With indications the tide is turning on Aussie emigration, Priority One is hosting a Tauranga seminar for local employers on recent changes to immigration rules.

It's to bring employers up to date of recent immigration rule changes affecting the hiring of skilled immigrants, says Priority One projects manager Annie Hill.

Immigration New Zealand is hosting a seminar in Tauranga around immigration rules.

'Immigration New Zealand has recently had quite a focus on the Australian market, so the Ministry of Business Immigration and Employment is recognising that the Australian economy is ah, shrinking, and there are Australians that will be keen to look for other work opportunities offshore,” says Annie.

Last year and early this year there were a number of job fairs held in Australia that attracted interest not only from Australians, but also New Zealanders wanting to return.

'We did take part in the Melbourne job fair in April and came back with 250 registrations with details, skills and experience from a combination of Aussies looking to immigrate and New Zealand ex-pats looking to come home,” says Annie.

Most of the registrations are from either Australian citizens or residents, but the second largest grouping at an estimated ten to 15 per cent are from New Zealanders.

'The good thing is we are seeing the economy growing so employers are looking for more staff. We are really just facilitating the immigration seminar. Immigration NZ has changed some of the immigration rules.

'The seminars are really for us to find out what kind of sectors might have skill shortages that might be looking to go offshore to employ in the future.”

The growing Bay of Plenty economy is strong in specialist manufacturing, IT, construction, health, says Annie.

'We are hearing anecdotally that people are experiencing skill shortages but yet when we go out and ask these kind of questions we are not getting a big response. I think sometimes when the right person comes along, a business will go ‘yes'.

'Down the skilled migrant path there are a lot more issues, interviewing etcetera, than in the domestic market.”

Immigration New Zealand is offering to host a seminar in Tauranga to ensure local employers are up to date on recent changes to immigration rules and to enable them to gain an overview on options for hiring skilled workers.

The seminar is specifically targeting those working in HR and will include Immigration NZ policy and process options (including a move to online services), how Immigration NZ can assist with marketing to offshore candidates, and planning for settlement and retention of migrant workers.

Those interested in attending are asked to email [email protected] by the close of business on Friday, June 26.