expected to pay migrant workers on par with their New Zealand counterparts (the New Zealand market rate).

Sector Agreements which provided an exemption to the median wage will be removed alongside this change. Sector Agreements which offer residence pathways will continue to do so, with no changes to the wage rate required to gain residence.

The removal of sector agreements means that roles previously covered by sector agreements for below median wage jobs are no longer subject to restrictions such as caps or limitations on visa duration and instead will be treated the same as other jobs of the same skill level.

Current AEWV holders should continue to be paid in line with their employment agreement and visa conditions.

Reducing the work experience requirement for migrants from 3 years to 2 years:

From 10 March 2025 the work experience requirement for migrants will be reduced from three years to two years.

Employers still have to check that their migrant worker meets the threshold, and applicants will still need to provide evidence that they meet the two-year threshold.

This change will still make sure that migrants have enough experience to help minimise the risks of exploitation.

From 10 March 2025 the requirement for employers to engage with the MSD will be now become declaration based.

They will need to declare in good faith, that they have advertised lower skilled roles (ANZSCO skill level 4 and 5) with MSD and interviewed candidates who may be suitable for the role. Employers will be required to retain evidence of their engagement as they may be requested to provide it. This can be done alongside recruitment employers will already be undertaking in the domestic labour market.

Increasing the visa duration for ANZSCO Level 4 and 5 AEWV holders to 3 years:

From 10 March 2025 the visa length for new ANZSCO Level 4 and 5 AEWVs will be extended to three years, matching the total time they can stay in New Zealand on one or more AEWVs (their maximum continuous stay).

Increasing the income threshold for supporting dependent children:

From 10 March 2025 the income threshold will be increased from an annual threshold of NZD 43,322.76 to NZD 55,844. This is 80% of the median wage (aligning with eligibility for partner work rights) based on an annual, 40-hour work week. It will be updated annually in line with changes to the median wage.

The previous income threshold will continue to apply where a child held a visa on, or had applied for a visa, before 10 March – this ensures that children who are already here do not have to leave if their parent can meet the old threshold but cannot meet the new one.

Recognition of higher ANZSCO skill levels:

With INZ transitioning from the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) to the National Occupation List (NOL), there are differences with the classification of some roles.

So that applicants are not disadvantaged, from 10 March 2025 the following occupations will be treated as ANZSCO skill level 3 to align with their skill level in the NOL:

Cook (351411)
Pet groomer (361113)
Kennel hand (361115)
Nanny (421113)
Fitness instructor (452111)
Scaffolder (821712)
Slaughterer (831212)

There are also four other roles that will be recognised as ANZSCO skill level 3 where the employer has specified that the job needs either three years of work experience or a level 4 qualification, as part of the job check. This ensures skilled workers can be retained in certain critical jobs. These four roles are:

Agricultural and horticultural mobile plant operator (721111)
Excavator operator (721214)
Forklift driver (721311)
Mobile plant operators not elsewhere classified (721999)

Updates to interim visa work rights:

In April, there will be further changes coming into effect regarding work rights for people on interim visas while they are awaiting the outcome of an AEWV application. This includes:

allowing AEWV applicants to have interim work rights if they apply while holding any type of work visa or from a student visa that permits work during term time, and
enabling time spent on an interim visa that allows work, to be considered when calculating a migrant’s total continuous stay under the AEWV, as well as for gaining work experience needed for work-to-residence pathways.

Median wage changes:

From 28 February 2025, AEWV holders who want to support a partner will still be required to meet the wage threshold, which is increasing to NZD $26.85 an hour.

From 28 February 2025, income thresholds for sponsors under the Parent Category will be indexed to the new median wage of NZD 33.56 an hour.

These changes are based on Statistics New Zealand’s publication of median hourly earnings for the previous year’s June quarter and are intended to ensure migrants who are supporting a partner or parent have the financial means to do so.

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