The Country
  • The Country home
  • Latest news
  • Audio & podcasts
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life
  • Listen on iHeart radio

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Coast & Country News
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Horticulture
  • Animal health
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life

Media

  • Podcasts
  • Video

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whāngarei
  • Dargaville
  • Auckland
  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Hamilton
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Te Kuiti
  • Taumurunui
  • Taupō
  • Gisborne
  • New Plymouth
  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Whanganui
  • Palmerston North
  • Levin
  • Paraparaumu
  • Masterton
  • Wellington
  • Motueka
  • Nelson
  • Blenheim
  • Westport
  • Reefton
  • Kaikōura
  • Greymouth
  • Hokitika
  • Christchurch
  • Ashburton
  • Timaru
  • Wānaka
  • Oamaru
  • Queenstown
  • Dunedin
  • Gore
  • Invercargill

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / The Country

Migrant workers to match standard dole rates for benefit payments

RNZ
22 Nov, 2020 04:13 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

It's been a tough time for temporary visa holders, the Union Network of Migrants says. Photo / File

It's been a tough time for temporary visa holders, the Union Network of Migrants says. Photo / File

By: RNZ

From December, migrant workers who have lost their jobs because of the pandemic - as well as student and visitor visa holders who are facing financial hardship and can't get home - will be able to get an emergency benefit for a limited time.

Usually, people who are not residents or citizens are ineligible for support from the Ministry of Social Development.

However, there is specific provision in the law to grant emergency benefits to people not normally entitled to it, during an epidemic.

It has now been confirmed that the emergency benefit will be paid at the same rate as jobseeker support.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

That means single people will get $251 a week, people with a partner and children will get $428 a week, while sole parents will get $375 a week.

But temporary visa holders will not be able to get any extra support or payments, such as the accommodation supplement or hardship assistance, like food grants.

They will also need to show they are looking for work, or other ways to support themselves, and are looking at options to get home.

Until now, this group has had to rely on support through a temporary programme run by the Department of Internal Affairs and the Red Cross, which finishes at the end of this month.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Since July, it has helped 12,300 people with basic needs like food and accommodation.

Advocates for migrant workers have been pushing for access to emergency benefits for months - and they say they are relieved it has finally happened.

Union Network of Migrants president Mandeep Bela said it had been a tough time for many.

"There were a lot of them who were asking for help from the community and were going out to get food parcels," he said.

"This announcement will come as a relief to them that they can now go through a standard process."

But Bela is still frustrated it has taken this long.

"I just feel that often migrants are pitted against Kiwis and that rhetoric had actually resulted in delay in [the section of the law allowing access to benefits during an epidemic] being activated."

Migrant Workers Association president Anu Kaloti is also welcoming the changes.

Migrant Workers Association president Anu Kaloti. Photo / Supplied
Migrant Workers Association president Anu Kaloti. Photo / Supplied

But Kaloti is worried some temporary visa holders may be reluctant to apply for an emergency benefit, because they don't know how, or they don't trust the system.

"There will be people out there who will be wary and nervous, and we have to factor in that temporary migrants will not be fully familiar with how Work and Income works.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"They've never been eligible for this kind of assistance, so they've never had to use those services."

Community Law chief executive Sue Moroney said the Government should have acted sooner to help temporary migrants, given it had the legal ability to do so.

"What we wanted to see the law enacted in the way it was intended... clearly section 64 of the Social Security Act was there for exactly this reason, when there was a pandemic, that migrants would have access to the emergency benefit.

"We were concerned that if it wasn't going to be used in this instance, what was the point of it?"

Moroney said the change should make a big difference to those who are struggling.

"It will be much clearer what the entitlement is and how much people will be getting, and it means they will actually get cash to be able to support themselves."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Applications for the emergency benefit for temporary visa holders open on December 1 and the benefit will be paid until the end of February.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from The Country

The Country

‘Still there’: Removal of logging machine sent tumbling over cliff proving tricky

12 Jul 05:59 PM
The Country

The great 'goat menace' of 1949

12 Jul 05:00 PM
The Country

'Game-changer': Orchardist tackles seagull invasion with lasers

12 Jul 05:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from The Country

‘Still there’: Removal of logging machine sent tumbling over cliff proving tricky

‘Still there’: Removal of logging machine sent tumbling over cliff proving tricky

12 Jul 05:59 PM

The damaged skidder remains stuck in a hard-to-reach location near the river.

The great 'goat menace' of 1949

The great 'goat menace' of 1949

12 Jul 05:00 PM
'Game-changer': Orchardist tackles seagull invasion with lasers

'Game-changer': Orchardist tackles seagull invasion with lasers

12 Jul 05:00 PM
'Come home': Family vintage tractor returns to original owner

'Come home': Family vintage tractor returns to original owner

12 Jul 05:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP