APPENDIX B: METHODOLOGY

B1 Introduction

Migration Trends and Outlook 2007/08 is based on an analysis of variables from the Department of Labour's Management Information System (MIS). MIS is a subset of the Immigration New Zealand database, the Application Management System (AMS).

Data for this report was generated using SAS (statistical software) to query MIS on the variables of interest. The MIS data was extracted in the week starting 7 July 2008. The data covers the period from 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2008. Further data analysis was carried out using SAS and Microsoft Excel.

B2 Glossary

The glossary below describes the key immigration terms used in this report.

For descriptions of the New Zealand Residence Programme and residence streams and categories, see Appendix C.

application

An application may be an incoming application for residence that is not yet determined or an approved application for residence. To distinguish these two forms of application, incoming applications are referred to as application inflows and approved applications for residence are referred to as approved applications.

An application consists of a principal applicant and, if any, secondary applicant(s), so both application inflows and approved applications are a count of principal applicants.

An application is decided when a decision is made to approve or decline the application. An application is completed when the visa or permit label is issued in the applicant's passport.

Application Management System (AMS)

AMS is the Immigration New Zealand database that staff use to assess applications and enter application details into.

approval

An approval is an individual (a principal or secondary applicant) who has been approved for residence.

financial year

A financial year runs from 1 July in one year to 30 June in the following year. The data in this report is up to the 2007/08 financial year (1 July 2007 to 30 June 2008).

Management Information System (MIS)

MIS is the database of Immigration New Zealand applications. It is used as the source of reporting on many aspects of the business's performance.

permit

A permit allows a person to remain in New Zealand in accordance with the permit's conditions. All permits expire when the holder leaves New Zealand (if not before). Unless otherwise specified, the term 'permit' is used throughout this report to denote both permits and visas.

principal applicant

The principal applicant is the key person who is assessed against the policy criteria. Other people in an application (secondary applicants) are also assessed against various criteria.

New Zealand Residence Programme (NZRP)

People wishing to migrate to New Zealand may gain residence through the NZRP. Residence applications are considered on the basis of whether the principal applicant meets the policy criteria. The principal applicant may include their partner and dependent children in the application (as secondary applicants). All applicants must meet health and character requirements.

residence stream

In selected analyses in this report, data is broken down by the four residence streams: the Skilled/Business, Uncapped Family Sponsored, Parent Sibling Adult Child, and International/Humanitarian Streams. These streams are described in Appendix C.

visa

A visa indicates that the issuing officer knows of no reason why the visa holder should not be granted a corresponding permit on their arrival in New Zealand.

B3 Limitations to the data

The data reported relates to the number of people approved for residence rather than the number of migrants who arrived during the reporting period. People approved for residence offshore have one year in which to move to New Zealand. However, people may be approved for residence and then decide not to take it up. Also, MIS data reflects the total number of applications for residence, rather than the number of people approved.^[1]

The data used in this report relates to the date the residence application was decided. The 'date decided' is the date the decision was made to approve a person for residence. The 'date completed' is the date the visa or permit label was issued and endorsed in the applicant's passport. A small number of decided applications may not be completed. The date decided is used in this report for consistency with other Department of Labour reports.

B4 Data analysis

Percentages in this report have been rounded to the nearest whole number, so may not always sum to 100 percent.

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